At CommunityBuild Ventures, we make the conscious decision to put self-care and healing at the center of our mission to right the wrongs of racial injustice and discrimination. To move forward from the systemic racism that so many BIPOC have been plagued by for generations, we must focus on healing individually.
Dismantling oppressive systems that hold us back and fighting against racial bias and injustices of society requires energy, stamina, and a healthy headspace.
Activists need to focus on healing their mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical traumas before they can help anyone else. At CBV, we put a strong emphasis on self-care and healing at all stages of our mission to see racial equality in our communities.
What is Self-Care and Why Does it Matter?
Self-care is most accurately described as the practice of becoming aware of and creating systems and checkpoints to ensure the overall psychological and cognitive well-being of an individual.
When CBV is approached by organizations for guidance in creating racial equity-centered practices, we set a primary goal of helping them understand that the work required truly begins with healing and self-care, rather than systems and practices.
If we’re going to show up and share our fullest and most authentic selves, we must be completely liberated. In healing ourselves, we can continue to push towards a community where Black people can live boldly and unencumbered.
Black people are resilient, but that doesn’t mean we don’t need to focus on self-care and self-reflection. More than ever, we should spend time focusing on healing the collective and individual trauma that we all carry within ourselves.
How CBV is Practicing Healing
Instead of creating a new program or sector, we decided that self-care and healing are so vital that they have to be interwoven in everything we do. Self-care and healing are now at the core of all our services and engagements to ensure everyone approaches their work with emotional and physical health and wellness.
We start the healing process by investigating what an individual needs on a consistent basis, then investing in practices of care to meet those needs. Healing is personal and should never need explanation or justification, which is why we tell individuals to focus on it without apology.
As part of our approach to “understand, embrace, and embody” racial equity, we work with leaders and organizations to be intentional in the effort to allow an individual to process and heal in their own way, on their own time.
Healing for the Future
Generations of racial injustices, bias, and systemic racism have caused deep wounds that resonate today. At CBV, we believe that the best way for the Black community to thrive is by focusing on individual healing.
When people prioritize self-care, they can lend themselves to the work that’s needed to be the positive change in their workplaces and environments. If we want to reach the future of racial equality and equity we hope for, now is the time to begin the healing from within.
