At first I was really skeptical of going because I thought it would be like every other presentation about care. Reading from the slides, the general question, How are you feeling?, where the more confident people answer and release tension from the room and a series of slides on how to take care of yourself, then everyone leaves.
Little did I know of the thought and care poured into this presentation…
Dr Christina Johnson, Staff psychologist, whose focus is multicultural issues and intersectionality, gave this lovely presentation. In fact, lovely is an understatement! (You should visit her sometime in the Graham building, if you can.(cmj013@bucknell.edu ))
She starts with asking everybody, (the whole room!) how they are, their names and pronouns. She then asked: What emotion comes to mind when you think about your experience as a person of color in a PWI (Predominantly White Institution)? She insisted on using adjectives that have not been used by anyone in the room and prompted us to explain the words, and there was no space for hiding behind “general words.” It gets deeper than that. She asks if it is the first time identifying with emotion x, and how individual people have dealt with or made sense of emotion x and identifying the triggers. Which forces you to be in tune with your emotions. Lastly, Taking space when it is not given. She enforces these by building communities that are supportive of you, where it’s not everyday speaking of hurts, rather healing from them; By being assertive, not reactionary. “People mirror anger but halt with assertiveness.”; By intentionally celebrating ourselves and our community; By recognizing if and when you can’t get through it, go around it and at times you may have to go through the side instead of the front.
She closes by asking, “What is one way you can be intentional about health and wellness moving forward?” I’ll ask the same question, but you answer relative to your current environment.
With that said, I hope you’re keeping healthy, have a nice day!
– Holiness Kerandi