Spirituality & Healing Belong in Activism
Abeja Rise | Substack No.08
Hello, hello!
Happy Virgo season! Let’s unearth some reasons why spirituality belongs in activism, but first, let’s not stop talking about Palestine. Even if it’s no longer trending on social media, even if you are feeling fatigued or horrified by coverage of the genocide, please keep uplifting Palestinian people. They need us more than ever.
I’ve talked about some ways to support Palestinian folks before, but here are some new ways to make their lives a little bit easier:
Search X, Threads, Facebook, etc. for fundraisers or events raising money for Palestinians
Search through GoFundMe for allies raising funds for Palestinians
Start your own fundraiser, host your own fundraising event (virtual or physical, but please be covid-safe!), or sell something and give a portion (or all) of the profits to Palestinians
Keep talking about the genocide, keep uplifting/sharing Palestinian social media posts and first-hand accounts of what’s happening
Expand your sights to other genocides and oppressed peoples around the World - we are in a time of great transformation and we absolutely cannot lose ground. Keep going, keep feeling, keep loving.
Listen, there isn’t a lot of capitalist hellscape I can get behind, but what the hell. August is Black Business Month. And so here are some of my favorite Black businesses - follow, support and buy from them:
Quintessential PR - boutique public relations firm in Beverly Hills, CA.
Zoe’s Vintique - vintage gems & contemporary fashion in the historic West Adams neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA.
Octavia’s Bookshelf - located in Pasadena, CA, the only Black-owned bookstore in the San Gabriel Valley.
Speaking4Profit - based out of Atlanta, GA, offers coaching and courses for public speaking.
Liberated Transitions - founded by a Black doula based in Los Angeles, CA, offering support for all of life’s transitions.
Reclaim Ugly - founded by Black author, Vanessa Rochelle Lewis, offering support around lookism.
Taylor Smith Succulents - Inland Empire-based landscape designer.
CAST Associ8tes - Consulting, peer-support and coaching from a liberation-centered lens.
be Morr - culturally affirming wellness community in New York City for women of color.
Mama Mangos - Black herbalist and plant-based medicine based out of Austin, TX.
Now go spend some money, sign up for some newsletters, and follow some social media accounts. I’ll be here when you’re done.
Spirituality Belongs in Activism
Lately, I have been thinking a lot about what it means for me to claim the title of a spiritual activist. The concept is multi-layered for sure, and for me, I’ve been an activist in one form or another much longer than I ever felt comfortable in my spirituality.
Here is where I landed - spirituality is often left out of activism and vice versa, but our activists need our healers and our healers need our activists.
Our activists experience burnout more often than not. In this capitalist society that has commercialized “self-care” so violently that it uplifts individuality rather than strength in community, we have internalized that “healing” can mean pathologizing ourselves and each other. We have internalized that we are “flawed” or “works in progress.” Our healers can help us decolonize and create the world we need.
History is deeply important in activism because it teaches us what has been done before and connects us to what is being done in the present. We also lean heavily on our histories, but for some of us, our histories are lost in often violent ways. That loss can, in some ways, be recovered and reclaimed with ancestor work. As spiritual folks, connecting our activists to their ancestors for guidance and strength opens us all up to more expansive experiences of the work we do centered on liberation.
Speaking of expansive experiences, our curanderes, brujes, witches, voodoo/hoodoo practitioners, shamans, and more can help us see each other more clearly and create deeper bonds with the folks we are working and building with. This can be transformational in community building.
In all the ways that our healers protect us, our activists, protect us too right back. As healers, we need support to continue to do the work we do. Because it takes all kinds to do this work. Because none of us, even our most elevated and revered healers, know everything. Because some of us have untapped gifts that need to be protected to support the movement. Because we all have something to bring to our collective liberation. Our activists can speak up for us and the need for us in the movement.
Our activists are also badass at calling some of us out and in. When cultural appropriate or spiritual bypassing gets in the way of the true connection spirituality can foster, it’s an opportunity to do better, not shy away from our spiritual connections.
And so the work of the activist and the work of the healer is deeply intertwined. I know I’ve shared this before, but it’s just as relevant now as it was then. I invite you to explore the Social Change Ecosystem Map by Deepa Iyer. When I say it takes all kinds, I mean it takes ALL KINDS.
So whether you feel more aligned as a healer or as an activist, or neither, there is a place for you in liberation justice. Find it. Live it. We need you too.
For my San Gabriel Valley book-lovin’ community:
A few months ago, I joined the Board of Directors for Underdog Bookstore & Events, Inc. Here are two upcoming events that I will be at if you want to come hang out.
🌟 Summerween: Saturday, August 24 from 1-6pm at Underdog Bookstore & Events, Inc. | Free & All Ages Event
312 S. Myrtle Ave, Monrovia, CA 91016
This is going to be a really cute event with Lizzy Ives signing her new book, Fat Witch Summer! We’ll also have some witchy vendors & spooky books for sale. Come on out and celebrate with us!
🌟 Neurodiversity & Snakes - Saturday, August 31 from 3-5pm at Underdog Bookstore & Events, Inc. | Free & All Ages Event
312 S. Myrtle Ave, Monrovia, CA 91016
YouTuber, Shira Loa, is going to talk to us about the benefits of handling snakes for neurodivergent folks. Plus we get to connect with snakes at the event so don’t miss out your opportunity to hang out with these serpent babes.
Wanna support us? Invest in a monthly sponsorship to help us add new books to our inventory or participate in our sponsor a shelf program. You can get all the details about both of these sponsorship programs on the Underdog Bookstore & Events Inc website.
Express your grief with me and other community members
Join me at these upcoming events. The Grief Circles at CASA Pitzer are every last Friday of the month. The Sad Queers Grief & Loss Circles are held virtually every second Wednesday of the month and are in partnership with the San Gabriel Valley LGBTQ Center. More details⤵️
🌟 Grief Circle | Friday, August 30 from 6:00-8:00pm | Free Entry | RSVP Required
CASA Pitzer | 200 S. Euclid Ave, Suite B, Ontario, CA
I will be facilitating our in-person Grief Circle and offering a token of appreciation gift donated by Willie’s Vintage in Monrovia, CA. We’ll also be enjoying a meal together while we express our own and witness each other’s grief. We have limited space so please RSVP here.
🌟 Sad Queers Grief & Loss Circle | Wednesday, September 11 from 7-9pm | Free | RSVP Required | Virtual on Zoom | In partnership with the San Gabriel Valley LGBTQ Center
I am so honored to be in partnership with the San Gabriel Valley LGBTQ Center to offer all of you monthly virtual grief & loss circles. You do not have to live in the San Gabriel Valley (or even California) to attend, nor do you need to be queer to attend but please center our LGBTQIA+ centered attendees. Make sure you RSVP here and I’ll see you there!
Here are some cool things:
ADHD Home Organization Ideas, Tips, Systems & Hacks - for my fellow neurodivergent folks that have trouble organizing their homes.
Tarot Birth Card Calculator - I recently learned that my tarot birth cards are The Empress & The World. What are yours?
Transformative Justice video series - working my way through these. Let’s talk about them?
Remedies: Plant Allies during the Time of Covid-19 - helpful info during our summer Covid surge. Masking and getting tested are acts of community care.
Tree Eyes Can Help Us Find Our Way - tree love all day every day forever.
Overcoming Grief with Cannabis: Learning to Heal - speaking of plant medicine, check out this podcast episode.
10 Affirmations of Disability Justice - my Creating Freedom Movements co-heart member, Deanna Parvin Yadollahi, giving some medicine to our fellow spoonies.
Thank you for sharing space with me. I appreciate and love you.
💗 Jen Venegas
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