Activists, advocates, and changemakers are the heart of social change in the City of Baltimore. They are visionary, scholarly, fearless and interface with many consequences as a result of their drive for social justice. People of color who commit their lives to the wellbeing of their community are not only susceptible to the usual side effects of vicarious trauma, but also tend to experience personal hardship exacerbated by their own racial trauma.

The mental health stigma in communities of color make ensuring our leaders get the support they need all the more challenging. After working with an impassioned group of activists in following the tragic loss of a fellow changemaker to Baltimore gun violence in 2016, two things became clearer:

1. We need to offer monthly, culturally-relevant, liberation focused healing spaces in community, free of charge.
2. The City’s changemakers want mental health providers that they know care deeply and have done the work to “get it.” They want to know that they will be in safer space and that the person on the other side of them has the capacity to explore tough topics like racism, equity, and bias; they want to know they can bring their whole selves to be healed.

Healing Bmore Activists seeks to meet these needs. In October 2017, Baltimore Corp Elevation award and founded by liberation-focused psychotherapist, mind-body medicine practitioner and QiGong instructor, Shawna Murray-Browne, LCSW-C.

The Healing BMore Activists Initiative is two-fold:

• Healing Justice Spaces for Changemakers of Color that teach mind-body skills, cultivate community and encourage mental wellness. Interested in attending the next series? Get on the list!
• Training for Trailblazing Mental Health Practitioners in the Baltimore Metro Area everything from anti-racist practice, liberation-focused methods, ways to meet the needs of our community activists and address race-based trauma. All practitioners that complete this training are featured in a growing Directory to make gaining access to Therapy that Liberates, easier.

We need your help to sustain this initiative! So far, two healing spaces are booked to capacity — with a waiting list — and more than fifty therapists are awaiting details for our training intensive.

The #HealASista Project is an initiative of Kindred Community Healing that empowers women of color to renew their lives through movement, meditation and sista circles, releasing stress and building sistahood.

Facilitated by Billie Shabazz, LGSW, we hold seasonal Mini-Retreats and Mindful Sista Circles to honor Black culture, teach methods for self healing and navigate Modern Black womanhood.

From sacred healing spaces of authenticity and nurturing (on pillows, petals, and smell goods), to questions posed and answered about healing our deepest selves, all the way to the finely curated library of resources for healing, we encourage sistas in the community to do the work!