During the last 10 minutes of the Historical Trauma break-out session of the 5th Annual Arizona ACEs Summit, Elder Prosper Waukon reiterated a magnificent story from the elders. It was the 2nd time I heard it and I was equally impacted by it on Tuesday. Today, I called him to hear it one last time so that I could accurately share it with all of you: Our essence is tied to our land of origin. In the Americas, after 500 years of blood from foreign lands mixing in the soil, all ethnic...

After attending the amazing and informative Calling Upon the Warrior Spirit to Heal Historical Trauma Conference and Ceremony in the Gila River Indian Community, I was introduced to the Roundtable on Native American Trauma Informed Initiatives. This organization is a great collaboration of elders, educators, attorneys, clinicians and advocates working to heal Historical Trauma and improve the lives of people in Indian Country. Elder Prosper Waukon connected our organization with Renee...

A year and a half ago, I lost my father. As an indigenous person, my spirit knows that relationships are never lost, they only transform. As a newborn, you enter into the world with a total dependency on your mother. With each month, neurological development and newly acquired skill, the relationship transforms over the course of your lifetime. When we finally transcend the physical world to join the ancestors, the relationship transforms once again. In my great love and connection to my...

The Arizona ACEs Consortium and the Governor's Office of Youth, Faith and Family put on a wonderful event yesterday! Arizona's First Lady, Angela Ducey, delivered a poignant speech about the importance of recognizing ACEs within the Foster Care System, based on personal experience with her nephew. She was authentic in her love of children and concern for their well-being. It was especially wonderful to hear that she is so knowledgeable about ACES!!! The Governor's address also expressed...

5th Annual Arizona ACEs Summit: Becoming a Trauma Informed State - Overcoming Adverse Childhood Experiences to Create a Healthier Arizona "Adverse childhood experiences can negatively impact a child's life well into adulthood - through identification and assessment, we can develop intervention strategies - creating happier communities for current and future generations of Arizonans. These efforts will move us closer to becoming a trauma-informed state, and help solidify Arizona as the number...

When I visit my people in West Africa, I often tease them by saying, "If the Europeans ships came again tomorrow, we would be stolen again!" This is a joke to me because I am always amazed by the warm reception I receive when I visit new villages. Despite my light-brown skin, and clearly Western mannerisms, I am always welcomed and cared for. When I present with physical, spiritual or emotional issues, my people immerse me in medicine: Women might dance and cook for 3 consecutive days,...

We are resilient! We work. We are raising children. We are riding relationships. We are in search of healing. We are facilitating healing for others! These facts alone speak to our resilience as human and spiritual beings. Therefore, we have the ability to change how we live and how our children live moving forward. My mother's generation was the first generation of Black professionals that were highly educated and obtained jobs that were good enough to provide the financial security that...

I am saddened to hear about the death of another Arab young man in Marseilles, France. The reason I started this virtual community was to share stories and shed light. Let's travel to France.... After our time at the Ashram in India, my then 8-year-old son was insistent that we move to China. I had absolutely no intention of going to China. In his few short years he had become an avid martial artist and was determined to study Kung Fu in the Shaolin Temple. My limited adult mind thought it...

I walked away from my Western life to sleep on the floor of an ashram. Dissatisfaction had become a normal state of being. I was deeply embarrassed by this. As I canvassed my home I perused every object, and breathed its beauty. My thoughts were about how grateful I was to have a living museum in my house, what a treasure it was to live in a spiritual temple that I created. I was ashamed by my soul’s ambivalence, when it responded so what . Consciously, I counted each and every blessing. I...

In my culture, I was bestowed the title of Holy Mother . In traditional ceremony, my divined name is Mother of the Universe . I am a proud and powerful Mama, Big Mommy, Mommy and Mother. But, I need to talk about fathers. My Precious Little Daughter, was frequently the opening line to emails sent to me by my dad. Over a year ago my father, an African Medicine Man, realized that he only had a short time to live. He was desperate to get to my oldest son to perform ritual before joining the...

The level of aggression I witnessed while living in an Ashram in India was shocking and often funny! With my residual ACES anger often bubbling beneath my skin, my daily mantra became, "No matter what anyone does to you; you CANNOT, WILL NOT fight in an Ashram!" We don't realize that many spiritual communities are filled with ACES survivors from all over the world that have no other hope left for healing. These are courageous people who have sought help for their pain and anger and have...

We are RESILIENT! Once we learn to regulate an overactive stress response, ACES survivors are well experienced to work under stress, make sound decisions and overcome ANY and ALL obstacles. WE LOVE UNCONDITIONALLY!! We must learn to mitigate the harm and leverage our strengths! During the 2018 ACES Conference in San Francisco, I had the incredible opportunity to present my work on Historical Trauma. In our journey to healing Historical Trauma and ACES, we must use a Relational Approach...