Black History, Black Future and a Black Now.

In this piece, I want to share a few ideas and some of my recent experiences with Black History Month. February in Canada and in America is Black History month. Now that I live in Canada reminding myself that October is not our month is an initial adjustment I make.

Following on the heels of MLK day Jan 20th, this month has had me experience a number of momentous events. And whilst I celebrate the month for Black achievement in the past, a sense of a Black future, I also want to turn my attention to a Black now.

Same Old
Recently a Black man Mr. Nembhard was fatally shot and killed by police in Waterloo, Ontario. This tragedy appears to have resulted in 2 understandings around de-escalation. Please see the article below. The community’s understanding of de-escalation is – individuals in a state of distress are able to arrive at a calmer more regulated emotional place in safety. Accessing social support as necessary to engage well with others. For police – de-escalation is for individuals to comply with their demands. When in a mental health crisis, I can imagine that compliance is a far distant possibility.

For me Black History Month is about celebrating and recognising those who came before. Their achievements set against a similarly challenged past seem ever more miraculous. There is also a Black Future of seeing what life looks like beyond 2030. There is also a Black Now. A reality of living whilst Black that presents risk and reward often in unequal measures.

Shoulda Been
The event I attended to ring in Black History month, was Josh Turner’s Hip Hop inspired dance event. ‘The Uncomfortable Project’ is an unbelievable dance extravaganza. Josh Turner has used the artistic medium of Hip Hop to be a reflective and at times unbearably uncomfortable experience.

Click Image

The performance has a dance troupe challenge perception and appreciation of the art form. 3 moments stood out for me as I watched the artists perform body popping, breakdance and choregraphed moves to Hip Hop’s offerings from the past and now.

The first was a performance that featured 3 dancers that as the scene unfurled left one solitary figure performing alone. This piece knocked on my understanding of unity and togetherness hard. This routine was in stark contrast to pieces that had come before. They danced on their own which felt uncomfortable to watch. The music for this section of the performance featured homophobic language that featured in songs I knew well and had danced to in the past. Back then I was unwilling to acknowledge the harm the words and music cast against LGBTQI2S+ communities.

The 2^nd scene that hit home was Josh offering us an insight to a performance he was involved with where his character was identified by police officers as a person of interest. I recognised many elements of the scene, the flashing lights. The confusion. The apprehension of what might happen next. Mr. Nembhard’s story a recent reminder of a Black Now that The Uncomfortable Project deliberately lead us to recognise.

The 3^rd scene was a poem about the often asked of bodies of culture, the question of ‘No but where are you really from?’ The poet offered their understanding of the question’s framing and how it stripped them of their personhood and right to live amongst. What was laughingly familiar was the poet’s ability to introspect himself and then invite the audience to imagine a challenging rebuttal to the idea of you don’t belong!

I would love for ‘The Uncomfortable Project’ to receive international acclaim and gain the opportunity to tour all of Turtle Island. The project has the power to instruct and empower.

Black & Bold: Art Exhibition
Students at McMaster University involved with the Black Student Success Centre (BSSC) filled a gallery space at the Art Gallery of Hamilton, with their art. Pieces ranged from Photo’s, Paintings, Sculpture, Poems and Film. The artists were on hand to discuss their work. The piece that stole the show for me was a large photo of a sea scene pictured above of the Atlantic from Namibia’s coastline. There was something about recognising these young artists and their courage to step aside their university work. To share their artistic findings for the general public. A Black Now I was able to be witness.

Whiskey and Reggae
I had heard about Island Queens Restaurant from my wife and her friend the indomitable Lohifa @lo_didthat. I was to visit with the artist Israel Crooks @israelcrooks who is from Jamaica. More could be said about this phenomenal artist. Due to a piece of work he was working on he was unable to join me. So I ventured to the restaurant on my own. As a solo visitor, I was able to soak in the atmosphere of the place.

The musicians were talented and I enjoyed how the three filled both the air and time with their renditions of reggae tracks. But it was the food that spoke to me the most. This Black Now wowed me. The Cornbread was possibly the best I had ever tasted. Moist, sweet and delicately spiced with a hint of what may have been rosemary. What followed after the cornbread were 6 pieces of sweet, sticky, spicy chicken wings. I felt the menu could have stopped here. But what came next was a Caribbean take on steak, with whiskey infused pimento and avocado mashed potato. Convincing me to try and make at home. The feast was brought to a close with an apple crumble with plantain. A culinary feat that had me waddle out of the restaurant. I don’t waddle well.

The John C. Holland Awards
The last Black History Month event I attended was the John C. Holland Awards evening. The awards ceremony was held at Liuna Station Banquet Hall in Hamilton, and was my 2^nd time attending the event.

99 people were nominated to receive an award for their outstanding contribution to life in and around Hamilton. For me it is a zenith experience for nominees to receive an award at this incredible Black focused event.

Imagine: 99 Black Nominees feeling this elated and proud. With a room filled with admiring faces…

The John C. Holland Awards. This image is a place holder to invite you to imagine…

A wonderful spectacle of Black business persons, politicians, community leaders, social media influencers and a great many members from Hamilton’s Black community attended. To be amongst a community of people celebrating Black achievement in our now was mind-blowingly positive. Many nominees were either Gen Z or Gen Alpha. One of my son’s was nominated for an award. Highlighting the fact that a fantastic Black Future is always present.

Black History Month is usually a 28 day experience of remembrance of the numerous contributions Black people have brought to life on Turtle Island. This year 29 days of activity were filled with activity. Notably the works of Ernest Crim III hosted 29 facts about Black history that are not taught at school.

A month to observe Black History offers little consolation to an always present lie of white body supremacy and the many inequalities that Black people daily meet. A year of Black celebration of achievement, could begin on MLK jr day and end on the last day of Kwanza. 345 days might give enough time to recognise the contributions of the African Diaspora to our modern lives globally. Then the rush to pack everything in to one 28/29 day month wouldn’t be as frenetic!

Reverend John C. Holland and the awards that highlight his name, offer a reprieve and an opportunity to gather as one people and celebrate in style!

Resources
As mentioned above Mr. Nembhard lost his life due to police not recognising a mental health crisis and using guns to de-escalate a situation. Waterloo Shooting explores this story.

The CBC article offers an overview of the Uncomfortable Project. What visitors of Theatre Aquarius would have witnessed whilst interacting with the performance. I missed The Uncomfortable Project last year and made sure that I was part of the audience this year! Glad that the title lived up to it’s premise. Definitely a conversation starter.

His Saturn Return is simply a delight. Daring and imaginative as a story. This Afro Futuristic piece places challenge alongside discovery and overcoming avarice to arrive at humility for the protagonist.

The Blog on Black History Month presents an expansive range of information related to events taking place in February. The author also highlights the efforts of Dr. Jean Augustine to have Black History month recognised in Canada.

The Sounds True podcast: three wise men offer an interpretation of the monster within us projection. Thrown out against Black Bodies of culture. Whilst this conversation was recorded last year the relevance I suspect will be long lasting.
Waterloo Shooting
The Uncomfortable Project Desmond Brown – Josh Turner
His Saturn Return The Stoop Podcast
Black History Month Blog by Alliance for Healthier Communities
Sounds True Podcast 3 Black Men with Tami Simon interviewing Dr. Bayo Akomolafe, Resmaa Menakem and Orland Bishop

Images
Cover Image Equity Network
Police Car Lights photo by Scott Rodgerson on Unsplash
Buddy Wave photo by SJ Objio on Unsplash
Namibian Waves Photo of photo by M. Opoku-Forfieh
STicky Spicy Sweet Chicken wings photo by M. Opoku-Forfieh
Celebration by De’von wellesley on Unsplash

With Great Power – FFWD

In last week’s blog I set up a trinity between 3 wise people and some of their ideas, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Kendrick Lamar and Resmaa Menakem. All individually brilliant and whilst working with others inviting change on a global scale.

Whirring
Today I wanted to dig a little deeper into why I hold these three people’s ideas so highly. At this time of gross violence, destruction, continued land theft, wildfires and blame throwing, I wonder about the relevance of this post. Surely there are bigger fish to catch, and then fry? However, I will do my best to make plain the thoughts these three divergent experiences are conjuring for me. What was sent stirring as I watched the movie on Thanksgiving Day in Canada, were a few thoughts about Kendrick’s latest album, Resmaa’s book ‘My Grandmother’s Hands and about the multiple players involved in the creation of the H Bomb.

More
When operating at an individual level we may travel quickly, however we are very much on our own. When travelling with a group the journey may take a long time, however we arrive together. For Oppenheimer’s crew they were able to arrive at a hugely explosive and world changing end. Kendrick shows his development alongside tap, and conversations with Whitney. He is continuously in collaboration with others. In Resmaa’s book, great lengths are taken to explain that our journey has always been communal. I would advise you to look into (link) Communal Consultations Resmaa invites readers of My Grandmother’s Hands to participate in these gatherings. This is to make full use of the information in his book. Other bodies are essential to support learning at a profound level.

Hurt
Dirty Pain is the pain of avoidance, blame, and denial. When people respond from their most wounded parts, become cruel or violent, or physically or emotionally run away, they experience dirty pain. They also create more of it for themselves and others. Resmaa Menakem pg. 20 My Grandmother’s hands.

Marks
I am considering here the pain of trauma. What epigenetically is left in all of our bodies and as a result our psyches. Without understanding, and compassion to support, healing cannot be achieved. I am considering here the many internal and external conflicts we face as a species. What others and Resmaa have shared, is that a hurt people go on to hurt others and invariably themselves. Why, because pain acts as connector too. As Joshua Isaac Smith has stated, trauma shuts down our thinking brain. We become reactive and limited in our understanding of the world around us. Pain gets passed forward as information that is to be attended to.

Nurturing
Experiencing clean pain enables us to engage our integrity and tap into our body’s inherent resilience and coherence, in a way that dirty pain does not. Paradoxically, only by walking into our pain or discomfort – experiencing it, moving through it, and metabolizing it – can we grow. It’s how the human body works. Resmaa Menakem pg. 20 My Grandmother’s hands. Here Resmaa explains the positive although painful aspects of healing. He highlights that the human body is connected to all parts of ourselves moving through awareness at all times.

Rip
With Oppenheimer we were rapidly brought into an awareness of the project of significance that changed our world in irreparable ways. ‘The Manhattan Project’ which I initially thought was a plot line of the 1980s comic book series The Watchmen. Science, quantum mechanics and quantum theory are all brought to a head in the creation of the atomic bomb and later variations of the super atomic bomb. It was at the point of the trial in the film that Resmaa’s idea of Dirty Pain and Clean Pain jumped out at me.

Para
The suggestion by Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr’s character) that ultimate power should be left in the employ of Americans was where the idea of Dirty Pain really took hold. Oppenheimer’s intent was to invite other nations to form an alliance, to limit and control the use of nuclear weapons. For Strauss total power was for America and no-one else to be shared. Least of all the Russians. The point of injury arrived as Strauss was ridiculed in front of others and in paranoia, possibly spoken out against when Oppenheimer spoke with Einstein on the lawn. The assertion Strauss makes is to undermine and discredit Oppenheimer.

Project
I will finish with this: ‘As every therapist will tell you, healing involves discomfort –  but so does refusing to heal. And, over time, refusing to heal is always more painful.’ Resmaa Menakem ‘My Grandmothers Hands’ pg. 19. We can look outward to another and project upon them our wants for them to fix up, heal, get better. If they are our reflection, then we would be wiser to attend to what ails us first. With all three men presented above, they each in turn, invite us to observe self first and other in a binary relationship.

Resources
Watchmen Wikipedia I was introduced to the novel at university and thought Rorschach an interesting and complex character. The link takes you to a Wikipedia page discussing this comic book series.
Oppenheimer trailer A short introduction to the 3 hour epic. Highlighting the knife edge decision made to end the 2^nd world war by dropping 2 nuclear bombs.
Kendrick – Mr Morale And The Big Steppers review. It is fair to say that this is Kendrick’s finest body of work. In later blogs I will highlight what I was able to take away from this collection of art.
Resmaa Menakem Somatic Abolitionism An introduction to Somatic Abolitionism and the deep work that Resmaa and colleagues are consistently engaged with.
Questlove Supreme and Phonte Interviews Eric Roberson pt 1 This is a huge aside, and I recognise the folly of placing this podcast here. Erro Eric Roberson and Phonte Lyshod Coleman discuss Roberson’s beginnings and how the two came to work together.

Images
Explosion Image Theme
Cover photo by Marek Piwnicki on Unsplash
Explosives in Blue photo by Daniel Jensen on Unsplash
Firework photo by Thomas Park on Unsplash
Fireworks Blue photo by Andreas Rasmussen on Unsplash

With Great Power – Press Play

Turn It Down Having recently watched Oppenheimer I was struck by the brilliance of the scientists working on the Manhattan Project. Their aim, to take intentional meaning from under Mystery’s deep cloak. Whilst watching the movie I was also musing on Kendrick Lamar’s latest album – Mr. Moral and The Big Steppers. Why? Because the album shines as if from a different galaxy. The last piece I want to add to the puzzle, is Resmaa Menakem’s description of Dirty Pain and Clean pain. The film was a near replica of Resmaa’s description of these 2 types of pain. Resmaa’s book ‘My Grandmother’s Hands’ is where he discusses these concepts. Another bright shining light bedazzles – here . In Parts Over the next three weeks I will share my thinking alongside these phenomena. Unfortunately these blogs won’t be straightforward nor pretty. We are reviewing war, on a global, cultural and individual level here. As an American cousin recently shared, this piece has become like trying to pin the tail on a moving target! Together The thought that continues to buzz around me, after watching Oppenheimer, is of healing the world. Lamar, Oppenheimer and Menakem have attempted to do so! How has an attempt at repair been achieved? By dropping metaphoric and literal bombs on people. The Oppenheimer crew, sought to make stable the forces of nature and bring them under the control and will of humanity. Once humanity has a taste of divine power can it ever be the same? I believe this is the moral question Oppenheimer attempts to resolve. Kendrick turns his many discoveries outwards to us on this album, and Resmaa asks us to engage in healing amongst community in ‘My Grandmother’s Hands’. I will continue with these ideas next week! You have been forewarned… Resources In Ruben Rosario’s review of Oppenheimer, no time is wasted in sharing their view of the film and where time could be spent better. Rosario also notes the brilliance of science and of the people involved on the Manhattan Project. Ebrow and guests spend a number of minutes reviewing other notable Hip Hop releases. Then Ebrow invites guests to reflexively review and give opinion on Kendrick’s latest offering. I particularly liked Ebrow asking guests to talk about the classic classical no beat tracks and Kendrick flowing intentionally under and over the music. I have used this podcast before with Krista Tippett and Resmaa Menakem. On this episode of On Being we meet Resmaa who discusses his book and what Somatic Abolitionism is, and how to make use of ‘My Grandmother’s Hands’. I believe that this was the first time I really appreciated Eric Erro Roberson. Rock With You on DJ Jazzy Jeff’s The Magnificent. Oppenheimer Review by Ruben Rosario Ebrow and Guests Discuss Mr Moral and The Big Steppers On Being With Krista Tippett and Resmaa Menakem Rock With You DJ Jazzy Jeff feat Erro Images Image Theme Brilliance Star Burst photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash Our Home photo by NASA on Unsplash Mountain Frames photo by eberhard 🖐 grossgasteiger on Unsplash

The Problem With Being Right

This blog is written on behalf of the Equity Network. The aim is to address the growing distance between two arguments warring in education at the moment. The concerns centre on whether elementary aged children are to be introduced to information about gender, sexuality and gender expression at school.

Direction
At the centre of the argument are 2 ideas. Should elementary aged children be taught about sexuality, gender and gender expression? In what grades would it be reasonable for children to learn about these aspects of identity?

Some parents, educators, politicians feel that the provision of complex information to impressionable children may confuse or at worse, permanently alter children’s ideas of themselves.

On the other hand information about 2 Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, plus (2SLGBTQIA+) communities are already readily available in a range of formats and spaces (online). Curious minors could access information such as this unfiltered. Schools, I imagine, would be safe places to enable students to begin broadening their understanding of themselves initially, and wider presentations of identity. This is the alternative idea.

Standing on chains

Panthers
I will state that as long as a culture war is being viciously fought. With heavy casualties on all sides of the argument, those who hold power are able to hoot at our folly and continue to profit off of our continued enmity. Fred Hampton, he of the Black Panthers, had a singularly powerful idea. When diverse and disparate members of society co-ordinate and collaborate when fighting against a political power structure, notice has to be paid to that group! Who then are unified against a common scourge. Be it a political system, capitalism, corporate greed, poverty, substandard housing, unbalanced policing and cracks in the system of education .

Mesh
Many in our global community are affected by some, if not all of the concerns listed above. In Canada a thin veil hovers between those who have and those who do not, providing some with the illusion of security and safety. Many live a paycheck or two away from homelessness! When beneath the chiffon, we become aware of how precariously peace holds there! A pendulum swings in this space, between apathy and outrage. Here the battle rages between educators, parents, students, councillors, the party politic and writers attempting to wrestle sense from the crush! What is to be decided – educators and schools sharing information with young students, the topic of identity. Specifically schools discussing gender expression and whether the sex one is assigned at birth, is the one a person is to remain being the for life.

Your Turn

@EquityNetworkD on X
They don’t and won’t stop with 2SLGBTQIA+ folks. This movement is white supremacist, anti-Black, anti-indigenous, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, eugenicist and misogynist 7/10. This X comment by the Equity Network reminds me of the Niemöller poem: First They Came…

Trust
Relating to the concerns about educating the children, we the public, have a right to know that our children are being well educated. That the structures of education follow a code that is ethical, moral, balanced, illuminating, inspired and invite students to question their world. The point that appears to have caused the melee, is the idea of indoctrination. Doug Ford, current premier of Ontario, shared his thoughts on the current education concerns. He used the term indoctrination relating to school children learning about gender identity and gender expression. The term indoctrination used in this way is an incendiary dog whistle statement. Drawing a response from his party-political all faithful.

High Chair
Indoctrination much like propaganda, pushes the idea of providing illicit, near illegal information to minors (as though a narcotic, or OxyContin). Do you hear the whistle now? The premise is that educators will influence students to consider significant internal changes. Of how they recognise themselves to be on a fundamental level. For me there is something interesting taking place in the arguments. Similarly to my previous blog on the causes of a person to unalive themselves. We would be wise to notice that influence is universal and continual. Adults are aware that a child’s mind is impressionable. A child is as willing to believe in magical thinking as well as to know that gravity is a real force. As a toddler they did the toast, rusk, bowl, bottle drop test! Gravity as a magical magnet.

In This House…

Sense
The challenge is in providing information to all involved with educating children – gender is an aspect of identity we are to consciously process. With great sensitivity. Sexuality and gender expression could be introduced at a time when children are questioning these aspects of their identities. I can remember sex education in my primary school as being something that made me squirm – internally. I was 8 or 9 years old at the time. If either parent had had a conversation with me before this lesson, normalising and assisting my appreciation of how natural human reproduction was, I doubt my nervousness would have been as great.

Collapse
Over 20 years ago I enjoyed wearing a sarong around the house and whenever I felt brave also out in public. I can remember meeting someone who I had served coffee to earlier in the day. At one point in my life I was a barista at a coffee shop in central London. And now this patron was seeing me in different clothes. They didn’t say anything to me, nor I to them, but there was this look. A disdain. A barely disguised sneer. They disapproving from their vantagepoint. An invisible yet loud message was passed. Stating in all caps: MEN SHOULD NOT BE SEEN LIKE YOU ARE, OUT IN PUBLIC! It was a momentary glance but it is one that invited me to be aware of shame, masculinity, fashion, gender and expression with discomfort.

Fire kick

Stroll
Moving about Brixton on this warm Summer’s eve with little care of who noticed me. I had felt secure in my maleness before. That was until I met their sneer, and my confidence evaporated. Perhaps there was an element of envy in them that did not want to accept that Black men in London could wear whatever they liked. I wonder too if those to the right of the argument either fear or envy the choice some young people have of being able to live non gender conforming lives? Denying themselves decades of psychoanalysis and years of closeting parts of themselves away. Speaking with a student at PACE who supports me at the Mac MS Fit programme, shared with me her perspective “It’s like the young people of today have a choice to be whatever they want! Older generations never had that!”

@EquityNetworkD on X
Confronting such Vitriol and violence seriously endangers queer, trans, Black, Indigenous, racialized, disabled, young folks and elders. The more of us show up, the safer we are. On the day and beyond. 8/10

Jail the revolutionary

Generosity
I wonder what Fred Hampton would have made of these arguments. ‘Hold children away from identity information, or sensitively introduce and support learning?’ The Black Panthers were intensely interested in school and education. As well as collective social activism. The Black Panthers held a belief that education could free minds and help create a fair American society. Mr. Hampton knew that the Black Panthers could make change only if a collaborative effort, from disparate groups who were interested in revolutionizing everything, showed up in numbers. Change is always community lead I believe.

The Aye’s Have It
What is at the centre of the disagreement is how much information should children know and at what age, if ever is the concern? Should gender expression be presented too early, could that information influence a child to choose one identity over another? There is a large element of the unknown in both arguments. Perhaps certainty is a last bastion of a colonial system that has outlived it’s usefulness. There is excitement, risk and endeavour in both camps protestations. What could both sides gain from what is in between – left and right of the concern, I wonder?

Sex is good

Side Step
The podcasts and articles that follow are either directly related to the principle concerns and a few are not. For me, the problem with being right is we tend not to hear when someone is saying things we vehemently oppose. We shut them and their ideas down. We remain in sainthood whereby everybody else is seen as woefully wrong. We on the side of good, just and right. They on the wrong side of everything and will forever be more so. We stop having a sense of perspective when holding fast to being right.

Objective Truth
The opposing side hold tightly to their ideas too. I am borrowing from Dr. Yvon Guest’s Art work here. In ‘No Man’s Land: Navigating a Black and white world’, if we were to meet there, some of what is shared could be given space to grow. In No Man’s Land, where no side holds any power or influence, opinions could be heard and given space to support understanding on both sides of the debate, perhaps assist in learning anew.

Trains
We all lose if war prevents us from arriving at logical progressive solutions. The main similarity between the arguments is wanting the best for future generations of children. Blocking, banning and fashioning laws that prevent humanity at arriving, appears only to highlight our limited understanding of ourselves, each other and the complex world we live upon. In being right we dislocate our appreciation of truth. To move forward both left and right are to co-ordinate efforts with locomotion. Conflict is a catalyst to social change. The alternative is that we remain in a forever stalled position…

Resources
Hidden Brain with Shankar Vedantam In this episode Shankar discuses with Linda Skitka moral convictions.
Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell discusses Laundry Done Right. In this episode Malcolm and colleagues go to great lengths to share an idea about a cold wash! Wait for the dishwasher reveal that arrives at the end. We often feel we know what is best and I like that Malcolm is capable of showing us his learning. There is amazement and humour in unlearning what we held as truth!
Poetry Unbound with Pádraig O Tuama shares Faisal Mohyuddin’s poem Prayer. There are a few lines that stand out in particular in reference to being right, which are summarized in the poem as a perfect emptiness describing the unknowable essence of everything we hold dear. Again I am troubling the idea of being right here.
In the episode of Criminal Podcast I was intrigued by what Phoebe Judge and the team are able to discuss in this episode. ‘They Came for the Judges’ describes the horror of the Taliban seizing Afghanistan and releasing all prisoners from prisons in a city. Female Judges are forced to leave the country to secure their safety. In this story there are clear sides of being right and wrong.
Code Switch Stepping Back Inside – Dream House. In this memoir Carmen Maria Machado shares her story as a writer about meeting Ms. Right who turns out to be so, so very wrong. What I enjoyed about this story is the interplay between Carmen’s multi-layered considerations about her identity and who she allowed herself to be when in company. I cannot wait to read more from this writer. Who is right is the question that floats throughout this podcast? It is as confusing as it is compelling.
Questlove Supreme Podcast with Bonnie Raitt. What I love about this episode is how in tune the Dream Team are with their guest. Bonnie Raitt speaks on a number of issues including her music, being a hall of famer, activism and on paying legends in the music business their due. The conversation is nuanced, layered and ventures both left and right. My aim of listing this episode of Questlove Supreme, amongst the other points was to emphasise that through mutual appreciation a welcome understanding can be achieved.
GTA 1000s Gather to Protest – A fact based article on a September protest in Toronto. The story looks at both sides of the argument offering readers a chance to review what they know. Presenting why so many people showed up to protest.
Gender Identity Transgender Lessons in Schools. This article discusses the challenge schools and teachers face when presenting gender, identity, sex ed and education on LGBTQI+ communities. I enjoyed this quote from Kathleen Ethier who said “When you make a school environment safe and supportive for the most vulnerable youth, you improve the school environment for everyone.” Nuff said!
Hidden Brain – Moral Combat
Revisionist History – Laundry done Right
Poetry Unbound – Prayer
TheY came for the Judges
Code Switch Stepping Back Inside Carmen Maria Machado’s Dream House
Questlove Supreme with Bonnie Raitt
GTA 1000s Gather to Protest
Gender Identity Transgender Lessons in Schools

Images
Equity Network image
Standing on Chains photo by Juan Mayobre on Unsplash
Green Jacket Pointing photo by Colin Lloyd on Unsplash
In This House We Believe photo by Breanna Louise on Unsplash
Kick Fire photo by Kayle Kaupanger on Unsplash
Jail the Revolutionary photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash
Sex Is Good photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

Black Grief and Loss

A few months ago I was asked to share my thoughts on Black people’s grief and about the experiences of our sense of loss. I was to present my ideas alongside a student at McMaster university. Due to illness I was unable to attend. What arrived were a collection of loosely drawn ideas that highlight the difficulty of encountering loss as a result of death for the Black community. What also follows are a few of my thoughts and others that continue challenging the misnomer of white body supremacy.

Succession
The challenge met for some in the global African community when met with death, loss and grief is about the number of mental states we cycle through. From the individual response. The familial response, the community response and the cultural response. Which also accompanies a societal level of recognition and responsibility to make sense of Black death, vicarious trauma and loss. In recent weeks (Aug 2023) a lone gunman killed 3 Black people in Florida. An experience of vicarious trauma looms, when events like these senseless killings happen. Death is inevitable, but like this? No! The event is without question racially motivated. Leaving many guessing when the next event will happen and the ones that are likely to follow these.

Random
From the insurgency in January 2021, to white nationalists at the Unite the white rally in 2017, the Canadian truckers blockade in major cities across the country in 2022, something appears to be threatening the development of a clear and clinical analysis and appreciation on the construct of race. One of the most useful things I learned becoming a psychotherapist/counsellor/coach is that, change sets off a chain of interlinked events that rebound and knock onto and into other things. Causing more to become destabilized. Perhaps the world needs to rock some before it becomes settled once more?

Multiverse
Into the Spiderverse 2 film does an excellent job of highlighting the interconnected web of events that lead to many realisations about what did happen, what should have happened and possibly what will take place next. Just because an object has been propelled into the sky, does not mean that the object will remain there permanently. And that the force generated to lift the object does not also create an alternative detrimental effect. The writing of Derek Bell in his book ‘Faces at the Bottom of the Well‘ highlights that just because one group of people are privileged living care free in the light. A shadow is cast of that assumed privilege. Leaving a great many, managing life at the bottom of the well.

Dead Time
Returning to the idea of death and loss, working as a counsellor/psychotherapist for the past 14 years, death and loss have been frequent discussed guests in the rooms where I have practiced. The singular, familial and community awareness of how a person from the global African community processes and manages death is always a unique experience. Often because society, community, and family affords little – no space for loss to be fully evaluated, come to terms with and understood. A person and or group are afforded a short reprieve to process death. In some communities professional wailers and people are invited to the funeral to make noise on behalf of the family. Here it could be said that a song and a dance are warranted to pay attention to the deep wounding loss evokes. Then a return to ‘normality’ is the societal request. Can we return to a regular existence after something so significant has been torn from us? My grief journey with my mum’s death took 2 long years of disbelief. Which eventually turned into a thorough and bitter acceptance. I can now look back at that time, knowingly nod, and appreciate how difficult her loss was for all of us. The up swing for me is to notice how life changing this time was too. As a family we could have spent more time talking with each other, remembering, laughing and fully grieving her death. Assisting in all of us arriving at a ready peace.

Against Odds
The idea our community of survivors has, is an understanding about ourselves and the diverse culture we belong to is that of strength. The African global community has been able to not only prevail, but also resist, struggle and overcome. Being vulnerable a daring probability. Death brings us close to the precipice of tumbling into vulnerability. Some like me, prefer a stoic stoney silence. Within this herstory/history there are too many deaths and losses to count: land, language, faiths, culture, traditions, ancestors, homes, fashions, beliefs, foods, learning, sexuality and education about our pasts. Can we remain in an idea of strength when certain parts of ourselves readily bleed? Better to attend to what is hurt and painful. Being amongst others to assist healing of ourselves and those around us. This game is better played amongst the many!

Release
When we then collect together at a place of worship. When we have visited the homes of those who have gone on. To meet with those that came before. We find ourselves in a place we know intimately and are yet resistant to experience. This place is close to our deepest fear. It represents our annihilation, weakness, ending, the door of no return. When we can notice the theory of energy – Energy cannot be created or destroyed.. We perhaps can review once more the fear of annihilation. What actually lies beyond? Could death be something different, can death be a beautiful new beginning?

No Escape
Continuing to carry the crimes of the past in our bodies hearts and minds* has grossly cost the peoples of the global African community. I believe that globally the weight of these pains are undeniable and everyone directly and indirectly is impacted. An experience of Loss, death and grieving can begin a willingness to loosen old patterns of existing. The painful break of the ending of a life, of lives, of generations, may cause a person, a community, a people to make real what was held at distance from ourselves. That by opening and standing bold in our vulnerability, we meet within us and from trusted others what is intimately needed – healing.

Up and Down
Knowing that grief is managed in community because the size of the unknown is too significant to be handled alone. Thus being similar to the arrival of new life, too glorious for one to bear witness to singularly…

Resources
A thorough description of Joy DeGruy’s concept of epigenetics.
Resmaa shares his understanding of racial trauma in conversation with Miléna Mikael-Debass.
Article by Simon Clark addressing the slow roll out of a new wave of the lie of white supremacy.
Resmaa discusses his book ‘the Quaking of America’ in his characteristic easy to understand way with two Psychiatrists Keith Kurlander, Dr. Will Van Derveer
Tall Black Guy in my opinion has progressively pushed his artistry into tackling ideas of race racism and dismantling the lie of white body supremacy.
Amir Sulaiman’s poetry has an earthshattering resonance to it. His call is to live daringly so that those who come after us remember who we were and what we did to create change for oppressed communities. Inviting future generations to continue creating change.
* re. Joy DeGruy on Epigenetics
Resmaa Menakem on How our bodies carry racial trauma
How White Supremacy Returned to Mainstream Politics by Simon Clark
The Quaking of America Integrative Psychiatry with Resmaa Menakem
Black Is Tall Black Guy
You Will Be Someone’s Ancestor Act Accordingly Amir Sulaiman
Vicarious Trauma x2 provides 2 separate pieces on experiencing trauma vicariously

Images
Search Term Black is Beautiful
Cover photo by Prince Akachi on Unsplash
First of All photo by Jazmin Quaynor on Unsplash
Headwrap pose photo by Oladimeji Odunsi on Unsplash
Wall Pose photo by Good Faces on Unsplash
Beaming Smile photo by Good Faces on Unsplash

Losing To Injustice

Probable Cause
In this blog post I want to address the attacks against the Kojo Institute and the pressures that are mounting to roll back gains made as a result of Anti-racist training and Diversity Equity and Inclusion programmes. The cause – white death and the heavy cost of enlightenment.

I am writing this blog on behalf of the Equity Network. In relation to a few articles that have responded to the event of a man’s suicide. My aim here is to explore the misuse of power exhibited by the media. Pitting mental illness and suicide against Equity Diversity and Inclusion training. That impacts on the provision of this much needed and overdue way of inviting dominant cultural groups to the practice of critical thinking. As discussed by Resmaa Menakem with Tani Simon.

There We Go
The Blacklash that has taken place against the Kojo Institute, since Richard Bilkszto took his life, seems unfair, biased and looked to simplify a complex set of occurrences. What I am most disappointed by is the slim speed at which media outlets chose to discuss the story. Highlighting one possible cause as the likelihood of Mr. Bilkszto unaliving himself. What I am not surprised by is the lack of due regard to a Black woman who is the CEO of Kojo Institute. Dehumanizing and villainizing the training and the institute for stating a personal finding “Canada is as racist a country as the USA”. Evidence to highlight Canada as being a racist country similar to the US, could begin with looking at the media frenzy stirred after the story broke.

Truth V
One concept that appears to stand out for me is the idea of whose lives matter more? The answer should be everyone’s lives matter and that there is equal rights for Black, Indigenous, Latin X, SE Asian, Asian and white people. The anger, vitriol and vicious comments raised against the Kojo Institute suggest otherwise. The court of social media appear to offer – that a white male is presented as being more valuable to Canada (the world) than a Black woman. Whatever gains through public declarations that many companies and organisations made after the public lynching of George Floyd, have been walked back. To the point where a sprint is taking place to move away from the promises of systemic change needed in Western societies. 3 years since George Floyd’s death the initiatives and the will to address the lie of white body supremacy has evaporated and we are left with just a mirage…

Complexity
As a mental health professional, learning about difference, equity and inclusion is often a charged encounter. With the years of experience that the Kojo Institute has, I am confident that flash points would be appropriately managed and resolved. What I am not so confident with is the idea that a man took his life as a result of training that took place over 2 years ago. We cannot know the numerous reasons that Mr. Bilkszto took his life. There are other unknowable factors that are not being presented or observed by the media. These elements lay at the edges of many of the articles posted globally and are not used in discussion to complicate and responsibly report. One point is to be observed: Engaging with DEI training pokes at lies, uncovers truth and invites delegates to question systemic factors that negatively impact Black, Latin X, Indigenous, S. E. Asian and Asian peoples and should be stopped because it makes a dominant group uncomfortable.

Roll Back
The idea that seems pressing to me is that pausing DEI programmes will turn a tide of liberalism in Canada, into a militant police state that treats minoritised people as undesirables of the country. Since George Floyd’s public murder, the roots of systemic factors that impact visible minority communities were made undeniable. If DEI programmes are withdrawn across Canada mitigating against the harmful impact of systemic racism in public and private spaces, I wonder what the next steps will be? At the Equity Network we are not going to allow this to happen. Too much is at stake. Whilst Florida is a good distance away, there are echoes of what could be possible in Canada/globally. That is if enough wrong-footed rhetoric, based on untruths and faulty logic are permitted to win hearts minds and policies in Ontario specifically and around the world universally.

Responsible Journalism
There is a need for good journalism to present facts, be based in providing unbiased or objective truth and present information with as much journalistic integrity as is possible to inform and allow members of the public to come to their own conclusions. Rather than be force fed information which can lead to doubling down on misinformation and holding these ideas as truth. As a member of public, I want journalists in our local community as well as nationally/globally to present information in ways that invite thought and a want and a need to get close to the truth.

As a member of the Equity Network who observe responsible journalism as an equitable concern, I am interested in what the haste is to roll back DEI programmes and hold these as likely causes for persons to unalive themselves and not as points where ignorance, challenging ideas and anti racism can be clearly addressed.

The resources below are a collection of ideas for what potentially lies ahead.

Resources
Articles by Shree Paradkar and Sonja Fatah begin by unpacking the ‘misdirect’ in clear unbiased and responsible ways. Supporting ideas of slowly approaching rational choices.
In 2021 after the Capital building in Washington DC, was taken under siege, Brené Brown offered her insights on people choosing to hide with their dirty pain, and not choosing clean pain instead.
Resmaa Menakem and Robin Di Angelo discuss their books and what readers, activists and those willing to engage in Anti Black Racism work could gain from their ideas.
I first came across the Zero Sum myth when Simon Sinek posed the concept a few years ago. Here Ibram X Kendi discusses the idea in a literal sense with Heather McGhee
Tani Simon speaks with Resmaa Menakem on what Somatic Abolitionism is, and the theory of reps is given clarity.
In the perfect storm I look at what has arrived for me since George Floyd’s murder.
Shree Paradkar and Sonja Fatah articles
Brené Brown Unlocking Us Dehumization and Accountability
Resmaa Menakem and Robin Di Angelo Discuss their new Books
Be Anti Racist with Ibram X Kendi  The Zero Sum Myth
Tani Simon and Resmaa Menakem Discuss Somatic Abolitionism
Blog The Perfect Storm

Images
Image Theme: Injustice
Cover Image Equity Network Image by Equity Netowrk
1st photo Colour Is Not by Jack Skinner on Unsplash
2nd photo Injustice Any Where by Jack Skinner on Unsplash
3rd photo I Object photo Gayatri Malhotra on Unsplash
4th photo I Love My History by Gayatri Malhotra on Unsplash

‘As every therapist will tell you, healing involves discomfort – but so does refusing to heal. And, overtime, refusing to heal is always more painful.’ Resmaa Menakem My Grandmother’s Hands

Wisdom in Supervision

This is one of those counsellor investigation pieces, where questions are posed with an aim to find clarity. This blog isn’t going to be well formed, I pre-emptively warn. Perhaps the outcome is better this way?

Recently my supervisor helped me realise that my impatience in supporting clients to arrive at their best selves is my internalised Wolf in sheep’s clothing. Picking up a hint, a scent of blood in the air. I came across an understanding of my wolf hiding in sheep’s clothing whilst working at a London prison a number of years ago. My supervisor of then, invited me to investigate a little further.

‘What reason would there be for this part of an internal structure to be hiding in the first place, Michael?’she asked. ‘Could there have been cause for the wolf to fold itself into a mild-mannered sheep?’ The idea was wholly unnecessary. People in prison knew what my role was before they ever met me and I wasn’t fooling anyone with that act. Perhaps the ploy of luring was self directed. A trick played to lower my sense of fear about a place I had previously dreaded to go into. If I was both the sheep and the wolf I could exist as a civilian, in a prison and be both compassionate and a fierce force of good? I guessed.

The sheep is my interpretation of my patient empathic compassionate professional identity. That is highlighted by a boundaried sympathetic human nature. Summarised by a knowing of self and a willingness to know the other in a counselling relationship.

A quality exists from Wolf and Sheep, that both understand and want overall improvement for the clients I work with. My work is then to balance both the Wolf’s haste and the Sheep’s willful slowing down of processes. Both pull in opposite directions simultaneously. Rarely do they pull together in the same way at the same time. When they do the experience is magical.
What internal drives are you currently battling with?
The above reminds me of this story…

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.”

He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”
The Story of Two Wolves – Urban Balance

I thoroughly enjoyed Malcolm Gladwell presenting in his indomitable style his case of Disney’s retelling of The Little Mermaid Little Mermaid Part 2: The Fairytale Twist | Revisionist History (pushkin.fm) Interestingly the podcast begins with the story of the wolf and the three little pigs.

Recently a client shared that they had believed that getting to know their pain would diminish their sense of joy. The opposite had become true for them. That by releasing their pain they were becoming more aware of the good in their lives and becoming increasingly grateful. Without knowing it they had quoted When you numb your pain you also numb your joy.
Brené Brown

Cover Image
Support photo by Mark McGregor on Unsplash

Client Case Study: EMDR

Psychoeducation is an important part of providing therapy. For some engaging in psychotherapy there are a number of moving parts. That can include one part discovery of themselves. Another part coming into an awareness of feelings. A 3rd part involving the unshuttering of memories. A 4th and by no means least part, describing processes that clients are living with. A trained mental health professional uses a range of methods to support clients to understand their world in a way that is useful.

Cart Wheels
For me EMDR (Eye Movement De-sensitisation Reprocessing) is a remarkable tool by which clients are supported to use bilateral stimulation to create distance from significant life events. Psychoeducation is important to understand the processes of what took place and also how EMDR works and aids the reprocessing of a significant life event.

A Simple Method
I am currently working with someone in Canada that is walking whilst we speak on the phone. A re-evolution of walking therapy for me. Francine Shapiro who discovered and developed EMDR, found that walking whilst thinking about something she was struggling with, was astounded by how differently she thought about the problem after she completed a number of mindful exercises, whilst moving outside in natural environments.

Sport in Treatment
The client I support engages with EMDR by walking fast for the activation stage and then comes to a jump stop to break pace. As a former Basketball coach the idea of jump stopping to end an activation seemed clear to me. Signaling to the client, that the activation has come to an end. I count the seconds whilst they are walking to keep time of each period of activation. We then evaluate what has been experienced during the period of fast walking. Sometimes nothing has changed or happened for them which is insightful. Often though, a new memory arrives or a different way of experiencing the event has revolutionised how they have viewed the event.

EMDR always surprises and humbles me.

Scales
The change in pace helps the client distinguish the difference between activation and the begining of a reprocessing experience.
After the client feels that the initial concern has been reduced from 10 or 9 down to a 1 or 0, the process of installation can be used which engages the client to walk at a pace which is slower. The aim is to embed the information they have been discussing. The client has often been surprised by what they have been able to re-process. This part of the journey is where discovery and revolution happen.

Comparison
Working with EMDR has been remarkable to notice how fast change can happen. A point for reflection has been noticing what the client is experiencing around them. They are outside walking and can notice, sounds, other park users, changes in weather, and sun rises. All of these external factors have been vital in supporting the client realise the difference between what happened in the event and what is happening now!

Forgetting
I have been fortunate to witness a monumental change in how a client views a past traumatic event many times. The greatest is when a physical barrier is imagined to be built, protecting and supporting the client from the event. The reprocessing installation and reformulation experience always amazes me. The distance that arises for clients reviewing before and after a few sessions of EMDR, is like the event happened in a different galaxy, a millennia ago.

The separation of the client from the traumatic event remains permanent. Which happens to leave the client dumbfounded as to where the significant event now exists. Psychoeducation I use to support clients understand what they have just experienced is. That ‘the mind with support’ has been able to let go of a significant and often painful life event. In comparison – recurring memories previously attempted to aid a person process an event and move on with life in an unsuccessful way. Using EMDR the process of healing is assisted and the natural course of forgetting and consolidating memory can be supported.

As always I am interested to know your thoughts. Drop a line or two below. Or get in touch with me here.

Resources
I have enjoyed sharing Dr. Huberman’s video about EMDR since a friend introduced me in 2022. The video has Huberman explaining what happens when someone engages with EMDR. Moving is important.
I was introduced to the The Happiness Lab from another one of the many podcasts I listen to. Brené Brown’s either Unlocking Us or Dare To Lead. In this episode Dr. Laurie Santos discusses with Jessamyn Stanley the misdirected idea she had about of body shaming and exercise.
The last podcast is short but important in relation to letting things go out of our memory, and the skill taken to recall and remember important things. Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke explain a number of useful practices to improve memory.
Dr. Andrew Huberman EMDR
The Happiness Lab Move More
2 Guys on Your Head Forgetting To Remember

Images
Cover photo by jonathan wilson rosas peña on Unsplash
Which Way to the Beach photo by Ronaldo Santos on Unsplash
Puddle Kick Stone photo by Krzysztof Maksimiuk on Unsplash
Walking Amongst Giants photo by Connor McSheffrey on Unsplash

Acts of

It is rare that I have a moment that surprises me. Me nearing a senior age of 50, firmly believing that I have seen nearly everything! I know I haven’t but novel experiences are rarer. This piece raises more questions than provides answers…

Supermarket
So I am at my local food supermarket ‘Fortinos’ on Dundurn. I have ventured in to enquire if my phone has miraculously found it’s way here from being lost at my home. I know this idea is magical thinking. But maybe somehow my phone made it’s way here! Grew legs. Sprouted wings. Somehow disappeared from my home and made it’s own way to this supermarket. It’s a mid morning Monday and the store is relatively quiet. It’s a cool -4 outside, with grey clouds. Glad to have survived the short distance walk from the car park to inside the warm store.

Search
The person I have made the enquiry, about my lost phone, at customer services has stated in an even toned way that no such device has been handed in. I saunter off after thanking her for making the considered effort of searching the lost property boxes (there are 2. One beneath the desk my enquiry was made. Another behind them.) and a third I discover after they made a call up to the main office. I wonder if the store has any shaving gel? I busy myself with locating the aisle labelled ‘Washing and Bathing’ amongst the cavernous well lit expanse. I deliberate over the selection. Only one meets my requirements. No lather and no foam.’ With the glide – but little to obscure! Exactly what I had sought.

12th Lane
I make my way to one of the check out aisles. Patiently I wait for a tall man in his late 50’s early 60’s casually speak to the checkout operator. They exchange a few pleasantries about the weekend, the incoming winter storm and something else that is inaudible. I leisurely scan the store as you do whilst waiting. Making sure that nothing is about to go sideways. There’s the security personnel, check, the other aisles with their customers, check, the self service counters, check, the men and women re-stocking shelves, check, the people that go out and collect the trolleys and take stuff out for home collection, check. Yep. everything is in its place moving along at it’s usual orderly way.

Dysregulation
Out of the corner of my eye, I see the white young security person ambling towards me. This is unusual and alarming. I begin readying myself for some sort of confrontation. Adrenaline has already started to surge. This is a barely conscious response. But the effects are my breath has become shallow and fast. All peripheral vision is offline and all I can lock on and see is an unprovoked oncoming threat. Panicked I turn to meet the oncoming possible attacker. My usual interactions with security personnel in the past have been mostly negative. The assumption made is that I have done something to arouse suspicion. The response from me in defense is to prepare for a face to face cortisol inducing encounter. Black men with walking sticks have been shot, killed or disabled at similar meetings.

Disarm
He smiles, and I get ready with some sort of defense. Just as casually he says “Man, I really had to come over here and tell you that, I like how you colour matched everything, from the shoes, the hat, the coat, the shirt, even your cane, it just blends so well’
I chuckle quietly, exhaling the invisible arsenal I had prepared for the offensive. We fist bump and I smile and offer “Thank you very much, that’s very kind of you to say.” My mind is left playing a game of catch up. Something has just happened and I am sure it was significant but I am unsure of what exactly. My assumption was that some sort of racial profiling was at play and I was going to have the sharp end of it. I also reflexively profiled the security personnel and assessed that as long as I don’t do anything wrong our paths won’t have to meet.

I left the store without the phone I came in for and relieved feeling oddly askance. I was both surprised and dismayed that I was ready for battle, when all I received was an unsuspected compliment. Was that the effect of cortisol leaving my body? I had been caught expecting the worst. And I left with something else.

Hope…?

Random acts of kindness cost nothing, and leave both the recipient and the donor feeling that little bit better.

When was the last time you either gave or received a random act of kindness?

Resources
Texas Cops Shoots
Racisms Affect on the Brain

Images
Cover photo by Tonmoy Iftekhar on Unsplash
Shiny Stones 2nd Photo by Eric Prouzet on Unsplash
Leaf Pour 3rd Photo by Rudrendu Sharma on Unsplash

On Stutz

You may be reading these words and questioning why such a title. If you have watched the phenom’ of the film Stutz an understanding may be arriving. I have been accused of giving the synopsis, plot twist and story of another Netflix show away before. I will try not to do so here.

Phil
Is a classically trained American Psychiatrist. I would class him as a prototypical psychotherapist. A person-centred compassionate, humour enthused doctor. Who has written his own rule book on the practice of the subtle art. Phil Stutz is amongst other things Jonah Hill’s therapist. The film I found extraordinary to watch. Mainly because of how open both men become with each other and with the film overall. We are able to watch transformation take place in as close and as intimate a setting as is possible. In a world surviving the apocalyptic effect of CoViD19 and an ongoing war in Ukraine this film is refreshing as it offers us hope.

Episodic
The film treats us to a long session where Stutz and Hill engage in a pseudo psychotherapy appointment. Pseudo because some artistic licence is taken. Both men share what they have enjoyed about working with the other and on the film. There are moments of deep connection and wonderfully tricky ethical dilemmas that both men grapple with. At no point do either participant back away from the challenge of the project at hand. Both willfully engage with the task in front of them. Answering each other’s questions. Offering playful rebuttals and daring each other to think differently about what they both face.

Parallax
The frank honesty and aim not to make the perfect film is the beauty of Stutz. The openness to let the messiness be present. A comparison between life and when a counsellor/psychotherapist is working with the mind, stands forward for me. A linear path to a solution or a breakthrough almost never happens in counselling work. The jewels are found amongst the rubbish. And we have to be willing to beachcomb through a lot of drift matter to find gems. We, counsellor and client, are sent into the miasma to overturn, root out and discover. Often we return with little. Sometimes when we do find something, the gem shines brighter for all of the effort.

BACP/APA
What I enjoyed about is the simple way the film invites both men to view and work with change. I am mindful of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy and the American Psychotherapy Association and what their thoughts are of Stutz. The film is brave bold and daring in what it offers viewers an insight to. The palpable enjoyment and risk are very present in what happens on set. Do these two organisations value the effort? Also of how the end product shows what working in an artistic person-centred way is like for both Stutz and Hill. I have mentioned the film to a few clients and supervisees. Most have either watched the film or since watched it, and shared that they appreciated the reflexive nature of both men. Stutz offers us a view of intimacy and vulnerability caught in colour and in monochrome. A testament to healing.

Danger
The threat with Stutz is that counselling and psychotherapy appears to be an opportunity to share the personal story of the therapist with the client. This may happen within the boundaries of supporting the client to gain an insight to their own story. With Stutz the sharing happens because Hill and Stutz, after a number of years of work – know each other. Enough to venture into spaces other counsellors do not approach. I have, when the need to personally disclose is present. Similar to an awareness of thin space. These moments are rare and demand of a counsellor to appreciate risk. The relationship between these two men is exceptional because of the presence of trust. Practicing the art of psychotherapy in an integrative client focused way is to base progression and development on the relationship that has been established between helper and helpee. Stutz offers us a wonderful perception of what is possible when psychotherapeutic work becomes transpersonal.

Tools
In my kit bag I generally use analogy to explore and interpret the information the client and I are working with. I can remember a counselling supervisor inviting me to trust what I saw. Amongst the sparks of my imagination, listening to a client defining their challenge. Determining what approach to take, or if any. Daring to offer these caught entrails in my work with clients. At times I can catch lightening. I like that Stutz uses drawings to expand on his findings. These mementos are like petit fours. Refreshing, joy filled, exploratory risk packets. With which clients can be both reminded and challenged. With my analogies clients can then either remember or forget the ideas meaning. The work I feel – is the takeaway sensation of something not easily describable. A felt sense of something having taken place, a look, a defining sentence. Like a hanging basket of potential. Determining a want for movement forward into the great big unknown. Courageously. The analogies and sketches offer client’s a philosophical understanding for living life with. Similar to the distillation of knowledge.

Stutz is
Similar to an archetypical character, flawed, vulnerable, resolved, struggling with their own trials and yet offering pages from their play book of how to make it to the next step along, on the journey of life. The film is a love song. Highlighting core themes of adulting, parenting and healing in a *neatish package. Perhaps the role of the psychotherapist sits across a few intersections of becoming. I recognise in Stutz and in my role as a counsellor that risk, reward and all manner of contrasts exist. Which is why the film does so well to explain how discussing topics with another, supports ideas to be transformational, ultimately. Talking leads to newer ideas – which leads to testing and then in time – realisation through action. Stutz offers both personal and professional development in a readily available manner. A link to a trailer is in last month’s blog Submarine.

Resources
Karen, an episode of Earhustle thoroughly gripped me as I drove home from Toronto. I wondered what support would have looked like had Karen been able to access it prior to the accident. What would Stutz’s drawings have helped Karen recognise about herself and how she could make use of life now in prison?
Dr. Andrew Huberman is a leader in the field of EMDR (Eye Movement De-sensitation Reprocessing) and this short video explains his understanding of why trauma gets trapped and how using EMDR can assist a client releasing embodied pain. Moving forward is a key theme in Stutz.
I trained in supervision under the wise direction of Robin Shohet’s teachings. The supervision trainer leant heavily on several core concepts from Shohet’s book ‘Supervision in the Helping Professions’. I enjoyed in the clip below how Stutz appears to embody the central theme of Shohet.
Lastly I am surprised by my arriving at the end with Kendrick and Stutz meeting. Hip hop lyricism is a form of psychotherapy. So, it is not out of the ordinary that Kendrick and Phil meet equally here on this page. Both drive change like fire.
Karen from Ear Hustle
How EMDR works by Dr. Andrew Huberman
Robin Shohet and the idea of clients healing the therapist
Father Time Kendrick Lamar ft Sampha

Images
Image theme: Therapy
Cover Image photo by Peter Fogden on Unsplash
Not Everyone Can See photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Therapeutic Walk photo by Nicolai Dürbaum on Unsplash
Sign of Change photo by Austin Chan on Unsplash
Fire Therapy photo by Joshua Newton on Unsplash

Backlinks
You should have spoiler alerts.
The Artist – the first time I put a name to my practice of psychotherapy.
Dilemma – But I do mean I love you, but I am not going to say it.
Beachcombing – Highlighting that what the surf offers up can be treasure filled.
CoViD19
Cassandra Wilson – Waters of March I couldn’t resist. Time after time the words continue offering re-interpretation. A play on a play.