Sacred spaces A source for Black healing

[Music]

freshman year of undergrad

i remember attending the first football

game of the season look that’s me right

there about 17 rows down

37th to the left now if you look closely

you’ll see me dancing right because the

band had everybody on their feet and it

felt like one giant family reunion

i distinctly remember in that moment

pausing and thinking to myself just in

pure wonderment

i’ve never seen this many black people

together in one space

in my life i remember being a freshman

at auburn

walking around campus and feeling at a

place

between the massive brick buildings the

sea of students walking to class and the

big

lecture classrooms it was hard for me to

find students that looked like me

and talk like me coming from birmingham

alabama which is over 60

black being the only black person

in my class did not sit right with my

spirit

i needed i needed to find the black

people

and that’s when i saw the flyer and in

big bowl letters it read

black student union meetings mondays at

5 pm

in the student center that next monday

me and a couple of my girls

walked into that room of black students

from all walks of life

the joy the conversation and the

laughter that filled that room

it reminded me of home it reminded me of

freedom

what we created in that space it

extended beyond the stadium

and it went into the classrooms where my

professors felt more like my aunties and

uncles

it was on the set every friday where we

shared in community with music

art and food in the quad where the

eternal flame stood proudly

and in the lasting friendships that i

created friendships that have spanned

over a decade

my time in undergrad felt like it was

designed with me and mine

me specifically like tanisha i felt seen

and cared for it was the first time in

my life that i was in the majority

the first time where the identities the

histories and the experiences of people

who looked like me

were centered in every conversation i

still feel that same sense of wonder

when i think about that time in my life

and i know undoubtedly i would not be

this version of myself

without those experiences spaces like

black student union

saved me from slipping through the

cracks and helped me to believe in

myself

connected me to black faculty and staff

that treated me like i was their

daughter

and reminded me of who i could be and

provided me with friends who are

more like family that showed up at the

funeral when my dad passed away without

any questions asked

and have been at every single milestone

since

the black people at auburn made my

college experience

we created our own traditions made sure

we made it to graduation

and inspired each other to take up space

especially in places that told us we

didn’t belong

i felt unconditionally loved and

protected

i loved auburn knowing who i was and

knowing that being me

was simply enough i attended a pwi

a predominantly white institution yes at

times

it was isolating and lonely but i found

a space that created a sense of home

and safety for me connected me to my

forever family

and protected my sense of self and i

attended an hbcu

a historically black college university

a space created to be my cultural

sanctuary

a space that connected me to my identity

and my purpose

a space that protected my liberation

these experiences and spaces transformed

and are the reasons why we found

ourselves in the counseling psychology

doctoral

program studying to be psychologists it

is also the reason why when we got to

the university of georgia

we sought after spaces that reminded us

of our college experiences

luckily we found that space on the

sankofa research and outreach team

under the direction of dr colette

chapman hilyard

and the walls of her office we can let

down our armor and just be ourselves

talk about the microaggressions we just

experienced in the hallway

and hold each other accountable because

even though we do

have all this black girl magic we need

to save some for ourselves this team is

our sisterhood

our sacred space sacred spaces are

affirmative and protective

dedicated spaces with people who value

and share your identities

your history your language and your

experiences

they embrace you and give you the

permission to be vulnerable

to feel tension free and to be authentic

sacred spaces are on our college

campuses

they’re in our neighborhoods they’re at

our work now

you may be familiar with the term safe

spaces

we we want to be clear sacred spaces

are not safe spaces they are different

safe spaces tells us that we should feel

more comfortable in our identities in an

often intolerant world

here we are told that the safety and

visibility of oppressed groups

are promoted and that controversy should

be met with civility that’s what we’re

told

but if you’ve ever been the only black

woman in a room

and someone told you to calm down or you

found yourself feeling guarded

found yourself justifying your

experiences or whatever version of that

you might have experienced within your

own identities

you know the reality is that sometimes

these spaces don’t feel so safe

and that for black people specifically

safety can often feel like an illusion

that often times we find ourselves in

close proximity with neighbors who

disguise themselves as allies who do not

value our experiences and who perpetuate

violence against our communities because

of this it is absolutely necessary that

we distinguish safe spaces from sacred

spaces

so let’s talk about why sacred spaces

even matter

and as we are doing this you may find

yourself feeling uncomfortable

it may be a little uneasy just know

that all those feelings are part of the

change process

sacred spaces matter because all people

deserve to feel connected

and protected but history tells us

that black people have been disconnected

and unprotected

time and time again black families were

ripped away from their villages

forced on ships and enslaved to come to

a country that stripped them of their

language

their religion their culture their

humanity and even life

this was known as the maafa the black

holocaust

it matters because after 400 years of

cultural devastation

the terror against black people

continued for instance in 1919 a black

soldier by the name of william little

was traveling home to georgia after

surviving world war one

when he arrived he was met by a white

mob and that he wanted to strip him of

his uniform

of his dignity he refused and they

lynched him

and the black community was left once

again to grieve quietly in the shadows

william little like 4743 others

was lynched stripped of his liberty his

humanity

and his life disconnected and

unprotected

a more contemporary example that many of

you may be familiar with

the murder of george floyd the video

of the murder of george floyd has been

viewed over

1.4 billion times in counting

1.4 billion people watched a police

officer

kneel on the neck of george floyd for

eight minutes

and 46 seconds the heaviness

the brokenness and the collective grief

as black people experience knowing we

had to be around people that debated

george floyd’s humanity debated our

humanity

what william little’s and george floyd’s

stories have in common

is that they lay bare reality that so

many black people face

the reality that merely existing in our

skin can bring death

on any day at any moment that we are

unprotected

michael dawson is a black professor that

developed this notion called

linked fate meaning that black people

knew that their destinies

were tied to the destinies of other

black people so what we see

and we hear about the william littles

brianna taylors

tony mcdades and george floyds

we know that it could be us our fathers

our mothers

and our siblings what you’re feeling

right now

and what it means to us these are the

reasons sacred spaces are so important

these are realities that we cannot

escape repetitive narratives that tell

us time and time again we’re not

safe not safe to go to the store not

safe to go to school not safe to go to

church

not safe to live and it doesn’t go away

when we close that app on our phone

or when we turn the tv off or even when

we go to sleep at night

we run out of spaces in our inner and

outer worlds where we can just

be where we can heal so that begs the

question

where is it okay for us to talk and

process our experiences

our hurt we need a place where healing

can happen

a place where we can exhale where we can

where we can finally breathe

sacred spaces in the summer of 2019 i

created the healing circle along with

ecclesia savage

this space was a support group for black

women that tanisha and i now

co-facilitate

we knew there was a need for black women

to have a sacred space that

valued their healing centered their

lived experiences

and cultivated freedom i got a chance to

not be okay and it’d be okay the healing

circle

gave me the space to be vulnerable and

eventually the push to seek individual

counseling

without feeling guilty for needing help

i was quietly going through one of the

most difficult times in my life

i got reassurance that i am not alone i

made connections with women

that understood the language of hurt i

was speaking

i needed a space where i could be myself

and not worry

about cold switching or walking on

eggshells to ensure i didn’t fall into

perceived stereotypes

these are the voices of the women who

participated in the healing circle

the mental health implications of

experiencing violence and terrorism

on an everyday basis is detrimental to

our well-being

sacred spaces help us combat those

realities

sacred spaces for black folks are

freedom spaces

connected in open spaces space is for us

and by us so what does creating sacred

spaces even look like

for us it was being intentional we

wanted black women to know that this

space was designed

specifically for them to access the

power that already lies within them

and speak to the freedom that happens

when black people

come together it was a space that

honored the complexities of black

womanhood

while also making space for intimacy

vulnerability

joy and healing it was centering black

values principles and traditions to

promote healing

and recognizing the systemic nature of

racism in order to help each other

navigate all the spaces we occupy

outside of these sacred spaces these

spaces can be created organically or

even organized

these spaces are rare you either have to

seek them out or be invited in

they’re the group chats organizations

homecomings

family reunions kickbacks and the

cookouts

and because we benefited so much from

the spaces that nurtured our healing

we knew we had a responsibility to pay

it forward and we know many of you have