A great episode with Chris Omni, eco-spiritualist, Black Women’s health researcher, writer, and filmmaker in celebration and exploration of Black Joy in Green Spaces.  

Here is your invitation from Chris
Greetings, Souls of Love and Light! You are warmly invited to join me, Chris Omni, as we hold space with and for one another and journey into a world of Black Joy in Green Spaces. 

In this new world, we will bear witness to the 2022 TEDx Talk, Granny’s Garden: Growing Black Joy, followed by an intimate conversation about how this journey started, where it is now, and where it is going.

In addition to the Divine Timing of this webinar, we will collectively celebrate the eve of the National Black Joy Day! Yesssss, there is such a day! Your presence at this webinar will be one of the many ways to recognize this beautiful holiday while spreading awareness of this movement to provide a counter story to the typical deficit narrative that is generally associated with Black people.

If you are ready to honor the lived experiences of Black people, I invite you to read the following poetic theorization of Black Joy. Read it to yourself and then read it out loud. Make people ask you…

 What is Black Joy?

Black Joy is a Statement 

Black Joy is a Stride

Black Joy is Permission

Black Joy is Pride

Black Joy is a form of Resistance

Black Joy is a form of Rest

Black Joy is ANYTHING you need it to be

because Black Joy is truly the best!

Chris Omni is an eco-spiritualist, two-timeTEDx speaker, three-time First Place 3-MT (3-Minute Thesis) Winner, Black women's health researcher, published author, documentary filmmaker, internationally recognized nature writer, community mobilizer, and former health motivation columnist. Chris holds a bachelor’s degree in Human Services and two master’s degrees - Public Health and Liberal Arts. Chris is a doctoral candidate at Florida State University where she is researching Black Joy in Green Spaces through the methodologies of auto-ethnography, narrative inquiry, photo-elicitation, and nomadic inquiry. Most recently, Chris’s TEDx Talk, “Granny’s Garden: How to Grow Black Joy,” featured the first, public, poetic theorizing of Black Joy! (https://youtu.be/PScP5BcKsxU).

Chris deeply values the unapologetic use of her voice and agency to speak life, love, and Light to all people with a particular emphasis on Black people. She views her body as a vessel that has not only delivered life but receives life in the form of lessons and abilities from the Ancestors. As others have stated, “Chris Omni is a whole vibe!”

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