One Black Man's Healing Manifesto

When I would hear people say “why can’t you just move on” or “Can’t you see all this is in the past?” or “This is America: You are what you make of yourself,” at first I tried to believe it; seeing the problem as entirely or mostly within me and other people of color who didn’t manage to uplift ourselves and our communities.

But I kept looking back, around, and inward and eventually wondered how anyone could actually still believe these ideas.

Not all white people espouse or secretly hold these thoughts, but all have been indoctrinated in a society that promotes a worldview that imbeds them into all of our psyches, just as it does the environment and structures of Racism, Classism, Sexism, Homophobia, and Genderism infecting us.

Now I realize those of you who DO believe these ideas do so because you haven’t dealt with your own wounds from the same Racism, Classism, Sexism, Homophobia, and Genderism inflicted upon your own psyche and keeping you in amnesia, blindness, deafness, numbness and unconscious privilege. Maybe not totally, but to some degree, like fish in the ocean, you are not aware of the presence of the water in which you are swimming, because it also supports and feeds you in ways while it either either quickly or slowly poisons us.

But it is poisoning you too; just so gently and subtly you could live an apparently full but actually diminished life and never even notice.

How does one communicate the fact of 336 years of multigenerational trauma in black people's lives to members of the dominant white-race culture prone to 336 years of amnesia involving its own atrocities?

Therefore, I thought it might prove helpful for you to first get a glimpse of the healing process required to BEGIN to “just get over it and move on.” After all, I can't heal my wounds or disease unless I am aware of what it is I'm dealing with, right?

Read through --in a deliberate and conte4mplative manner-- this entire list of processing statements. Keep in mind that just saying or affirming these things doesn’t get the job done. It is an emotional and psychological process. And while as a clinician and mindbodyspirit wellness coach, I have powerful tools at my command to accelerate the healing processes exponentially, I’d like you to sit in contemplation of the combined impact and cumulative effect of these multigenerational, collective burdens heaped upon a psyche, THEN I want you to read the quoted statements in the first paragraph of this post AGAIN and see how they make YOU feel after having only visited imagining these impacts while living in the shoes of a person of color, even if you didn’t agree with them in the first place.

If you manage to get through it all in one sitting, bravo/brava! And THANK YOU (It is actually what I expect of you). If not, I forgive you. You can try doing it in parts; it'll be easier for you to handle that way.

If you don’t see the point, you are reading the wrong blog.

If you are a person of color reading this post, please first consult the two coronavirus/COVID-19 pages on my www/besetfreefast.com website pages which will show you how to use a basic form of Be Set Free Fast to do emotional and psychological processing. You can actually start processing the inner healing by slowly reading each statement and then using your cue afterwards. In many cases, it will probably be best to be guided through it in a group session, or with a skilled facilitator/counselor/therapis/coach if you are particularly emotionally vulnerable. (email me at alfred_heath@yahoo.co.uk if you are interested in participating in a group process or two: if I get enough takers I'll do it as a gift in a group session on zoom)

There is a mirror-image process I would like to offer to those of you who are white and feel powerfully stirred up by any, some, most, or the totality of these statements, because you all have been damaged to some degree by the influence of societal/institutional/systemic/unconscious Racism/Classism/Sexism/Homophobia/Genderism; just in a distinctly different, perhaps far less apparent way than we people of color have. Like this one, it is an admittedly generic process, since it is a given that we are all unique individuals with our own personal histories and challenges, and if you are particularly emotionally vulnerable, you may want to opt out of this exercise without the support of a live therapist, counselor, or coach to hold the space and offer skillful additional help you may need. But for most of you, you can cope, and there are so many common factors in these societal forces that it should prove very beneficial in contributing to your healing and making you a more effective antiracist ally. And we people of color need effective allies.

However, I'm going to have to ask my white readers o sit with this for a week or two while my family and I lay my brother to rest and grieve. I don't think that is too much to ask, considering the generations of water that has already flowed under the bridge.

In the mean time, you could try, I don't know... "just moving on... putting it in your rearview mirror," or affirming it has nothing to do with you and suppressing it back down into your subconscious or keeping it repressed as you have been all your life. It might even partially/temporarily work for you since it isn't your life and family being most severely impacted. But I hope you won't or, better yet, can't. Anyway, here goes...

NOTE: The word family is used here loosely: sometimes it means one's own personal family starting at grandparents and including the next generation, but in several instances it simply is a synonym for fellow people of color. For purposes of the exercise and emotional/psychological processing, these statements are valid either way.

I’ve been fed a subtle or blatant lie of inferiority; the reinforcers and enforcers are still all around me

I’ve been fed a lie of insignificance all of my life, and the reinforcers and enforcers are still all around me

I’ve been fed a lie all my life that my entire worth lies ONLY in ability in sports, music, or dance for the entertainment of the masses and the further enrichment of the wealthy and powerful

I’ve been fed a lie all my life that my purpose is the validation of the greater value of members of the dominant group

I’ve been fed these lies all of my life, and so has nearly everyone in the Society I live in

I and my family have suffered grave, speakable and unspeakable harm from racism

I, my ancestors, and my family have been marginalized and excluded from life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in too many ways to count

My ancestors and my family were stolen and transported to a hostile world because we were born of African descent and it was profitable for the perpetrators

My ancestors and my great grandparents’ generation were enslaved, bought and sold like cattle, exploited, raped, tortured, and murdered because they were born of African descent and it was profitable for the perpetrators and because they could get away with it

I and my family have been exploited because we were born of African descent and it was profitable for the perpetrators and they could get away with it

I and my family have been ripped off because we were born of African descent and it was profitable for the perpetrators and they could get away with it

I and my family were abused because we were born of African descent and they could get away with it

I and my family have been neglected because we are of African descent and they could get away with it

My ancestors, relatives, friends, acquaintances, and people who look like they could be relatives or in-laws have been attacked, wounded, lynched, and murdered because they were/are of African descent and the perpetrators could get away with it

The powers that be consider my affirming my rights, power, beauty, and genius a threat to the status quo

The agents supporting the Racist Society I live in oppose my empowerment at every turn

The forces and policies supporting the racist Society I live in oppose justice and equality for me and all people with ancestors from the African Continent

I and my family members have been traumatized

I and my family members have been terrorized

I and my family members have been figuratively and literally lynched

I and my family members have been utilized but not recognized

I and my family members have been marginalized

I and my family members have been stereotyped

I and my family members have been pigeonholed

I and my family members have been oppressed

I and my family members have been alienated

I and my family members have been targeted

I and my family members have been unfairly detained, arrested, and charged as criminals, literally and figuratively by the racist legal system and the Court of Public Opinion in this Racist Society

I and my family members have been unfairly tried and convicted figuratively and literally by the racist legal system and the Court of Public Opinion in this Racist Society

I and my family members have been unfairly mass-incarcerated literally and figuratively by the racist legal system and the Court of Public Opinion in this Racist Society

The individual and combined effects of Racism, Classism, Sexism, Homophobia, and/or Genderism have been causal or powerfully contributing forces behind:

post-traumatic stress in my ancestry and in my family;

anxiety in my ancestry and in my family;

depression in my ancestry and in my family;

psychosis in my ancestry and in my family;

alcoholism in my ancestry and in my family;

drug addiction in my ancestry and in my family;

domestic violence in my ancestry and in my family;

suicide in my ancestry and in my family;

homicide in my ancestry and in my family;

gang membership in my ancestry and in my family;

criminal acts in my ancestry and in my family;

physical and sexual abuse in my ancestry and in my family

Although perhaps not all directly caused by these forces, most or all of these damages have been powerfully contributed to...

these forces are probably at the root cause of one or more;

these forces are probably more than just the “last straw” that triggered one or more of these damages

And whenever I attempt to call out racist speech, expectations, and behaviors thoughts, and feelings

Despite all that has been done to me, my family, my ancestors, and all descendants of African slaves, we survivors are still here; we are still standing

So, for my own sake and in their memory, I choose to rise up into wholeness.

For my own sake and for the sake of my ancestors and family members who have suffered so much:

I am ready, willing, and able to heal myself of the emotional and psychological wounds Racism, Classism, Sexism, Homophobia, and Genderism have inflicted upon my body and my psyche

I am ready, willing, and able to free myself by eliminating the internal causes of these wounds I absorbed from being in the womb of a Racism/Classism/Sexism-stressed body; from my upbringing, my socialization, my indoctrination posing as education, and from my environment

I am ready, willing, and able to free myself by undoing the internal consequences upon my body and my psyche of these assaults on my being

In the name of my family and ancestors and before the Universe, I now liberate, proclaim, embrace and reintegrate my life and aliveness

In the name of my family and ancestors and before the Universe, I now liberate, proclaim, embrace and reintegrate my innocence

In the name of my family and ancestors and before the Universe, I now liberate, proclaim, embrace and reintegrate my creativity

In the name of my family and ancestors and before the Universe, I now liberate, proclaim, embrace and reintegrate my gut instincts

In the name of my family and ancestors and before the Universe, I now liberate, proclaim, embrace and reintegrate my inner peace

In the name of my family and ancestors and before the Universe, I now liberate, proclaim, embrace and reintegrate my power

In the name of my family and ancestors and before the Universe, I now liberate, proclaim, embrace and reintegrate my beauty

In the name of my family and ancestors and before the Universe, I now liberate, proclaim, embrace and reintegrate my heart’s desire and passion

In the name of my family and ancestors and before the Universe, I now liberate, proclaim, embrace and reintegrate my heart’s intuition and wisdom

In the name of my family and ancestors and before the Universe, I now liberate, proclaim, embrace and reintegrate my heart’s capacity to receive, generate, transmit, and radiate love

In the name of my family and ancestors and before the Universe, I now liberate, proclaim, embrace and reintegrate my capacity and willingness for self-expression

In the name of my family and ancestors and before the Universe, I now liberate, proclaim, embrace and reintegrate my capacity for clear, keen perception and deep insight

In the name of my family and ancestors and before the Universe, I now liberate, proclaim, embrace and reintegrate my genius

In the name of my family and ancestors and before the Universe, I now liberate, proclaim, embrace and reintegrate my awareness of my invulnerable spiritual consciousness

In the name of my family and ancestors and before the Universe, I now liberate, proclaim, embrace and reintegrate what is mine with love and respect for all beings

In the name of my family and ancestors and before the Universe, I now liberate, proclaim, embrace and reintegrate what is mine, and I choose how, when, and with whom to share it from a position of empowerment and in a spirit of abundance and generosity

Despite all that has happened to me, my family and my ancestors, in the name of all of us, I choose unconditional love

I now honor myself, my body, my mind, my heart, my emotions, my spirit; and the bodies, minds, hearts, emotions, and spirits of my family, my ancestors, my community, and my world

I see, feel, hear, love, honor and respect the humanity and spiritual essence of all of the people of all racial identifications who have ever loved me, love me now, or will someday love me; who don’t love me, have never loved, or will never love me; who don’t like me or are afraid of me, or who hate or despise me whether or not they ever knew me

I emancipate myself from the racist beliefs and presuppositions I have absorbed

I will never again ask for equality; I AM equal and my presence by itself is the RIGHTEOUS DEMAND to be treated with equality and fairness, even though I take all appropriate precautions to protect myself in actively, passively, or potentially hostile environments

My being and presence in and of themselves are a RIGHTEOUS DEMAND for justice for myself, for my progeny, for my ancestors and for those with similar ancestry; for my fallen and still-standing family members, and for all humanity

I am ready, willing, and able from an inner space of equilibrium, compassion, and inner clarity to perceive, call out, and challenge implicit bias, unconscious racism, institutional racism, systemic racism, and the people and institutions which create, impose, and support these atrocities

As I make my ascent into wholeness and start achieving the potential merits of my gifts and receive recognition, I continually release any inner sense or incoming microaggressions or messages of “impostor.” I AM the real deal!

But in order to truly heal, I must become part of the solution

I AM READY, WILLING AND ABLE TO BE A HEALING PRESENCE THAT SUPPORTS THE HEALING OF MYSELF, MY FAMILY, MY COMMUNITY, MY SOCIETY, AND MY WORLD.

It is a nearly impossible task, but I will not stop

I cannot do it on my own, so I will do whatever it takes to recruit authentic allies

My allies and I cannot do it on our own, so we will join and inspire The Movement

Our Movement may take two steps forward, ones step back, but WE WILL NOT STOP

If you made it to the end without scanning or speedreading, THANK YOU. If you did scan or speed read, start over and go slow when you have the time. This is an exercise in awakening through contemplative emotion, not a speedreading course.

Regardig the symbols: Adinkrahene, The Ashanti tribe of Ghana have for centuries produced a fabric named Adinkra that is stamped orprinted with ancient symbols. The cloth is worn by Ghanaians on specialoccasions like festivals, weddings and funerals. Among the mostrecognizable symbols is the Adinkrahene, a series of concentric circles thatrepresents the King of Adinkra.