There’s a long road between surviving and living. It’s equal to the distance between resilience and radiance. To leave trauma and the hardship of merely surviving day to day - to take the journey to radiance, where thriving is possible, one must prepare for the trip. Some things must be left behind and some things must be discovered. Art and culture are the roadmap for the journey. What a culture creates reflects the foundation for understanding its journey. Culture is a blueprint that signifies a people have learned how to live. Art is medicine - a sign of forward movement - an articulation of lived reality in an altar large enough to hold aspirations for the future. ☥ ☥ WolfHawkJaguar ☥
Writing in The New York Review of Books in October 2020, amid the renewal of the Black Lives Matter movement following the murder of George Floyd, Gary Younge observed, there is – within the arena of racial subjugation and exclusion – 'the violence that is inflicted and the violence that is implied … operat[ing] not separately, but in concert.' Similar sentiments were expressed in the wake of earlier periods of civil unrest and instances of black resistance – these crucibles of direct action brimming with myriad experiences of, perspectives on, and aspirations for black life. The overspill of some of the most resonant of these resistance movements has often been channelled into art, hence the Black Arts Movement in the US emerging during the advent of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, and the British Black Arts Movement following the uprisings – in cities including London, Bristol and Liverpool – of the early 1980s. ☥ ☥ ☥ Tara Okeke ☥ From, 'The Powerful Paintings Reframing Black Experience'
The art of health ☥ healing includes how we take care of ourselves while reading this blog. As this blog begins with digressions, I invite you to please get comfortable, have those healthy snacks available and enjoy yourself on your journey to radiance. When I worked in the corporate world, I developed a habit of arriving to our sales meetings early in order to get settled in my room, relax and see something of the city before the meetings began. Depending on the flight schedules and my responsibilities at the meeting, I would stay later, particularly if there was something of interest for me to see. One particular winter meeting was in Arizona. One of the sales reps recommended that I check out the Chapungu Sculpture Park (which has since moved to Loveland, Colorado) because she knew how much I loved African culture and how isolated I was at a very white-centered organization. I was so excited. I couldn't wait to spend an entire day at the sculpture park. The art was truly amazing, the park was serene, the weather was picture perfect, and I took lots of pictures (but with a mediocre camera) a few of which I will share throughout this post. However, my experience left a few splinters in my mind:
☥ I had never heard the word "Chapungu." Why did I have to hear about it from a white
person and why was the information so accessible to them? At the time, I lived in New
Mexico and the person who told me about the exhibit lived over 1,000 miles away from
Arizona. Yet, they spoke of the exhibit as if it were common knowledge.
☥ Why is a park that houses African sculptures located in Arizona where, at the time, the
population of Black People was less than 5%?
☥ The exhibit was very well attended and attracted ~60,000 people annually. During my
visit, I saw a total of two Black People in the arboretum.
My colleague and I paid for an extra night at the hotel so that we would not be rushed through the experience. We stopped off at the closest town which is in Superior, Arizona (no pun intended) to check out their Ghost Town which truly looked like we had stepped back in time. At the time, the Chapungu exhibit was at the Boyce Thompson Aboretum in the Sonoran Desert which is slightly longer than an hour's drive from Phoenix and is assessible by car. After being on display for more than ten years in Arizona, the exhibit has now permanently moved to Loveland, Colorado where the population of Black People is currently at .6% and the median income is $81,898 (2022, US Census).
Hollywood actor Idris Elba has a 'big dream' for Sierra Leone, the West African nation where his father was born - to regenerate a beautiful island off its coast and turn it into an eco-friendly 'smart city.' ☥ ☥ 'It's a dream, you know, but I work in the make-believe business ... It's about being self-reliant, it's about bringing an economy that feeds itself and has growth potential. I'm very keen to reframe the way Africa is viewed … as an aid model.' (Elba) ☥ ☥ ... This is an exciting prospect for Sierra Leone, where only 28% of the population currently has access to electricity - and rural areas like Sherbro Island have no mains power ... Elba seems doubtful about ever turning a profit - but as he said, it is about making it work. ☥ ☥ David Waddell, From, 'Idris Elba 'Dreams Big' With Sierra Leone Eco-city Plan For Sherbro Island' BBC News
Rio de Janeiro was once the world's largest slave city – and a walking tour through its 'Little Africa' region is the best way to explore the history that shaped Brazil's national identity ... 'We deliberately aren't told about Black history and the significance of slavery in both Brazil and Rio,' said Ynaê Lopes dos Santos, a history professor at the Federal Fluminense University in Rio state. 'From the 19th Century onwards, Rio became the largest slave city in the world.' ☥ ☥ ☥ Sarah Brown ☥ From, 'Brazil's Heart-breaking Site Of Two Million Enslaved Africans'
The Chapungu exhibit needs an open space with ~300 acres of land to do it justice. So, I wondered what options would be available in gardens located within cities with a larger population of Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant People. The Boyce Thompson Arboretum is a lovely, spacious 392 acres. Here are some other options that would have been more accessible for Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant People to travel to (families, school trips, etc.):
☥ Longwood Gardens is located in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. It is one of the largest
arboretums in the US (1,100 acres) and at just 43 miles from Philadelphia, is accessible
by bus, car, train and taxi/ride share.
☥ Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, Illinois. Glencoe is about 24 miles from Chicago and
comes in at 385 Acres. I love this option as a fun family adventure/school trip because
it is a combination of 27 gardens that are spread across nine islands and is connected
by a tram ☥ accessible by bus, car, train, taxi/ride share.
☥ The State Botanical Garden of Georgia, Athens, Georgia. Run by the University of
Georgia (making it an ideal location for additional educational opportunities), this garden comes in at 313 Acres and is a 90 minute drive from Atlanta. As Atlanta is a huge airport hub, Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant People from all across the nation, can find their
way to this garden. In 2023, more than 312,000 people visited this garden.
I also found other options in areas with substantial Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant populations such as Michigan, South Carolina and New York.
Chapungu (Cha-POON-goo) is the name given to the monumental stone sculptures produced by the present-day Shona people in Zimbabwe, Africa. Chapungu is defined as the “Great Spirit Bird” or Eagle of Zimbabwe, which protects and warns of danger, often bringing an important message. Stone sculpting is a means of expression by Shona people, emerging on the art scene since the early 1960’s. ☥ ☥ From The Chapungu Sculpture Park At Centerra Website ☥
My contemplation led me back to WolfHawkJaguar's quote: "What a culture creates reflects the foundation for understanding its journey ... Art is medicine - a sign of forward movement - an articulation of lived reality in an altar large enough to hold aspirations for the future." Currently, ~90% of African art resides outside of Africa. This means that Africans on the continent must travel, primarily to europe, to learn about their history and culture through art that is centuries old. However, in Journey To The Dream, we learn that it is not easy for Africans who are not affluent to travel outside of Africa. In How To Outsmart Our Monkey Mind, I share my personal experience of detecting hidden racism within the travel industry that is specifically directed towards African and Middle Eastern travelers. When we travel as Americans, it is understood that we will get the visa we need. However, Africans, even musicians such as MXO who was rejected three times before finally obtaining a visa, are often denied access. How then do Africans discover who they are and where they have been? What's the difference between African art that is not accessible to Africans and African art residing in America that is not accessible to Black Americans?
The Banner twins are the founders of The Descendants Project, a nonprofit that fights for historic and cultural preservation for descendants of enslaved people. It was through their nonprofit that they bought Woodland Plantation, the birthplace of the 1811 slave revolt. During that revolt, hundreds of enslaved plantation workers, inspired by the Haitian Revolution, took up arms and marched toward New Orleans, hoping to seize the city, free other slaves and establish a free state. The uprising was quelled by U.S. troops and local militia, leaving nearly 100 enslaved people dead. Scores more were captured and executed, while others were returned to their plantations, where some were punished. From the article: 'Twin sisters buy former plantation to preserve and protect Black history.'
X-ray evidence of Black maths scholar portrait reveals snubbed genius. Clues in painting suggest Francis Williams successfully managed to compute and witness trajectory of Halley’s comet over Jamaica in 1759. ☥ The Guardian ☥
It is important to note that england houses a considerable amount of valuable African art. During my college years, I worked with three different airlines. Whenever I traveled, I did my best to avoid taking flights that connected through england because of the high taxes. In fact, when I was planning a trip to Africa, the option that took me through england was $500 more than the option through spain and Doha (one of the most luxurious airports in the world). I've been to heathrow and gatwick airports in london, and I would not consider either to have a reason to justify charging such high taxes. The taxes are so high that the airlines banded together to pressure the united kingdom's Civil Aviation Authority to require heathrow to cut their rates. When I first heard the term "woke," I loved the concept of "staying woke." However, I don't refer to myself as woke. Rickie Byars has a lyric in Genesis which more accurately describes my woke journey: "I was walking asleep, dreaming I was awake." I believe that I am waking, but certainly not woke. Who am I? What else do I not know about my ancestry, history and culture? How will I learn if the art of my people is not accessible to me? Fortunately, artists who have internet access can post collections to help us put the pieces of who we are together, but they need to be adequately compensated for their work. On the other hand, colonizers manage to get compensated very well for the art that they stole from us. A few of the way too many examples include:
☥ Colonizers got paid to steal the art from Africa
☥ Colonizers got paid to construct museums to house African art
☥ Colonizers get and continually get paid when we purchase a ticket to go to their
museum to see the art that they stole from us. The country who houses African art also
gets paid in airplane ticket sales, hotel accommodations, food, other attractions, etc.
and impress us with their beautiful city that was paid for by our ancestors and us.
Meanwhile, we are socially programmed as children to be afraid of/to go to Africa and
ashamed of its unpaved streets and "undeveloped" cities/villages which keeps
resources from getting to our people.
☥ Colonizers study the art and turn it/our Gods ☥ Goddesses into white gods and
goddesses, superheroes/sheroes/humans, villains, etc. and then make millions and
sometimes billions of dollars off of our appropriated culture.
When we ask for our art back, they claim that if they return the art, it would get stolen because of our corrupt government full of politicians that colonizers fund/pressure, or by rebels that they and/or their investors fund because they create situations of
economic suppression then steal hungry children and psychologically manipulate them into becoming rebel soldiers. However, they covertly conceal the root causes of the
corruption and present themselves as "helping" to "preserve" history.
Colonizers often make so much money that by the time we figure out that the star of
their show was actually an African, they can afford to stall us in legal litigation for years
while they attempt to cover up their tracks or reframe their actions and spam the public
with false rhetoric until we forget what they've done. The reframes often involve
turning Black ☥ Indigenous People against each other so that we have to call on the
colonizer to swoop in and rescue us or stop the conflict.
Oloya uses them as symbols of modernity and plastic waste from outside Africa, which contrast vividly with the organic bark cloth that comes from inside the continent. 'Much of our environment in Africa is not made in Africa. It is brought in and is rotting in Africa,' says the artist. 'But I put the dead phones on the dress to give people hope - we can recycle things, we can reuse things.' ☥ ☥ ... Oloya managed to escape after 18 months. And art became his refuge. In 2004, he graduated from Makerere School of Fine Art - paying his way by DJing at night and selling toys that he had been making since he was a child. Oloya believes in the power of art to change people's lives. ☥ ☥ Penny Dale ☥ From, 'Peter Oloya - The Ugandan LRA Child Soldier Who Moulded A New Future In Art'
Chapungu Sculpture Park offers a self-guided walking experience rich in Zimbabwe history. A unique outdoor public gathering destination filled with handmade carved sculptures and home to beautiful natural wildlife, expansive botanical gardens, and annual engagement events to delight the community. Annual summer concerts, community fundraising events, weddings and special lighting celebrations surround the Great Lawn area ... The walking park is handicap accessible. Free admission and open to the public daily 6AM – 10PM. ☥ ☥ ☥ From The Chapungu Sculpture Park At Centerra Website ☥
I'm sharing my experience with Chapungu because when I returned home from Arizona and excitedly shared my pictures/experience no one had heard of it. Yet, the sculpture park had been on tour since 1980. I have yet to share these pictures with a Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant Person who had already heard of or visited the sculpture park. If I were a white person who truly wanted to help our country heal, Chapungu would offer me an opportunity to express humanitarianism through efforts such as:
☥ Sponsoring school spring break trips (or a family) to attend the Chapungu exhibit
☥ Lobbying for the exhibit to travel or expand the exhibit to include a region where people
with African ancestry can more easily view the art. Chapungu sculpture parks also have
permanent homes in Harare, Zimbabwe and Leimen, Germany (Galerie Im
Schlossgarten).
My father has always been an innovative problem solver. Once of his sayings is, "A problem is an enterprising opportunity." My affirmation is that as people learn about Chapungu, they will share and cultivate opportunities that reconnect Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant People to our art.
We are surrounded by cultural signifiers - the narratives that carry and shape our reality. We can sit at the table set for us and be molded by the narratives of our inadequacies, or we can rise above the tide by the creation of art that creates space to create other realities. By taking control of our own story and art, we create the road for our continued Journey To Radiance. The inherent power of being creators is that we create not only the path on which we travel, we actively craft the legend of rising to meet and answer the challenges we face. ☥ ☥ ☥ ☥ WolfHawkJaguar ☥
Rafiki Coalition’s mission is to eliminate health inequities in San Francisco’s Black and marginalized communities through education, advocacy, and by providing holistic health and wellness services in a culturally affirming environment. ☥ Rafiki Coalition strives to achieve its focus by providing health and wellness services including, but not limited to, health education, movement classes, health screenings, advocacy, transitional housing and case management services for people living with HIV/AIDS, trauma resiliency and mental health circles, and other health-promoting activities. ☥ We dare to dream of a vibrant, healthy San Francisco, where health disparities among Black and marginalized communities have been eliminated and HIV/AIDS is a disease of the distant past. We affirm an informed, educated, healed, resilient, happy, united, productive, committed, respectful, empowered, mobilized and engaged community, where life is valued and the diversity of the African Diaspora is celebrated. ☥ Our holistic, integrated approach to wellness makes us a unique resource for San Francisco’s under-served communities. ☥ ☥ Rafiki Coalition Website ☥
WolfHawkJaguar introduced me to the Rafiki Coalition because I was looking for places to share health and healing strategies. He was helping to organize Rafiki's 10th Annual Black Health and Healing Summit and lobbied for me to secure a few spots on the agenda as a speaker. I had never been to an event that infused art, culture and holistic health so seamlessly. By the end of the three day event, I was convinced that it was a model that needs to be replicated across the nation. It was a no-brainer for WolfHawkJaguar and I to create a podcast and webisode designed to help raise awareness and offer a platform for healers to share their wisdom. The theme for the event was, "Sankofa: The wisdom of learning from the past to build for the future." Check out Journey To Radiance Sankofa (blog and podcast) to learn more about the wisdom of Sankofa. I understood Dr. Michael Beckwith to say that the news represents the lowest (consciousness) common denominator of our society. It often uses fear to drive ratings, it spams us with "breaking news" (which technically can only happen once) and each network has a niche audience that it caters to which means that the news we watch is tainted by that niche. Fear is often contagious which is a major root cause for emotional addictions and helps to sustain TV ratings, but to what end? More importantly, where do we go to learn about the events occurring in our society that help our community to seek higher consciousness, solve challenges and heal?
Your potential is infinite and always bigger than the problem you are going through. ☥ ☥ Dr. Michael Bernard Beckwith ☥
I was one of the first in the United States to use music in order to study changes that could come about in the body. The glands responded and the heart would either calm down or speed up, depending on the type of music. Could it be possible that vibrations could be thought about in an abstract way and we could not see or feel or measure what the music therapy achieved? ☥ Dr. Benard Jensen
The Art Of Health ☥ Healing is a journey to radiance through the wisdom of community healers from across the nation. These healers work consistently and diligently to cultivate a better world, but their voices ☥ efforts are not often covered on the nightly news. So, let's find a comfortable space with healthy snacks and enjoy the wisdom of the news that represents the highest common denominator of our society.
We began as a community-based organization, The Black Coalition on AIDS (BCA), that responded to the urgent needs of a Black/African-American community that was being devastated by HIV/AIDS. Our goal was to ensure Black people would receive appropriate services and be adequately represented in policy decisions. ☥ Over the years, BCA expanded to provide a wide range of health services for HIV/AIDS, including transitional housing, health education, advocacy, health case management and other health-promoting activities. ☥ We also expanded our services to meet the needs of the broader community of San Franciscans who have limited access to health and wellness services. In keeping with our core mission and expanded menu of services, we changed our name to Rafiki Coalition for Health and Wellness in 2015. Today we are a wellness hub, dedicated to removing barriers to better health and wellness for everyone. ☥ ☥ Rafiki Coalition Website ☥
Congo is not just [about] the problem, Congo is the solution ... ☥ ☥ ☥ Reagan Miviri ☥ Analyst, Ebuteli and Congo Research Group ☥
It’s such a critical time that we’re in. It’s so much trauma, so much hurt, so much pain. But what Rafiki Wellness is doing is truly allowing us to celebrate in the midst of this … Celebrate in the midst of our healing, celebrate in the midst of the trauma … Some people are like, ‘How can you celebrate during those times?’ Well, [being from] New Orleans … this is how we get through trying times, how we get through the trauma, how we get through the pain. So, what Rafiki Wellness has done with this summit, aside from educating, aside from giving us breathing techniques, good food, togetherness, is coming [together] ... so that we can celebrate in the midst of this ... listen, there’s so much that we can look forward to. Because it’s truly a reminder of the importance of intuition, the importance of imagination and how those are not only needed but are appropriate tools for our wellness and for our healing. ☥ ☥ ☥ Sunni Patterson ☥ Poet ☥ Artist ☥ Healer
Being at Rafiki is reclaiming roots - is reclaiming the spirit of who we are, where we come from and what that means in our life. ☥ Dr. Sal Nuñez ☥ Healer ☥ Artist ☥ Instructor
Everybody has their calling, and I truly think that this calling - music - I call it medicinal music - musical medication, you dig it? Know what you’re doing, be true to your trade. It’s a pass down from one who knew it before we did. So, it’s our responsibility to pass it down again to the next being who is going to then pass it down and so forth. So, we want to try and give it as righteously as possible - as righteous as we received it, we’re going to give it in that manner. We ain't playing with it. We’re playing it. We’re having fun with it, but we ain’t playing around with it. We’re really serious about our trade, our genre of music and where we come from. The lineage between these two men right here that you see is very strong. ☥ ☥ MJ’s Brass Boppers ☥ Musicians ☥ Culture Keepers ☥ Teachers
We’ve got to change the narrative of the things that we like to outlet ourselves from. Music, art - these things are outlets, and we need to use them as positive outlets instead of negative outlets which is a lot of what we do in our culture. We use a lot of these art and health things and we use them in counterintuitive ways. This [Rafiki] Summit is [to] flip the paradigm, flip the narrative. So, now we get to make music about things like this and feel good about it instead of it feeling like a cliché or like something that ain’t supposed to happen. This is supposed to happen. So, it’s happening. ☥ ☥ Leo Mercer ☥ Artist ☥ Healer
[It's important for us to] focus on having a safe space, a healing space and spread healing practices amongst each other and the different organizations that are here, because one of the things we need the most in the Black community is healing. We go through a lot of trauma. We go though a lot of pain just existing in the world here in America, and, to get past the problems of health, incarceration, problems we face in society, we need a safe space to heal ... to make sure that we share best practices with each other. ☥ ☥ Dr. Prince White ☥ Activist ☥ Teacher
Coming from the environment that we come from - it’s a way to keep focused on something that’s holistically positive. It’s about … The more you write, as a poet, as someone who writes rhymes … I have to keep my mind sharp. In order to do that, I have to be aware of what’s going on in the world. So, from the studying, I was able to keep my mind active and that keeps my mind healthy. Within that study you also learn about meditation, spirituality and different practices of spirituality and how to apply it to our life … to my life. And so as I’ve grown in my spiritual studies. As I’ve learned meditation, as I’ve started doing Qigong and these different practices, it starts to fuse into my art. ☥ ☥ Kamau Abayomi ☥ Artist ☥ Instructor ☥ Healer
Events like this are important because it allows us to be able to reclaim our health which is the most important thing. Our health, cleanliness is Godliness, ... so to be healthy is to be in tune with that creative source and to be able to be a creator. ☥ Us having it in this time in particular is also vital because the sickness that we as Black People have adopted is generational and is something that is passed down. So, like us, as the fifth or sixth generation of whoever, now we are inheriting the lack of health from our parents, our grandparents, our great grandparents - all the way through. So, to have [the Rafiki Summit] is important now because we don’t have things like this and people are dealing with generational trauma, generational illness. ☥ With great power comes great responsibility. Why would we not use our gifts to heal? And it’s not necessarily like, 'OK we’re going to go save the world,' that’s a part of it but our music is a reflection of our self journeys, our personal journeys and us healing ourselves. ☥ ☥ OSHUN ☥ Artists ☥ Activists ☥ Healers
If we want to heal, we can heal through energizing and loving ourselves and then spreading that love. It does not have to be, ‘I’m wearing myself down.’ So, have a conversation with yourself about that. Hit the reset button in your mind, and see what that looks like. When you check in with the truest part of yourself, there’s never going to be a, ‘I’ve got to abuse myself to help this person. I’ve got to give to the point that I’m about to drop’ … No. No. ☥ ☥ Dr. Phyllis SHU Hubbard ☥ Health Warrior ☥ Visual Healing Artist ☥
Interestingly enough, what makes me well is helping you be well. A lot of people don’t realize that there is a direct benefit. Sometimes you’re working to try to get yourself somewhere and, in fact, when you stop looking at you and start looking at someone else and help someone else, self-less service, you get what you need. Sometimes people are thinking, ‘I need this and I need that.’ Sometimes you need to stop looking at you. It’s not about you. And, you’ll find that everything comes to you when you stop directing all the attention at yourself. I believe that every child should learn to give selflessly -with no intent of anything in return. I think children need to be taught that very young. You’re giving because there is a need, period. Not because you’re going to get anything. Now, ultimately, they do, and they learn that there’s a reward from giving. And, it’s not always a material reward. It’s a spiritual reward. It’s a moral or intellectual reward - something you can’t even imagine. But I believe that this is something that needs to be taught. It’s almost looked at as a burden ... It’s not a burden though. It should be something you joyfully do. ☥ ☥ Dr. Joy DeGruy ☥ Instructor ☥ Activist ☥ Healer
You and the Creator are one. You and the Master are one. Therefore, you create masterpieces. So, we have to continue to bring that thought up so that it moves from our feet all the way on up and that we’re able to bring it out to our people in the best way. ☥ ☥ Sunni Patterson ☥ Poet ☥ Artist ☥ Healer
The Art of Health ☥ Healing ☥ Part II delves into hidden trauma, self-awareness and the power of art to foster self-care and community wellness. Our Journey To Radiance ☥ The Art Of Health ☥ Healing podcast features Dr. Monique LeSarre (former Executive Director) and Ty Blair (former Program Manager), of the Rafiki Coalition.
Copy/Paste Version Of Full Citation Example:
Hubbard, P. S. (2020, September 27). The Art Of Health ☥ Healing. PHYLLISHUBBARD.COM.<https://www.phyllishubbard.com/post/the-art-of-health-healing>
Please do not keep phyllishubbard.com to yourself. We will not co-create a better world until we heal our current, past/childhood traumas. We will not love others until we learn to love ourselves.
☥ॐ☯
