Transforming Pain into the Power to Respond

"Every woman has a well-stocked arsenal of anger potentially useful against those oppressions, personal and institutional, which brought that anger into being... Anger is loaded with information and energy." -Audre Lorde

These last two weeks have been full of anger, pain and the potential for a next wave of changes around racial justice.

Like so many of us… I’ve been processing my feelings about the global response to the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and the long history of violence and injustice inflicted upon black bodies since this country was founded on stolen land.

My experience has pendulated from a feeling of being frozen around what to feel and do, to spontaneous tears of grief for the lives taken; the families and communities impacted by those losses; and my own race based traumas coming to the surface.

I have felt anxiousness, disassociation, and overwhelm, from curfews, riots, and excessive police force.

I have also had touching important conversations about racism with the white people close to me about what is needed and how they can support at this time.

What have you been feeling in your body? What emotions have been on your heart? What thoughts have been running through your mind?

Transforming pain into the power to respond begins with being present with what is happening inside you and around you.

Every time we face the things that are hard to look at and even harder to feel, we start a process of cultivating more capacity to stay present and respond powerfully in the face of intensity.

Pain and discomfort is a regular part of being black in America…. The black experience is a history of turning pain into powerful actions.

There is a power that resides in pain that we can all learn how to tap.

Race is such a charged topic because it activates both personal and ancestral traumas that have yet to be healed or atoned for.

Yet those who have been most adversely affected by racism have never had the luxury of opting out of talking about it.

Racism harms all of us in different ways, it is not a black problem or a people of color problem, it is a problem created by whiteness and mis-use of power.

And it must be solved by white people using their power to dismantle it.

White silence, white fragility, and white privilege have led to the perpetuation of racism.

You cannot be the beneficiary or the victim of unjust and violent systems of oppression without it shaping the core of who you are and how you are able to move in this world.

So alongside the protests, civil disobedience, petitions, and donations, the contribution that we can all make is to take this time to reflect on how racism has shaped our own personal lived experience, and where we inflict harm upon ourselves or others because of it.

For white-bodied people, this means learning about how whiteness has shaped you and affects the way you interact with people of color and systems of oppression. And to turn your pain into the power to listen, and take action as an ally.

And for my BIPOC folk this means looking at how internalized racism has shaped you, and affects the way you see yourself and what you can and can't do in this world. To seek safe circles to process your pain, so you can turn it into the power to fully express yourself.

If you find yourself wanting to do something, but are not sure what to do... start by addressing your personal pain around race and then find the restorative actions that are aligned with the resources and capacity you have.

Do what is within your power to do… do what you can integrate and sustain in your being…. do what helps you turn your pain into right-use of power.

EDUCATION…

Get educated about the real history of race in this country and beyond, about the creation of whiteness and white privilege, and the systems of inequity and injustice that keep racism alive and well.

REPARATION…

Use your privileges for repairing the harm that has been done, whether you were directly responsible for it or not. Use your voice, your resources, your connections to restore access, safety, and equity to communities of color.

AMPLIFICATION….

Share the work of people of color and organizations on the front lines of racial justice & ancestral healing.

And if we are to find the power to fight for racial justice along with all the other injustices that will continue calling us to the front lines, then we need practices.

Practices that help us be with our discomfort, ones that help us move pain through our bodies, and help us restore our ability to feel ourselves and each other in enjoyable ways.

Some of my favorite practices to work with are the Neo-Tantric practices I teach, Yoga, Dance, Breathwork, Somatic Experiencing, and group Council Circles.

The work I teach is one way to learn how to listen to your body and others, how to be with your emotional pain, and develop the capacity to be with intensity, which puts us back in touch with the power to respond appropriately.

You can request a consultation below if you are interested in working together.

And there a ton of resources being shared right now, but I wanted to offer some of the ones I’ve personally enjoyed and have been sharing with those close to me…

with love,

Kamali

UNDERSTANDING RACE IN AMERICA

1619 Podcast - The Daily takes an in depth look at American history through the lens of blacks In America.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1F0QTCH64OT9YMkkSk3bTH?si=9U5nHPlJQrmYsgylLL8wMQ

Why Riots Happen - Trevor Noah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4amCfVbA_c

‘A Case for Reparations’ - Ta-Nehisi Coates

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/

Organizational Racism - Jen Willsea

https://the-diversity-gap.simplecast.com/episodes/part-one-the-r-word-racism-and-organizational-culture-w-jen-willsea

UNDERSTANDING WHITE PRIVILEGE