For many Black communities, the holiday season carries layered meanings. While often framed as a time of joy and togetherness, it can also heighten grief, stress, and emotional fatigue, particularly for those navigating systemic inequities that persist year-round. African-centered traditions, however, offer culturally rooted pathways to psychological healing and resilience. […]
Reflection is a powerful tool for fostering self-love and restoring power to our minds. It offers us an opportunity to appreciate progress, express gratitude, explore mistakes, and identify areas for improvement. In the spirit of reflection and in honor of our Ancestors, I offer this reflection on a visit to […]
Gratitude is medicine for the nervous system. It softens contraction and opens the heart’s portal—the place where ancestors whisper and future generations listen.
We live in an anti-Black/African society. Every week, we learn of cuts to educational services in the US and conflicts throughout the diaspora that threaten our existence. Despite challenges, we must remain grateful for Blackness. From the textures of our hair to the soles of our feet, being Black is […]
Gratitude is often spoken of in fleeting terms, an emotion reserved for the dinner table or a holiday toast. But for many post-incarcerated Black men and women, gratitude carries a weight far greater than a polite “thank you.” It becomes a radical act of healing, a form of resistance, and […]
Nakumbuka is a Kiswahili word that means I remember. Nakumbuka is the name given to the annual day of observance for the Maafa (The African slavery holocaust). Jomo Nkombe, a Tanzanian who lived in Canada, pioneered the idea of nakumbuka as a public ritual in 1990. From early youth, Nkombe […]
Richard Philcox’s 2008 translation of Frantz Fanon’s 1952 book, Black Skin, White Masks, holds relevance for Black/Africans in America. Fanon’s words describe the post-colonial impact of race and racism in France and critique his academic studies. He demonstrates how people of African descent wear masks to manage living under the […]
Black Matrescence and Maternal Suicide: Breaking the Silence for Black Mothers Brianna A. Baker, PhD, Postdoctoral Counseling Psychologist, CUNY School of Public Health Koree Badio, MS, Counseling Psychology Doctoral Student, University of Florida In September 2025, 31-year-old Drake Patton and her two young children were found dead in Lake Michigan. […]
Growing up in Black households, some sayings linger. They persist across generations and counteract interventions that promote healing. Even though the literature states that African Americans die by suicide, there is still the myth in some households that ‘Black folks don’t kill themselves.’ I can assume various reasons for why […]
Strong but Sinking: The Hidden Toll of Family Strain, Incarceration, and Suicide Among Black Men in the African Diaspora by Abasi Key, M.A. and Felicia Swafford, Ph.D. Photo by Asso Myron on Unsplash For the Black/Afrikan diaspora community, this conversation is both urgent and deeply necessary. For too long, suicide […]
