Roots of the Spirit Podcast

Host Spirit Tawfiq talks with Jocelyn Boreta, the co-founder of a bilingual mobile herb clinic by and for Latinx and Indigenous people. The Botanical Bus is helping people in her community through the power of plants and a connection to ancestors, helping cultivate health equity and the feeling of belonging. 

Community health workers called promotoras are providing culturally-centered health services. The promotoras meet people where they are, literally and figuratively, by taking the bus out to worksites and family service center hubs.

Author Connor Towne O’Neill explores the history of white supremacy in his book Down Along with That Devil’s Bones. On a special bonus episode of Roots of the Spirit, we’ll hear about his journey to fight against racism by examining the uncomfortable truths of our nation’s past.

Buy the Book: https://www.workman.com/products/down-along-with-that-devils-bones/paperback

Host Spirit Tawfiq talks with Dr. Kimber Shelton about the recent release of her Handbook on Counseling African American Women, which details the mental health needs and treatment interventions for black women.

Handbook on Counseling African American Women:

https://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Counseling-African-American-Women/dp/1440875952

Dr. Kimber Shelton:

https://www.kls-counseling.com/

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/CounselingBlackWomen

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/counselingblackwomen/

Host Spirit Tawfiq talks to noted meditation practitioner Shamair Courage of LoveWorks365, who will be leading a meditation session at a fundraiser on May 22, 2022 at The Studio at Athleta Flatiron to provide scholarships for women to attend the Roots of the Spirit Healing and Joy Retreat.

GoFundMe donations: https://gofund.me/18016786

Sign up for Roots of the Spirit Healing and Joy Retreat: https://www.rootsofthespirit.com/healing-joy-retreat

Host Spirit Tawfiq kicks off Season 2 with Dr. Thema Bryant, who will become President of the American Psychological Association in 2023.

Roots of the Spirit is launching the And Wellness For All initiative, which promotes honest discussion about the wellness of people of color in the U.S.

4:20 Announcing the inaugural Roots of the Spirit Healing & Joy Retreat for black, indiginous, and women of color

6:00 Sign up for retreat and retreat details

6:15 Retreat will feature fresh farm foods, yoga, meditation, herbal farm, cacao ceremony

7:50 Scholarship fundraiser for access to retreat

10:55 Welcome Dr. Thema Bryant 

13:30 Dr. Thema’s interest in psychology

19:00 Psychological homelessness

25:00 Racism lies 

26:40 Psychological damage of oppression

33:30 Empowering ourselves to influence policy and promote change

36:20 Resistance strategies

41:30 Being the descendents of the oppressor

51:10 American Psychological Association’s apology for promoting systemic rascism

Sign up for Roots of the Spirit Healing and Joy Retreat: https://www.rootsofthespirit.com/healing-joy-retreat

Healing and Joy Retreat Fundraiser:

https://gofund.me/18016786

Dr. Thema Bryant’s website: https://drthema.com/

Buy Dr. Thema Bryant’s book, Homecoming: Overcome Fear and Trauma to Reclaim Your Whole, Authentic Self. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/059341831X?tag=randohouseinc46150-20

Treat yourself to a conversation with Civil Rights Icon, New York Times Bestselling Author, and Speaker Ruby Bridges who at the age of six was the first Black student to integrate an all-white elementary school in New Orleans in 1960.

Her walk through the front doors of William Frantz Elementary School on Nov. 14, 1960, was immortalized in Norman Rockwell’s painting The Problem We All Live With in Robert Coles’ book The Story of Ruby Bridges, and in the Disney movie Ruby Bridges.

Published in November 2020, This is Your Time is her first book in over twenty years following the publication of her award-winning autobiography, Through My Eyes. She established the Ruby Bridges Foundation to provide leadership training programs that inspire youth and community leaders to embrace and value the richness of diversity.

Bridges is the recipient of numerous awards, including the NAACP Martin Luther King Award, the Presidential Citizens Medal, and honorary doctorate degrees from Connecticut College, College of New Rochelle, Columbia University Teachers College, and Tulane University. She recently named one of 100 iconic Women of the Century by USA Today.

**Please note that the N-word is used once in this episode in a historical context**

Ruby Bridges Foundation: www.RubyBridges.com

Purchase Ruby Bridges’ New York Times bestselling book This Is Your Time: https://bit.ly/3wM97c5

Disney's Ruby Bridges (movie): https://bit.ly/3a5Pn9U

Instagram: rubybridgesofficial

Join special guest, Dr. Todd Mealy for a powerful conversation about his new book Race Conscious Pedagogy: Disrupting Racism at Majority White Schools, and how to be a powerful antiracism co-conspirator. Dr. Mealy is a 20-year educator at both the secondary level and in higher education. For two decades, Mealy has advocated for race consciousness in schools. He has written extensively on the topic, including the publication of seven books. He also works as the Director of Equity and Instruction at The Bond Educational Group, and serves as a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion trainer.

Connect with Dr. Mealy:

Website: www.toddmealy.com

Twitter + Facebook: @ToddMealy

Equity Institute for Race Conscious Pedagogy: www.raceconsciouspedagogy.org

Buy the book Race Conscious Pedagogy: Disrupting Racism at Majority White Schools
www.raceconsciouspedagogy.org/the-book 

Join Roots of the Spirit podcast host, Spirit Tawfiq as she answers a few questions from listeners - topics such as Trump banning antiracism work across the federal government, strategies to maintain sanity in these tumultuous times, and how to speak to students about the election. 

Links I mention in the podcast:

Roots of the Spirit website:
www.RootsoftheSpirit.com 

Roots of the Spirit Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/RootsoftheSpirit

Roots of the Spirit Facebook Community:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1994495373986013

WomensActivism.NYC: www.WomensActivism.NYC 

Outdoor Afro: www.OutdoorAfro.com

Sojourn to the Past: www.SojournProject.org

Smithsonian National Museum of American History "Girlhood: It's Complicated" exhibition featuring Minnijean Brown Trickey's (Little Rock Nine) personal collection, including her high custom-designed school graduation dress. https://americanhistory.si.edu/girlhood 

Spirit and Hisham Tawfiq talk the raw truth about the mental health impacts of racism + the rage, sadness, and frustrations of everyday racism. Hisham introduces a fresh new concept, "how to rope-a-dope racism" ...and they discuss the power of resistance, radical self-care, and love as liberation. 

In today's episode, we hear from Dr. Christiana Best-Giacomini, a remarkable woman who captivates us with her mother's story infused with unwavering courage, strength, and sacrifice as she left Grenada at the tender age of 28 to immigrate to the U.S. 

Here's a link to Dr. Best's moving story about her mother, Pearl Mavis Munro. https://www.womensactivism.nyc/stories/5331

Dr. Christiana Best-Giacomini is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work and Equitable Community Practice at the University of Saint Joseph.  She holds a Ph.D. in Social Welfare and is a licensed social worker.  Dr. Best is the host and creator of the podcast Inside Out/Outside In, which engages in conversations between academia and its communities and is framed by the themes of diversity, inclusion and equity. 

Roots of the Spirit podcast is proud to introduce you to the powerful young people of Reform Revolution Project!

Founded by antiracism and social justice education activist, Julia Mariano, Reform Revolution project believes that through the power of accessible education, everyone has the potential to face the realities of racism, learn about social justice, and dismantle white supremacy from the ground up. They believe that there is no longer an excuse or room for ignorance in our society.

They affirm that adopting a growth mindset is for everyone and hope to provide resources and practical tools to help you educate yourself, educate others, learn how to be actively anti-racist, and understand the importance of participation through activism and engaging in civic duties. Reform Revolution Project is created for lifelong learners by lifelong learners. 

Reform Revolution Project website: http://reformrevolutionpr.wixsite.com/reformrevolutionproj/blog

Reform Revolution Project Instagram: @reformrevolutionproject 

Minnijean Brown Trickey (Little Rock Nine) speaks truth to power about the reality of racism, police violence and the power of the Black Lives Matter Movement. This episode was originally recorded on a live podcast interview on facebook. 

Little Rock Nine member, Minnijean Brown Trickey wants children to know that they have the power to shift policy and make president's act.

Why is it so scary to speak the truth? What's at stake and what are the repercussions? In a super raw conversation, Spirit and Hisham Tawfiq discuss racism, courage, fears and consequences of speaking truth in the "present-racial" U.S. Some explicit language used. Head first we go!

"I'm very big on addressing the inside and dressing the outside. I think in today's society, everyone is so busy wanting to impress people with what they have and how they look...and then inside we're torn, we're broken, we're hurting...a lot of us are going through the same things...we put up these facades. I kind of like to try to break through the facade."

In 2007, Wardrobe Stylist & Costume Designer Stacey Jordan took a leap  of faith and left her full time job of 7 years as a Visual Stylist for H&M to start her own company Divine Styling International:  humility, humanity, fashion. Over the past 13 years Stacey has worked with companies such as Nike,  Ford, Disney, Nickelodeon, Emirates Airlines, Sotheby's International and more.

She's also worked on projects with some of todays greatest talents in film, tv and music.

OH, and she even styled Roots of the Spirit founder, Spirit Tawfiq and her husband on their wedding day!!!!!!!!!! FEROCIOUS stylez that will last a lifetime. 

When asked about her future plans, Stacey will tell you although she's been styling for the past two decades - stay tuned, she's only getting started!

Divine Styling: www.divinestyling.com

IMDb: https://m.imdb.com/name/nm1943324/

Roots of the Spirit video version of interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcYkhpt8Zk4

Instagram: www.instagram.com/styledbystaceyjordan

Endorsed by Michael Jordan, signed by Quincy Jones, and supported by the likes of Sean “Diddy” Combs, Lee England Jr. has without a doubt paved a unique path as a violinist. Although he is classically trained, he is claimed as “The Soul Violinist,” due to his stylistic blend of R&B, hip-hop, and soul. In addition to his mastery of this instrument, he adds viola, cello, bass, guitar, drums, piano, and voice to his arsenal of sound, allowing him to transcend artistic boundaries of traditional violinists.

Website: https://leeenglandjr.com/

Instagram: leeenglandjr

twitter: @LeeEnglandJr

The Jam Show: Lee England Jr. performs Chance the Rapper Medley

Youtube: Accused of Love 

Tawny is a self taught artist who has been working in the field of photography for the past 16+ years. Born in Tokyo, growing up an ‘army brat’, she had the unique opportunity to take in the cultures of three different continents all before the age of 12. By then she was in the United States and elbow-deep in her aunt’s theatre company. She studied theatrical arts from the age 12 to early adulthood. After briefly attending a dramatic arts conservatory after high school, she switched paths and focused her interests on being behind the camera. 

Her work and life have gone through many phases that led her to create the work she does today. She attributes this evolution to three major shifts: The decision to no longer pursue a career in dramatic arts, the birth of her first child and the death of her father. 

Tawny says, "I look to photography as the first layer of communication. My work is ever-changing and constantly evolving as am I. The portraits I create today are almost always inspired by my children and my desire to contribute something important to a world I want them to thrive in.  Each portrait usually begins as someone that I am close to in some way (my children, Goddaughter, a relative, or a model that I’ve worked with in the past) which then transforms into a new compositional expression by experimenting with multiple art practices. I choose to frame my work in gold vintage, antique and contemporary baroque style frames that I collect from estate sales, consignment and second hand shops, galleries, auctions and private sellers; the majority that previously held artwork of subjects that looked nothing like mine. Every layer is intentional and meaningful." 

Website: www.tawnychatmon.com

Instagram: tawnychatmon

twitter: @tawnychatmon

Fotografiska: https://www.fotografiska.com/nyc/exhibition/tawny-chatmon-inheritance/

Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/natashagural/2019/12/13/stay-up-late-at-fotografiska-new-york-to-traverse-the-wide-world-of-photography/#338ebfc270e7

Boston Globe: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2019/12/11/arts/art-basel-bears-far-better-fruit-than-that-120000-banana/

Just google Tawny Chatmon!

Retired FDNY firefighter and actor, Hisham Tawfiq joins the Roots of the Spirit Community as a regular contributor -- sharing his own path to healing and shining a light on the importance of health and wellness for Black men. 

Roots of the Spirit interview w/ Hisham from 2015:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f86EEzF1F9w

Roots of the Spirit website profile of Hisham:
https://www.rootsofthespirit.com/copy-of-hisham-tawfiq

Instagram & twitter: hishamtawfiq

Resources: 

Therapy for Black Men:
https://therapyforblackmen.org/

The Homecoming Podcast with Dr. Thema:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxpb1ZdNd6M99Fhaw09H81Q/featured

Therapy for Black Girls
https://therapyforblackgirls.com/

The Association of Black Psychologists
http://www.abpsi.org/find-psychologists/

HealHaus (Brooklyn)
https://www.healhaus.com/  

Little Rock Nine member, Minnijean Brown was expelled from Central High School in February, 1958 for "verbal retaliation" after 6 months of daily terrorism inside the school. Famed social psychologists, Dr. Kenneth and Mamie Clark invited Minnijean to live with them to finish school in New York at New Lincoln School, a progressive integrated school. She lived with the Clarks in their home in Hastings on Hudson until she graduated from high school. Roots of the Spirit founder, Spirit Tawfiq contacted the current owner of the historic house where they Clarks lived and embarked on a tour led by Minnijean and sat down for an interview to learn about her experience leaving her family in Little Rock to live in New York. 

The original interview is available via video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpj-OigWqTM.