Elmina Bell (she/they) is an Indigenous African psycho-spiritual practitioner. She has a background in crisis counseling and is rooted in the various Indigenous African practices of her ancestral lineages and Disability Justice principles. This article submission is an excerpt from a series on Elmina's journey in bipolar neurodigence, African ancestral spiritualities, and Disability Justice. The article features quotes/inspiration from the renowned Black woman playwright Ntozake Shange, who also lived with what the Western world defines as bipolar. Elmina explores how Indigenous African psycho-spiritual approaches reflect the affective-cognitive epistemologies of African-centered frameworks.
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.