Anwara Sistahs Directory (ASD)
In the last 20 years of organizing there has been clear signs that there is a need for organizers, parents and even those in leadership to address the trauma they have experienced in their lives. This work can exact physical, emotional and psychological abuse on the body and exacerbates traumas that we already carry. We find ourselves trying to navigate our Fem Black and brown bodies in white patriarchal spaces that tell us that we aren’t worthy to be seen or heard, to receive justice or simply just to live and thrive.
We are thrust in these spaces often the only Black or brown person in that space and are gaslit at every turn, all while simultaneously pushing forward to make sure we voice the needs of our community. I've seen the trauma explode in spaces because someone was triggered by something that was said, the way it was said or the wrong assumptions about what they thought they heard. Some retreat and shutdown, others shout and raise up and sometimes there is even physical altercations. Too often the valuable and life altering work pauses or worst implodes because of this. Since women of color lead the movement, it is vital that we intentionally create every opportunity and avenue for deep revolutionary healing.
PROBLEM ANALYSIS
ASD will be an online directory for WOC especially those doing movement work to connect with other WOC who are practitioners in a vast array of holistic/healing practices.
The directory would also have a list of 2-3 WOC who have agreed to offer a review of how a particular healing practice helped them and/or who would make themselves available for 5-10 minutes to answer any questions anyone might have before they schedule. Folks like reviews and this could serve as a way to eliminate their hesitation and anxiety around pursuing new healing modalities.
Every practitioner will make a short 60-90 second video introducing themselves, along with a short blurb, contact information, social media if they offer virtual/in-person/both, languages spoken, if they offer ASL or other services. The goal is for it to be a living document (online and printable, perhaps an app?) that can grow.
I want to launch ASD with a virtual event to bring together a panel of healers and holistic practitioners for a discussion with at least 100 movement WOC from all over the globe in attendance.
Impact
The long-term impact my project is aiming to have is for WOC doing movement work to see and use the ASD as an intentional tool and resource to heal. I would like the directory to be integrated into trainings and retreats that become just as important as the trainings we seek to teach us how to be more effective organizers.
I am aiming to have my movement sistahs understand that the importance and powerful work they have been doing to move us towards liberation must include making our personal healing a habit. An indirect impact I hope to achieve is that as the directory grows that it will cause individuals, movement organizations and philanthropy to provide grants for WOC who want to experience these healing modalities but aren’t financially able to.
