From Root to Bone with Dr. Jenn Mullan

American colonialism has tried its best to erase the knowledge, traditions and population of those indigenous to this land. But the commitment to ancestral wisdom and practices, indigenous cultures continue to thrive. In this episode, Dr. Jenn talks with anti-colonial scholar, Dr. Autumn Blackdear about the power of native sovereignty.

Dr. Autumn Asher BlackDeer is a queer anti-colonial scholar-activist from the Southern Cheyenne Nation. Her scholarship illuminates the impact of structural violence on American Indian and Alaska Native communities. Dr. BlackDeer centers Indigenous voices throughout her research by using quantitative approaches and big data as tools for responsible storytelling. Dr. BlackDeer is a racial equity scholar with an emphasis on Indigenous tribal sovereignty and is deeply committed to furthering anti-colonial abolitionist work.

Connect with Dr. Autumn BlackDeer - follow on social media at @drblackdeer and/or email [email protected] for collaboration opportunities.

In the era of self-care, what we've grown to know about caring for ourselves and regulating our nervous systems has become a slogan for luxury and self-centered action. But how can your commitment to softness and self-care also be care for those in your community? In this episode, Dr. Jenn talks with EbonyJanice, a free woman on a love journey, about her ethos for real soft girl shit.

EbonyJanice Moore is a Hip Hop Womanist, scholar-priestess, sovereignty mentor, and revolutionary dreamer. With a mind shaped by Cultural Anthropology and Political Science, and a heart anchored in spirit, love, and liberation, she writes, teaches, and dreams Black women free. Founder of Emma’s Legacy and author of All The Black Girls Are Activists, Sacred Text For Black Folks Soul, and her forthcoming book Real Soft Girl Shit, she blends ancestral wisdom, womanist theology, and cultural commentary with the audacity of a sovereign being that knows she’s worthy. Her work lives at the altar of justice, joy, softness, and fantastic Black futures.

Connect with EbonyJanice - www.ebonyjanice.com; IG, Threads, TikTok @ebonyjanice

Menticide, or the systematic and intentional undermining of a person's conscious mind, effectively "killing" or destroying their independent thought and beliefs, is one of the most effective ways to supress revolutionary change in a society. So how do we protect our communities from it? And what examples do we have to look to? In this episode, Dr. Jenn talks with Dr. Evan Auguste about the effects of menticide and what we can learn from the Haitian revolution. Evan Auguste (aw-goost), Ph.D., is an incoming Assistant Professor of Psychology at the John Jay School of Criminal Justice. His identities as a Haitian-African American man have informed his work on examining how the American history of anti-Blackness has shaped psychological realities both in and outside of the country’s borders.
He is the director of the A.S.I.L.I. Collective, a research group whose work focuses broadly on addressing the mental health consequences of structural anti-Blackness through the lens of Black liberation psychology. He is also the co-developer of the SAWABONA HEALING CIRCLES for the Association of Black Psychologists. He is also the Lead Facilitator with In Cultured Company and on the board for the Institute for the Development of Human Arts.
Connect with Dr. Auguste on Instagram- @dr.evan.auguste, @inculturedco, @ida.nyc, @abpsy

Books and resources mentioned:

The Common Wind by Julius Scott

The Haitians: A Decolonial History by Jean Casimir

Afrikan-Centered Consciousness Versus the New World Order by Amos N. Wilson

Education | John Henrik Clarke | Marimba Ani | Amos N Wilson https://youtu.be/fhFtIBrD6fg

On an Earth where abundant resources are exploited for profits and greed, often we are faced with the question - who is deserving of care? In this episode, Dr. Jenn talks with Toi Smith about how she is ignoring the dehumanization of "deservedness" and helping Black women get what they need at all times.
Toi Smith is a Mother, a growth and impact strategist, and the founder of Loving Black Single Mothers. Toi’s experience as a single Mother, a lifelong learner and revolutionary thinker deeply inspires her mission to create ecosystems of care for single Black Mothers that directly nourish and improve their material conditions. Her work centers on doing life, business, and motherhood differently. Connect with Toi Smith online - https://www.instagram.com/toimarie/?hl=en

The anticipation of the pain of grief can lead to an intense fear of loss that can color the way we move through the world. Trying to hold onto what we perceive as what is ours can make us self centered and unaware of the ways we perpetuate harm and sabotage connection and collective healing. In this episode, Dr. Jenn talks with Breeshia Wade about the connection between grief, loss, fear and love.

Breeshia Wade is the author of the 2021 publication, Grieving While Black: An Antiracist Take on Oppression and Sorrow, which was rated one of the best 9 books on grief, and is currently required reading in multiple university graduate courses. Connect with Breeshia on the web - https://www.breeshiawade.com/

As we learn to work with our feelings, the idea of "emotional regulation" becomes an ever present challenge that we are obsessed with mastering. But what exactly to we aim to do? What do the spikes in our emotions actually tell us about our overall mental health. In this episode, Dr. Jenn talks to Aasia Lewis about emotional regulation and somatics.

Through her personal desire for a more embodied mental health practice, Aasia Lewis has created space as a yoga educator, certified somatic coach and bodyworker, to help others see themselves clearly and deeply; And to offer encouragement to curiously explore one’s inner terrain. Through her yoga, somatic, and communication practices, she offers distinctive movement and energy analysis to reveal asymmetries and blockages within the soma, as well as perceptive insights on one’s interpersonal relationships, self-expression, and overall life exploration.

Connect with Aasia on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sia_ontheotherside/

When we think of healing and therapy, we often rush to the idea of diagnosing and fixing. But for some of us, the simple witnessing of our full selves, with space to feel physically what we are experiencing emotionally, our agency and ability to actually live in a way that serves us best, grows exponentially. In this episode, Dr. Jenn talks with Chiara Francesca about the power of accompaniment, witnessing and somatic practice. They also talk about the powerlessness that uterus having people often face in the healthcare system when dealing with issues like fibroids.
Originally from Italy, and currently residing in Chicago, Chiara is a queer disabled artist, writer, organizer, acupuncturist, immigrant, and former teen mother. They are committed to building collaborative spaces for community care and moving toward collective embodied liberation in and out of movements for justice.
Chiara has been deeply involved in gender violence prevention, practicing healing justice, and creating politicized art for over two decades. They have written and spoken extensively about disability justice, politicized healing, and using art as a cultural tool for structural change. They are a politicized somatics practitioner in the lineage of Generative Somatics with a focus on generative conflict, childhood trauma recovery, and breaking multigenerational cycles of harm. In 2022 they published their first book, "We Will Build a New Compass: Magic Moments of Seeding More Just Worlds.
Connect with Chiara Francesca on Instagram - @Chiara.acu https://www.instagram.com/chiara.acu/

As we approach our awakening, a process of learning, unlearning, and owning the parts of ourselves that will serve our growth. In this episode, Dr. Jenn talks with Dr. Connie Wun about her unlearning, reclaiming, and in time using her lessons to empower and organize communities to be in solidarity, power and righteous rage. Dr. Wun reminds us of our humanity through our coming into consciousness.
Dr. Connie Wun is a researcher, author, educator and the executive director and co-founder of AAPI Women Lead. Her work is a reflection of a lifelong commitment to ending racial and gender-based violence. She has published in academic books, journals, and mainstream press, including the anthology, Antiblackness, as well as Educational Policy, Race, Ethnicity and Education, Critical Sociology and Elle magazine. She is a co-editor for the anthology, Abolition for the People, with Colin Kaepernick and Christopher Petrella. Dr. Wun has appeared on Democracy Now!, MSNBC, NPR, and a range of podcasts. She is a former National Science Foundation Fellow, Soros Justice Fellow, UC Berkeley Chancellors Fellow and more. She’s also been recognized by California API Legislative Caucus with the 2021 Excellence in Civil Rights Award and by GoldHouse with an A100 award. She is a former sex worker, high school and college educator, anti-sexual assault advocate and organizer. Dr. Wun continues to co-facilitate community-driven research projects on racial and gender violence with organizations across the US. Connie has a daily meditation practice and is a yoga instructor who has also trained in Muay Thai and kickboxing.
Connect with AAPI Women Lead and sign up for the newsletter - AAPIWL.ORG Connect with Dr. Connie on Instagram - @seewun https://instagram.com/seewun

The root of personal innovation, the creation of new habits, processes and practices that help us along in our healing journey, often comes from witnessing the road that others have created to forge their paths. In this episode, Dr. Jenn welcomes Foluke Taylor, a psychotherapist and writer, to discuss themes of sisterhood, identity, and the significance of Black feminism. The conversation explores personal histories, the importance of community, and the journey of self-authorization in sharing one's voice.
Foluke Taylor is a psychotherapist and a writer interested in therapeutic practices that hold open space for thinking from and into the position of blackness. She works with Black feminist modes that create and hold open spaces for the emergence of the yet to be and for the therapeutics that call this into being. Taylor is the author of UNRULY THERAPEUTIC: BLACK FEMINIST WRITINGS & PRACTICES IN LIVING ROOM - Part thesis, part memoir, and part poetry, Foluke Taylor explores how the centering of black women’s experiences in therapeutic scholarship allows for greater space—space for wandering, for wondering, and for deepening narratives—in every therapeutic relationship. Connect with Foluke Taylor on Instagram @FolukeTaylor. https://instagram/com/foluketaylor

The root of our disconnection from self is sewn into the fabric of our society. The way we work, eat, socialize and communicate through toxic systems have a direct effect on our bodies. But what if we knew that we have all of the ancestral, spiritual and intuitive wisdom we need to facilitate our own healing? In this episode, Dr. Jenn talks with Alex March about how our spiritual and emotional healing is directly connected with our physical health.
Alex is an evidential medium, physical and emotional empath, medical intuitive, reiki master-teacher and can read anything about your life past, present and future path. Alex can be found approaching strangers with messages from their departed loved ones in public, reading people in bathrooms and overall using her presence to help anyone that comes in her path. Alex is also an incredibly accomplished martial artist. She believes using all modalities in healing of the mind body and soul is key to full healing. Connect with Alex March on Instagram @alexmarchenergy https://www.instagram.com/alexmarchenergy/?hl=en