AROUND THE ABPsi
Intentional Illumination
Intentional individuals and institutions committed to African-centered education play a crucial role in building self-love among Black/African students. When I taught the African-Brazilian martial art of capoeira at an African-centered social justice school in Chicago, the students repeated, “If it’s going to be, it’s up to me! Harambee, harambee, harambee!” […]
Pressure
An African-centered Education Remedy
Too often, American schools pour Eurocentric values into the minds of Black students through curricula, culture, and policies. Dr. Carter G. Woodson recognized the education system’s shortcomings in 1926 and created Negro History Week. One week of highlighting Black achievement evolved into Black History Month. Next month, we commemorate 100 […]
Research Corner
Trauma Bonds, Liberation, and the Black Female Nervous System
An African-Centered Framework for Healing and Family Restoration The relational experiences of Black women cannot be understood outside of the historical, neurobiological, and structural forces that have shaped the Black family across generations. Trauma bonding, relational instability, and attachment disruption within Black relationships are often interpreted through individualistic or pathologizing […]
RECENT POSTS
May’s Manifesting Student Success
May is the month when we celebrate graduates across the educational spectrum. From kindergarten to graduate school, students will finish curricula and start their next educational journeys. For Black/African students in higher education, graduation can mean much more than earning a degree or certificate. Convocation represents the accumulation of struggles […]
Being Spirit- Part 3
In Part I of “Being Spirit,” we introduced various notions of spirit and established the framework for the subsequent sections of this article. Part II focused on melanin as an energetic medium through which the spirit expresses itself. In this third and final edition of “Being Spirit,” we will examine […]
An Ubuntu Power Base
The South African Zulu philosophy of Ubuntu emphasizes collective thoughts and actions. Ubuntu happens when “I am, because we are” is transformed from a phrase into a therapeutic way of living. When we consider recent tragedies in Virginia and Louisiana, alongside the health disparities impacting Black/African people, the call for […]
Spirituality as a Foundation of Healing and Wellness in Black Women’s Lives
In the United States, Black women have addressed different intersecting forms of oppression such as racial and gender issues and they have an enormous role in the outcome of mental and physical health disparities such as elevated cortisol levels, chronic illness, emotional disorders, and social problems. Spirituality has always been […]
Breaking the Silence Around Suicide: Centering Black Youth’s Mental Wellness through Ubuntu
A Tragic Loss that Shattered a Myth Last summer, my family suffered the tragic loss of one of its youngest members. My niece died by suicide just over a month after her 16th birthday. Her untimely death has left many unanswered questions and unresolved grief. It has also been the […]
A Reflection on Bipolar from an Ancestral Psycho-Spiritual Perspective ft. Mama Ntozake Shange
The Western world historically has viewed intense emotional expressions as “lunacy”, where moon energy and emotions were portrayed as dangerously irrational, being out of touch with reality, and even evil.
Trauma Bonds, Liberation, and the Black Female Nervous System
An African-Centered Framework for Healing and Family Restoration The relational experiences of Black women cannot be understood outside of the historical, neurobiological, and structural forces that have shaped the Black family across generations. Trauma bonding, relational instability, and attachment disruption within Black relationships are often interpreted through individualistic or pathologizing […]
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