How do we heal from racism?

In the spirit of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we collaborate with other racial justice leaders every January to host the National Day of Healing from Racism. We create space to tell the truth about racism at this day-long event that is free to attend and open to all. 

At this year’s event on Jan. 17, 2023 at Wayne State University (WSU), we learned how to talk about racism's impact and how to use practices—including meditation, art, breath work, movement, song, and improvisational performance—to guide us on our journey of healing from racism. 

"Racism impacts everybody. We have a responsibility to take care of one another and to facilitate our individual, but also our collective communal healing," DEAL Director Asandi Conner told CBS Detroit.

We hosted the day in collaboration with the WSU Office of Multicultural Student Engagement (OMSE) and the WSU Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Our shared goal is to heal from and end racism, by telling the truth about past and current wrongs and addressing the consequences created by individual and systemic racism. 

This was our first year back in person after hosting the event virtually in 2021 and 2022. We opened the event with a guided meditation led by Amanda Hill of Healing by Choice!, who also offered emotional support throughout the day at a designated self-care table. We heard opening remarks from Dr. Marquita T. Chamblee, Associate Provost for Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer of Wayne State University. 

Participants were then invited to witness and participate in a dialogue among Wayne State staff and faculty as they explored the impact of racism in their lives during a fishbowl discussion facilitated by OMSE Senior Director Stephanie Hawkes and Intercultural Training Director Alex Boesch. Breakout sessions over lunch included movement healing with somatic and ancestral healing practitioner E Simon Woff, art therapy with Avalon Healing Center Youth Advocate Specialist Veronique Eason and art therapy graduate student Brittany Kihl, and a breath work session led by Schantell Taylor of Healing By Choice!

In a powerful afternoon program, Obsidian Blues Executive Director Sherina Sharpe hosted a ritual workshop on breaking through shame and processing grief to begin the work of reimagining our future. The Freedom Players, an ensemble within the Black Theatre and Dance Collective at Wayne State University, then led an improvisational performance for participants to enjoy and participate in. Finally, we ended the day with dinner and table conversations. 

Thank you to everyone who attended our National Day of Healing from Racism this year.  Please save the date for next year's gathering on Jan. 16, 2024 at Wayne State University!