We center Black Women and Femmes' liberation, wholeness, and wellness. I am the founder and CEO of The Free People Project and the USA Bestselling Author of “All The Black Girls Are Activists: A Fourth Wave Womanist Pursuit Of Dreams As Radical Resistance.” My Spiritual Mentorship Program, entitled “Dream Yourself Free,” is designed to support Black Women to heal intergenerational wounds and prioritize pleasure. I created Black Girl Mixtape, a platform and safe think space that elevates the intellectual authority of Black Women. I speak from a Hip Hop Womanist perspective. I earned my Bachelors in Cultural Anthropology and Political Science and a Masters of Arts in Social Change with a concentration in Spiritual Leadership, Womanist Theology, and Racial Justice. Welcome.
In Pursuit of My Ancestors
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Hello Reader, I must share with you a quote from a recent lecture I did last week: "She told them that the only grace they could have was the grace they could imagine. That if they could not see it, they would not have it." - From Beloved by Toni Morrison In this lecture on Dreaming as Radical Resistance, I spoke about Beloved by Toni Morrison and the visuals from Lemonade as sacred text because of how they tell us where we are going, how we are headed there, ways to deepen our dreaming, how to hope and remember what is possible. You can watch that lecture here and reply to this email and share with me a personal sacred text that has been guiding you in life. This work of knowing where we are going and keeping hope alive is not possible without our Ancestors...
In many Christian families, ancestral reverence is considered “demonic.” Family traditions and religion affect Black girls and women in very specific ways. There are many ways the church sends the message that ancestral reverence is demonic. “The terror I had about not sharing the same truth system as the rest of my family kept me in the closet for years beyond the time I had reconciled for myself that Jesus was a thing for me, but Christianity was not… When I share this experience with my queer friends, the anxiety, the terror, the fear of rejection, and the loss of relationship that often happens when you “come out” as something other than what has been deemed socially acceptable for the community of folk that raised you, all of my beloved queer friends have said some version of, “Girl. That sounds like what it felt like to come out as gay/lesbian/bisexual/queer/trans to my family. It was hard, and I’m still healing through some of the trauma of lost relationships as a result of my truth system.”
EbonyJanice, Chapter 11 of All The Black Girls Are Activists
For those who wish to honor their religious practices and honor their ancestors, we must first acknowledge the ways in which Christian practices may have promoted the "forgetting" of your Ancestors. And why? We can also:
Dream With MeThis year in my upcoming 6-week Dream Yourself Free Masterclass, we will be using the tools of ancestral veneration to manifest our dreams. Learn more about my other dream coaching offerings, the Year Long Sovereignty Mentorship Program and the One-Day Dream Yourself Free 1:1 Retreats here. You can also donate to this work by supporting my 501(c)3 Emma’s Legacy Foundation here. JoyMy Egungun initiation was a beautiful transition into the deepening of my priesthood journey. Helping my baby nephew make his pumpkin book report project reminded me nobody Auntie’s the way I Auntie because yes the pumpkin does have hand wound kinky twist hair Bantu knots! And what? Speaking at the ECLA Womanist Initiative event at Advent Lutheran Church in Charlotte this weekend brought me great womanish joy. Preaching and teaching is the work my soul must have. In joy and ancestral reverence, EbonyJanice |
EbonyJanice & The Free People Project Newsletter.
We center Black Women and Femmes' liberation, wholeness, and wellness. I am the founder and CEO of The Free People Project and the USA Bestselling Author of “All The Black Girls Are Activists: A Fourth Wave Womanist Pursuit Of Dreams As Radical Resistance.” My Spiritual Mentorship Program, entitled “Dream Yourself Free,” is designed to support Black Women to heal intergenerational wounds and prioritize pleasure. I created Black Girl Mixtape, a platform and safe think space that elevates the intellectual authority of Black Women. I speak from a Hip Hop Womanist perspective. I earned my Bachelors in Cultural Anthropology and Political Science and a Masters of Arts in Social Change with a concentration in Spiritual Leadership, Womanist Theology, and Racial Justice. Welcome.
Hi Reader! Randomly, I want to start this email to you by saying, "I'm so sick of Astrology borderline lying to Capricorns." LOL! I swear we keep getting these messages that Pluto is done doing something and the stars are doing something else with something and the Sun has progressed to something... and all of that means things are supposed to be more easeful for us soon. WHEN? Tell. Me. When? LOL! (deep sigh) Hi! Happy April! The newsletter usually goes out on the first of the month but...
Hi Reader I missed sending the newsletter on the 1st of the month. I know. For those of you who follow this newsletter closely, you probably noticed. For those of you who didn't — thank you for the grace anyway. Either way, I wanted to name it. The truth is, I've been deep in a prayer container that began on February 2nd, and I am just now coming up for enough air to sit down and write to you. When I say prayer container, I don't mean the polite, neat version of prayer that many of us were...
I’ve been listening to Karen Clark Sheard’s song Praying Spirit on repeat. There’s a line that feels like it was written for me right now: “Lord, when I pray, give me what to say.” Because in this season, I’m tender. I’m overwhelmed. I’m in transition. I’m becoming. I’m navigating the weight of a PhD program. I’m holding uncertainty around my work and a few major projects. I’m writing a book with urgency about Black love's survival. I’m deepening into priesthood. And I just turned 43. And I...