Happy Holidays! For years, there was no other way to describe this time of year, other than heart-breaking. I desperately didn't want to succumb to the Western way of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years celebrations. I felt Thanksgiving was a celebration of genocide. Moving to Arizona rendered me furiously making complaints with all the major stores that displayed "Merry Christmas" signs in their windows. Didn't they realize that there are millions and millions of non-Christians all over...

We are resilient! We work. We are raising children. We are riding relationships. We are in search of healing. We are facilitating healing for others! These facts alone speak to our resilience as human and spiritual beings. Therefore, we have the ability to change how we live and how our children live moving forward. My mother's generation was the first generation of Black professionals that were highly educated and obtained jobs that were good enough to provide the financial security that...

When I visit my people in West Africa, I often tease them by saying, "If the Europeans ships came again tomorrow, we would be stolen again!" This is a joke to me because I am always amazed by the warm reception I receive when I visit new villages. Despite my light-brown skin, and clearly Western mannerisms, I am always welcomed and cared for. When I present with physical, spiritual or emotional issues, my people immerse me in medicine: Women might dance and cook for 3 consecutive days,...

I am saddened to hear about the death of another Arab young man in Marseilles, France. The reason I started this virtual community was to share stories and shed light. Let's travel to France.... After our time at the Ashram in India, my then 8-year-old son was insistent that we move to China. I had absolutely no intention of going to China. In his few short years he had become an avid martial artist and was determined to study Kung Fu in the Shaolin Temple. My limited adult mind thought it...

I walked away from my Western life to sleep on the floor of an ashram. Dissatisfaction had become a normal state of being. I was deeply embarrassed by this. As I canvassed my home I perused every object, and breathed its beauty. My thoughts were about how grateful I was to have a living museum in my house, what a treasure it was to live in a spiritual temple that I created. I was ashamed by my soul’s ambivalence, when it responded so what . Consciously, I counted each and every blessing. I...

In my culture, I was bestowed the title of Holy Mother . In traditional ceremony, my divined name is Mother of the Universe . I am a proud and powerful Mama, Big Mommy, Mommy and Mother. But, I need to talk about fathers. My Precious Little Daughter, was frequently the opening line to emails sent to me by my dad. Over a year ago my father, an African Medicine Man, realized that he only had a short time to live. He was desperate to get to my oldest son to perform ritual before joining the...

Alongside two elders and a colleague, we arrived at the Centre for Addiction & Mental Health in Toronto, Canada. Our intention was to facilitate the first Canadian/American collaboration to heal Historical Trauma. I vacillated between feeling immensely excited and powerfully emotional; what an honor to be a black woman surrounded by First Nation relatives on Native land. Our first great work was to enter the sacred ceremonial space for prayer and cleansing. As a tribal African woman, I...

As we endure the pain of lost loved ones, manage the anxiety of financial insecurity and potentially fret over becoming ill, it is a brilliant time for change in our country and around the world. There is a special kind of racist exclusion in America. When I took my young son to live in India, initially, he struggled everyday on the bus to school. There was a lot of hazing and bullying from older students. I remember him begging me to please take him to school in a rickshaw so that he didn’t...

Over the next few days, I am going to provide a little food for thought about the loss of cultural identity that has profoundly impacted Africans across the Diaspora. Remember that the descendants of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade that live off of the Continent, are perhaps the only collective in the world that does not know their origin. We are African, but Africa is a continent of fifty-two countries with thousands of different cultures and dialects. Today’s micro-discussion is on names.

Over the next few days, I am going to provide a little food for thought about the loss of cultural identity that has profoundly impacted Africans across the Diaspora. Remember that the descendants of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade that live off of the Continent, are perhaps the only collective in the world that does not know their origin. We are African, but Africa is a continent of fifty-four countries with thousands of different cultures and dialects. Today’s micro-discussion is on...

LEVEL 2 HISTORICAL TRAUMA SPECIALIST CERTIFICATION MARCH 2022!!! The wait is finally over! Iya Affo and Heal Historical Trauma will present: Historical Trauma Specialist Certification- LEVEL 2: A Neurological, Environmental & Cultural Perspective on March 1st & 2nd 2022. LEVEL 2 will cover the following: Neurological implications of Historical Trauma and how to align neurobiology with desired behavioral outcomes. Indigenous Attachment Theory Understanding the injurious relationship...

HEAL HISTORICAL TRAUMA & Iya Affo PRESENT: The Historical Trauma Specialist Certification- Level 1 is a comprehensive understanding of Historical Trauma from a multicultural lens. The training is designed for participants serving, leading, advocating and working with people of color. It is the perfect training for people in a variety of disciplines as well as multicultural families and for anyone with the desire to understand the impact of slavery, genocide and colonization. The course...

Being Trauma-Informed means that we are Culturally Attuned. Heal Trauma Global is a sister company to Heal Historical Trauma and was cultivated to fill a wide gap in stress science & trauma training. The trauma-informed movement is beautiful! It's wonderful that as a society we are moving in a direction that honors an individual's past as part of the driving force behind current behaviors. Yet, time and time again, I have attended trainings that are labeled as Trauma-Informed only to...

In Honor of Black History Month 2k22 Please Enjoy the Following NEW Trainings: Facilitating a Full Expression of Resilience: BIPOC are resilient. In learning how trauma is formed and passed from one generation to the next in our communities, we will understand how to facilitate a full expression of resilience in vulnerable communities. This course takes a deep dive into the reality of flight or fight mode and how many people enduring oppression, discrimination and hate live with a constant...

Standing on top of Ogun Mountain, in the Sacred City of 41 Mountains, West Africa, I knew my life would forever change. The women from the royal house danced for me. The men drummed me into a trance. They called me by my African name as they welcomed me home. On the soil of my ancestors, the healing began. I am a black woman born in the 1970’s. Nine generations ago, my ancestors were on the continent of Africa inhabiting the Kingdom of Dahomey. We were thriving. Unbeknownst to most, we were...

We are the only entity offering a comprehensive, 48-hour Historical Trauma Specialist Certification Program. The Program is broken into 6 levels and is built on a foundation of BIPOC cultures and neurobiology. It is taught from a multicultural perspective, injecting traditions and ideology from various cultures from around the world. In this inclusive study we rely on the ancient tradition of storytelling, visual art and interconnected relationships to intentionally explore difficult topics.