Grief Ritual for the Elevation of Black People

It is imperative that Black people have a space to grieve together that is just for us. Because my work centers Black people and our collective ancestral healing, I will always offer this space for us.

if you’re thinking about attending

  • Please only come if you can be relatively on time and plan to stay for the entire flow. The full duration is 2 hours and 30 minutes. Arriving 10-15 minutes late is okay.

  • Please allow yourself to slow down to meet this work. If possible, don’t make plans for directly before or after the grief ritual. Allow yourself to move spaciously through the remainder of your day to allow for deep after care, or for more grief to arise and be released.

  • Space is limited. Please register in advance.

suggestions for how to prepare

I invite you to do what resonates and be rooted in your own practice.

  • gather a large dish of salted water to grieve (direct your grief energetically, cry, spit, cough, yell) into

  • bring a lot of water to drink

  • wear lighter colored or earth toned clothing

  • set up your grieving space near an altar for your elevated ancestors or near a lit candle for them.

  • bring tissues or a handkerchief

  • bring grounding crystals

  • bring cleansing herbs to burn

  • bring a sound bowl, drum, bell, rattle, or other percussive instrument

  • bring a soft blanket for comfort or other comfort items

  • bring a pillow to yell into

  • situate yourself on the floor, or have some floor space accessible so you can move around

  • if possible and desirable, you can situate yourself outside on the earth and/or near moving water

  • if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

As people of African descent in the Americas, we consistently find ourselves navigating the effects of untended ancestral and collective grief and trauma. Whether this looks like coping with the normalcy of public killings, the disproportionate deaths due to diseases that target us specifically, or the unending ripples of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, enslavement in the Americas, mass incarceration, and the legacies therein; there is no aspect of Black life that is not touched by the hand of colonialism and anti-Blackness. There has been and continues to be unending loss.

Let us grieve together on behalf of ourselves, our ancestors, and our descendants. Let us bring our personal, ancestral, collective, land-based, compacted, and compounded griefs to offer up on behalf of ourselves and of all of our relatives who could not. Let us make space for all that we wish to create to be birthed through us with ease. Let us loosen and dislodge griefs centuries old. May this practice support our healing and liberation and that of all of our relatives across time.

This special ongoing grief ritual for Black people is offered just a few times per year.