Ancestral Healing for White Folks
Connecting to our selves and our lineages in the service of racial justice
What is Ancestral Healing?
Ancestral Healing is the healing of the generational wounding of our lineages, both in how they show up in our own lives now and as they stretch across time. As white people practicing to unlearn white supremacy, this can mean we are practicing connecting with who our people and cultures were before we were colonizers and also understand how they became colonizers and agents of empire.
Turning towards ancestral healing can mean grieving the ways in which our lineages were harmed and also grieving the ways our lineages have caused harm. It can mean metabolizing our own pain so that we have more capacity to be with the pain of others. It can mean remembering our humanness and connectedness to the earth so that we can show up more grounded and more resourced for ourselves, our relationships in our lives and for movements for racial justice and social change.
Ancestral Healing for White Folks Class Series
Ancestral Healing for White Folks is a 10 week class series taught by Samwise Raridon, Community Herbalist and Folklorist, that provides white folks space to grieve together, connect to our lineages before we were colonizers, and understand how ancestral and generational wounding can shape us and others across time. Together we explore ways to support each other’s journeys of unlearning white supremacy and strengthening our spirits so we can show up more resourced and resilient for ourselves, our communities and for movements for racial and economic justice.
This is a rigorous and transformational learning experience where students are invited to read Resmaa Menakem’s My Grandmother’s Hands together and to participate in a collective ancestral research project / community zine creation. Students are also invited to join the Ancestral Healing for White Folks Discord where they will be connected to other past and current participants who are interested in this journey of learning, unlearning and transformation.
Artist Credit: David Nash, Ash Dome, 1977
“I learned so much about my roots, the European history and the ways colonialism remains so tied to our societies still today. I loved [Resmaa Menakem’s] 5 Anchors and have used that in my daily life outside of class. I gained a stronger connection to other artists through the classes. I was able to process some conflict around race in my personal life through this class as well.”
— Past Participant in Ancestral Healing for White Folks