Healing Justice Is How We Can Sustain Black Lives [HuffingtonPost.com]

Right now, those of us most vulnerable and least protected are under attack and whole communities―Black, Muslim, disabled, queer, trans, and women-identified folks are being targeted in the streets and in legislative halls. The threats are real and calculated. And the attempts to shore up the institutional correlation between the right to live and able-bodied, white, monied maleness is dangerous and deadly for the rest of us. We can’t overstate the impact that the outright plunder of hard-won rights has on our lives and the lives of those around us.

As this new political and material reality is unfolding, many of us are struggling with our own well being and witnessing the same struggles with wellness in our communities and in our organizations.  It’s trauma, both historical and present, that grips us and impacts our ability to be present, grounded, connected in this moment, when it’s so crucial. We may then understand implicitly why healing our individual and collective trauma is necessary in order to face what is coming. We are literally – not figuratively – in a fight for our lives, and we need all of ourselves for that fight. Yet healing in the midst of ongoing trauma to ourselves and our communities is no small task.