SOCIALLY ENGAGED ART

The Healing Project is a  grassroots healing justice initiative and budding research collective. Our approach is rooted in Black and decolonial feminist theories and utilizes the core principles of Healing Justice and that of Critical Participatory Action Research (CPAR); "No research on us without us" (Fine & Torre, 2021).  

Historically, Blackwomen's voices have been largely excluded and/or erased from dominant discourses centered on their experiences, performance of identity and womanhood, and their health and well-being.  Likewise, Blackwomen have been traditionally seen as nonhuman, unfeeling subjects who possess inordinate physical and psychological strength; having a unique capacity to endure blow after blow.  We seek to redress these  dangerous myths and injustices through the art of storytelling, witnessing and testifying,  testimonio, and public memory work (re/membering).

We understand that the long, deep work of healing justice requires collective action, that liberation for Blackwomen requires us to "fight the world", together (CRC, 1977) and that a holistic approach must transcend disciplinary boundaries for inquiry. We want to destabilize stock stories and traditional/dominant narratives of resilience and create counter-spaces to tell authentic stories from the perspective of those most oppressed and  impacted by raced and gendered experiences. 

Our goals are to:

1. Obsessively disrupt and riot against the status quo of resilience and strength among Blackwomen
2. Partner with communities and organizations of Blackwomen to necessitate brave spaces for justice/joy/healing/liberation 
3. Develop an adapted framework of healing justice for Blackwomen for multi-systems level transformation
4. Organize around Blackwomen's politics of refusal and resistance through communities and ethics of care for collective action, specifically addressing mental health oppression and violence, including psychosocial, sexual, colonial, and epistemic violence
5. Intervene on social problems impacting Blackwomen through art-based approaches and methodologies, creativity, and imagination to actualize healing, joy and liberation, and to inform research that is of use for communities relegated to the margins

WE CALL THIS A RADICAL, AUTHENTIC, RIGOROUS, AND ENVIRONMENTALLY BRAVE (R.A.R.E.) SPACE