Beloved Community,
Today I cried. After I posted a commentary about the AI video of the Obamas, I went to spend some time with God in prayer. I knew I needed to sing a song to express my anger and sadness. Then I remembered Common Hymnal’s “When Will We Overcome?”
I played it again and again and again and again. Each time I cried. Each time I felt my body needed to move to express the pain, to push it someplace else.
I grabbed my djembe drum, handcrafted in Ghana, and started to drum, and sing, and cry:
“Let justice rise, let justice rise, let justice rise.
Let love rise, let love rise, let love rise.”
And then just like that, I felt lighter. As if the pain that had been bottlenecked inside of my body left.
“Emotional pain doesn’t just disappear if you ignore it. Instead, it settles into your nervous system, takes up squatting rights in your muscles and connective tissues, and influences your breathing patterns and posture. Yup, your posture, too.
Over time, all of that unprocessed emotional residue shows up as chronic pain, anxiety, fatigue, digestive issues, sleep disruptions, and/or headaches.” - Refresh the Soul Substack.
If you’re grieving the state of the U.S., then I suspect that you may need to move your body and release the pain as well.
If you can, take 5-10 minutes now to listen to “When Will We Overcome?” and move however the spirit leads you…
And please reply back to let me know how the experience was.
If you want to learn practical ways you can be apart of justice rising in your community, then join our Let Justice Rise Book Club on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2-3:30PM PST. We’d love to have you!
https://tinyurl.com/JusticeRiseBookClub
Blessings,
-Chanté
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