[Project]
Channelling Fire
Canaan Brown - Healing Circle: Channelling Fire - 22-06-2022
Blackness is a swirling mass of joy, trauma, and diverse culture. It evolves and shape-shifts and amalgamates by the day. It is an ever-growing phenomenon. Much in a similar way to the other wonders of humanity, out there.
Black masculinity sits oddly within this magical, mystical, swirling, mass. Its definition changes, and grows, and re-forms. The more this happens, it seems, the more conscious people become about the importance of their own self-awareness.
Black mental health is a historically-neglected paradigm. It is inevitable, given the histories of neglect, displacement, and oppression, which have impacted the consciousness of Black people brought into the Western world.
To talk about Black mental health, with honesty, transparency, and tact, was both liberating and informative. One can be affirmed by sharing their experiences with others. One can be inspired by recognising they are not alone in these experiences, either.
To be Black in the modern world is to decide which role in the Diaspora you want to take. The role of the drifter. Or the role of the agent.
The drifter is not so much a role, but a state. A state of apathy, and complacency; which can only ever attract self-deprecation, assimilation, and failure. To keep one’s head down, in the face of adversity, can only give so much protection. Yes, silence can be a weapon. However too much silence, at the wrong times, can turn that weapon very sharply upon oneself.
Then there is the agent. The change-maker. The fighter. Their role is to elevate those around them, and to inspire both their communities and themselves. They endeavour for excellence, and achievement, and settle for no less than their best. Agents speak up when adversity strikes, and fight oppression in all its insidious and explicit forms. Agents are both courageous advocates, and quiet visionaries. They dare to dream - and have the fire to manifest those dreams as best as they can.
These are two sides of a rift which has severed the Black Diaspora for too long.
The rift is pushed further agape by submission, and the acceptance of devices of division. Fractures, fissures, and cracks, appear in Black collectivity.
The divisions upheld weaken the bridges between our cultures.
There is beauty in difference, and one should be inspired by this. Yet people are ultimately formed through their connections. The more connections highlighted, celebrated, and understood, the brighter the future of society can become.
In a modern World - where representation and racism are too often intertwined - alliance, consciousness, and agency, are the only hopes.
For too long, the Separation between communities has been allowed to grow in prescience. The time for Bridging is now.
Through Healing, may the Black people of our world find purpose, and a desire for respective excellence. May society become more equitable, decolonised, and empowering. May young people be inspired to see that there are routes beyond self-deprecation, and that their ambitions can be both nurtured and channelled.
To the Black mentors, advocates, and educators. To the family, friends, and allies. Invest in the re-purposing of one’s well-justified anger and passion. Strive for the aspirations which will bring individual, and communal, peace and happiness.
To the agents, and the drifters. Continue the fight for freedom; for as long as it takes.
Endeavouring to always use, and channel, our fire.
Black masculinity sits oddly within this magical, mystical, swirling, mass. Its definition changes, and grows, and re-forms. The more this happens, it seems, the more conscious people become about the importance of their own self-awareness.
Black mental health is a historically-neglected paradigm. It is inevitable, given the histories of neglect, displacement, and oppression, which have impacted the consciousness of Black people brought into the Western world.
To talk about Black mental health, with honesty, transparency, and tact, was both liberating and informative. One can be affirmed by sharing their experiences with others. One can be inspired by recognising they are not alone in these experiences, either.
To be Black in the modern world is to decide which role in the Diaspora you want to take. The role of the drifter. Or the role of the agent.
The drifter is not so much a role, but a state. A state of apathy, and complacency; which can only ever attract self-deprecation, assimilation, and failure. To keep one’s head down, in the face of adversity, can only give so much protection. Yes, silence can be a weapon. However too much silence, at the wrong times, can turn that weapon very sharply upon oneself.
Then there is the agent. The change-maker. The fighter. Their role is to elevate those around them, and to inspire both their communities and themselves. They endeavour for excellence, and achievement, and settle for no less than their best. Agents speak up when adversity strikes, and fight oppression in all its insidious and explicit forms. Agents are both courageous advocates, and quiet visionaries. They dare to dream - and have the fire to manifest those dreams as best as they can.
These are two sides of a rift which has severed the Black Diaspora for too long.
The rift is pushed further agape by submission, and the acceptance of devices of division. Fractures, fissures, and cracks, appear in Black collectivity.
The divisions upheld weaken the bridges between our cultures.
There is beauty in difference, and one should be inspired by this. Yet people are ultimately formed through their connections. The more connections highlighted, celebrated, and understood, the brighter the future of society can become.
In a modern World - where representation and racism are too often intertwined - alliance, consciousness, and agency, are the only hopes.
For too long, the Separation between communities has been allowed to grow in prescience. The time for Bridging is now.
Through Healing, may the Black people of our world find purpose, and a desire for respective excellence. May society become more equitable, decolonised, and empowering. May young people be inspired to see that there are routes beyond self-deprecation, and that their ambitions can be both nurtured and channelled.
To the Black mentors, advocates, and educators. To the family, friends, and allies. Invest in the re-purposing of one’s well-justified anger and passion. Strive for the aspirations which will bring individual, and communal, peace and happiness.
To the agents, and the drifters. Continue the fight for freedom; for as long as it takes.
Endeavouring to always use, and channel, our fire.