Affirming Black LIFE ❤️
Hey!
I’m Tiff
You have so many gifts,
strengths, & talents to share
with the world and my job
is to help you fully align to them so you can get them out there!
*originally published via my newsletter on July 27, 2020
Hey Friends!
Yesterday, I shared with you just a little about what I was seeing and understanding spiritually about these times + my overall commitment to serve mamas with the practical tools & strategies to heal, be whole, & live aligned to the energy of their souls.
Well today, I want to specifically speak about affirming Black LIFE. Because there is no way to fully understand or speak about these times without affirming & acknowledging Black LIFE & the taking of Black LIVES.
I’m a Black woman of mixed race and there's been a lot I’ve been trying to understand, reconcile, process, & grieve during this time. And I’ve been taking a lot of time to listen & learn from others who have a deeper understanding than I do of this complex history & system of race + white supremacy in this country.
It’s been a time of deep healing & understanding as I’ve gotten more educated but it’s also been clouded by perpetual grief from loss, bullying, torture, murder, & trauma in our communities. Breonna Taylor, Oluwatoyin Salu, Atatiana Jefferson, Sandra Bland, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Stephon Clark, Philando Castile, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Mya Hall, Robert Fuller...and so so many more. Why are there so many?
The blood that’s been so ruthlessly shed in this country through the abuse & murder of Black & Native peoples IS TOO MUCH. It’s been too much. And the pressure constantly put on Black people to *fix* this broken system we didn’t create in the first place is suffocating.
We did not create this fucked up & unjust system but we did build this country. We did not bring ourselves here on slave ships but we did build the economic wealth of this country with our free labor. We did not create white supremacy but our literal life & survival depend on the complete obliteration of this vicious beast if we’re going to make it.
It’s a lot. And the reality of it all makes me sad.
But in the midst of my sadness & grief, I still have relentless optimism for my people & our future. And while I can’t say I have a full grasp of everything yet, I’m not sure I ever will, one thing I know for sure is that my time, my life, & my energy is in full service to affirming & building up,
Black LIFE. Black HUMANITY. Black BEAUTY. Black POWER. Black GRACE. Black BODIES. Black VOICES. Black EXPERIENCES. Black REST. Black WEALTH. Black HEALING. Black SURF. Black CULTURE. Black ART. Black SPIRITUALITY. Black LEGACY. Black JOY. Black WELLNESS. Black LIBERATION. Black FOOD. Black COMMUNITY. Black HEALTH. Black FARMS. Black MOTHERHOOD. Black VALUE. Black TRAVEL. Black IMAGINATION. Black MUSIC. Black FAMILY. Black LOVE. Black PEOPLE. Black PEACE. Black CHILDREN. Black BIRTH. Black ABORTION. Black PRIDE. Black SYSTEMS. Black HISTORY. Black CAUSES. Black BUSINESS. Black UNITY. Black RIGHTS. Black ELDERS. Black WISDOM. Black COUNTRIES & CONTINENTS. Black EVERYTHING.
This is for my eldest named ancestor I know of & great great grandmother, Elizabeth Rawls-Arnold & great great granddad, George Arnold.
This is for my great grandparents, Lewis Smith & Frances Arnold.
This is for my precious grandad, Freddie Lewis Hinton & my beautiful grandma Ruby Hinton.
This is for my dad, Dolan Hinton, who spent most of my life imprisoned by the prison industrial complex.
This is for my cousin Rocky who’s currently incarcerated with 6 kids who need their daddy.
This is for all my little cousins, most of whom I never even got to meet, who’ve already lost their precious black lives & have left little ones behind.
This is for my Black family who has been faced with so much pain, loss, trauma, addiction, & mental health struggles with limited support.
This is for the black women in my family who strive each day to do their best, be their best, & do right by their families. To my cousin Am & niece Deja, I see you.
This is for my children, Genesis, Vision, & Lotus, that they might know exactly who they are, where they come from, & their purpose & responsibility to build not just for today & for themselves but for the potential & dreams of the next 7 generations of our people.
This is for all my Black people, friends, family, & future friends whom I love.
This is for the future of all our children, the health & sustainability of our communities & neighborhoods, that they would be well resourced safe havens, full of abundance, creativity, & vibrance.
This is for the Black Continent of Africa, a home I yearn to know better.
And this is for all my ancestors who remain unnamed & undocumented, many whose bodies lay resting at the bottom of the ocean & in the soil of grandmother earth.
Black life is sacred & I stand to honor it everyday. And I honor all the black death that has unnecessarily been caused in our journey to get here.
To my ancestors & my community, I rest for you. I live in joy for you. I honor my history for you. I live in, own, & reclaim my Blackness for you. And I show up each day to ensure I keep healing & doing my best in this life for all of us to affirm that our LIFE & LIVING WHOLE MATTERS.
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I saw a post the other day by a fellow mama named Bri who shared, “I spent thousands of dollars (that I will forever be paying back) on an art education that only highlighted white existence. The only time black art was really revered was if it featured black trauma...I am a Black creator who has to fight to be seen. My joy is just as important as my trauma. Joy is simple and it is complex, and a six-figure education would tell you that it’s only reserved for white people. Black joy and Black art deserve to be a movement in history too.” (@moonandcheeze)
I want to be apart of not just creating black joy & black art myself but I want to support the possibility of its creation by supporting & empowering Black PEOPLE & all my Black MAMAS who deserve to rest, express, & create to their hearts content vs. being burdened by the weight of white supremacy, the fear of losing their lives, their children's lives, their loved ones’ lives, & the overall lack of care for their FULL LIFE in this system.
We deserve to LIVE, BE HAPPY, BE WELL, BE SEEN, BE HEARD, BE CREATIVE, BE INTELLIGENT, BE SUPPORTED, BE OURSELVES, BE RESTED, JUST BE.
I want Wild Mama to be a safe haven for Black mothers to heal, be whole, & live aligned to the energy of their souls.
So with this so deep in my heart, I will be offering both partial & FULL scholarships for my next cohort to Black Mamas who want to join but need financial support. I’m not sure exactly how many scholarships will be offered just yet but there will be a special application dedicated to this coming soon. I’ll be sharing more info about this later on, so stay tuned.
But to all my Black Mamas, I gotchu! I see you! I affirm you! I love you! And I want to support you in your full glory & whole being. You deserve all good things to come to you.
Learn my process for how to develop an unwavering commitment to yourself as a mama.
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Alright y’all, it’s been real. Thank you for sharing space with me today. I appreciate you & I look forward to seeing what we can create together when we affirm, uphold, fight for, support, & fund Black LIFE. ️
Sending love,
Tiff