Retrospective

21 Oct

Testimonials from Participants

Healing Justice Quotes

“It feels like I have so much more language to describe things. It has informed my politics and campaigning further and pushed me to think about alternative healing infrastructures more often. It has radically influenced my teaching. Personally, the course has given me the space to slow down and to imagine when maybe I was very busy with doing - this has been really helpful. I’ve seen the power of gentleness and care in spaces like these first-hand and continue to take this forward in my life/practice.”

“I wouldn't describe myself as a very spiritual person, but I really resonated with the idea of land-body connection in a way I hadn't before. I hadn't fully considered the ways in which our environment interacts with our health systems (both physical and mental health) and with other systems such as capitalism.”

“I came into the programme with the intention to absorb as much as I can. I often felt overwhelmed in approaching and speaking to others about health justice, capitalism and all the things we are oppressed by. The process of this programme was very informative, I felt encouraged, listened to, stable and loved. I was able to ask questions, learn and share. I felt appreciated as part of the group.”

“The programme was transformative and allowed me to re-imagine health and community in ways I had not in a very long time. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to take part and love all those I met and now know as a result <3”

“It has given me more confidence in my ability to advocate for the marginalised in my community, and also exemplified the need for co-production of knowledge with them. It has been helpful to improve my understanding of the theory behind social justice issues, and given me the language to discuss these things - terms like "planetary dysregulation" have been really helpful.”

We experienced not having to justify ourselves in a space, feeling like we share values, and a space to be vulnerable and co-learn, I did not feel isolated anymore

Going beyond criticism but towards visions of healing and reparations has been beautiful, it has not just been getting more knowledge but mind opening

Contemplations from Co-Hosts

Araceli

There were two main moments that stayed with me. The first was the Palestinian doctors who asked the question “what happens when the doctors die?” This created further questions

What happens when key and life sustaining infrastructure is destroyed? How do we reorganise ourselves to meet this phenomena? What do we need to fully be able to understand this phenomenon? What are the knowledges and tools we need to develop to help us move through this era? What are the Ancestral Knowledges that we need to sustain and evolve to meet the health demands of this era to ensure the future of generations to come.

The other contemplation was in the lecture from Zapotec womxn in Chiapas, who have organised themselves to create a health clinic. It provided the opportunity to understand that healthcare can happen in multiple ways and in fact it needs multiple imaginations. This clinic offers an example of what can be done from the bottom up, an opportunity to create pathways of health justice here in the UK.

Amit

A really valuable learning this programme gave me was the experience of being part of a community, albeit small, as it was in the process of being collectively built and nurtured. Together, we explored questions and themes around kinship, dignity, trust and vulnerability through our shared practice.

Another moment that deeply resonated with me was a quote from Abdirahim Hassan, founder of Coffee Afrik, who said, ‘Justice is what love looks like in public’. Coffee Afrik embodies the philosophy of hood futurism to envision the concept of ‘poor and thriving’ through acts of reclamation, such as projects that reclaim ownership of and repaint land in ‘the hood’ as a form of resistance. This led me to question how we can reclaim the right to nourish, and be nourished, by the land upon which we exist.

How can, and is, this concept be applied to other communities, including those beyond the borders of the UK? How can the reclamation of physical land lead us towards reclaiming cultural narratives and histories as well as forming new ones in response to those that have been erased?

Rhiannon

As a facilitator, this programme opened up new avenues of political consciousness and healing for myself. Rather than trying to deliver knowledge, the purpose of the facilitators was to design activities, connections and speakers that supported the growth and nourishment of the participants. This flexibility, openness and relationality allowed me to also learn from them and feel the beauty of seeing frameworks resonate with the participants. I felt seen, loved and supported myself.

The knowledge came alive through relationships, through spaces where people felt solidarity and love and connection, and were able to bring in their own knowledge and connect to it themselves too. Knowledge is only useful in constant dialogue, movement and relationship with people - the knowledge has to be alive by people holding it, and this programme showed me how knowledge can be a form of community power building. What gave people the ability to absorb the knowledge was time and community, as well as the space to apply and feel the concepts and frameworks.

I had almost forgotten how healing it feels, to find people who care as deeply as you do, and to explore the things you care about together, bringing your authentic self to that space. I felt so grateful to be able to collectively create that space together.

It feels so great to be part of building something that feels deep, sustainable and radical. It feels good to build a space that is our own, not campaigning against something or trying to fight within other spaces, but nourishing our own space and power.

Speaker Highlights

The Palestine session highlighted how colonisation disrupts relationships of colonised communities and that leads to poor health outcomes, liberation must come in all aspects of life because all aspects of life are impacted and disrupted by colonisation. The intricacies of national identity vs indigenous identity when it comes to healing are highlighted - what is an indigenous healing methodology? How can we archive these practices whilst also keeping them living? The Palestine session also highlighted how much we need healing systems that are able to respond to crisis and emergency, they need to be decentralised, rooted in communities, and not captured by the elite.

In the Zapatista feminisms session, we explored how healing practices within the community increased the collective political capacity. These practices had to be rooted in the land, recognising that the river was polluted. People responded to this harm with various autonomous political projects, ranging from domestic violence shelters to ecological restoration to political campaigns, but it all stemmed from a shared understanding of ecological health and a space to heal together.

Making Of

Josh Artus