"Excellence is nothing without the courage to execute it"

My work as an educator spans 40 years and carries deep community trust among youth, families, educators and community members. I began as an education activist, youth advocate and community organizer as a result of my own experiences of classroom and curriculum erasure, anti-blackness and racial isolation; which began in elementary school, continued through secondary education, into college and still remain today. I rarely saw the positive representation of black identities I needed in order to see myself in the world, so after becoming an educator I returned to do just that. I came back to build in the place where I could disrupt the white narrative, while being a mirror for the Black, Brown, Indigenous and students of Color who were yearning for that representation as I did for so long.

“I had to create brave spaces where we could show up with our full identities, without apology or explaining why we need spaces that reflect the true history of Black people; by centering our brilliance, beauty, contributions and the resilience of black humanity which represents who we are,

and who we want to be in the world.”

My roots of commitment to disrupting the white centered education and racial inequities over the past four generations are deep because everybody "gets to" take PE right! I've cultivated and cherished so many rich relationships that are built on trust, which I'm told have enhanced our learning community, especially among Black, Brown and Indigenous families and students of Color. My very presence in a predominantly white community presents many opportunities to address the racism we were taught not to see, not to hear, and certainly never to be spoken about.

That is why I started Racial Healing Circles. I needed a space to begin those conversations with everybody in the 'zoom'. Families and folks of all ages, ethnicities, races, cultures, genders, languages and abilities are welcome, wanted and needed in our circles.

We are each other's medicine. We are each others healing.

Knowing ourselves, digging up our roots, is the first step in building strong diverse, equitable and inclusive communities of practice. From this ground work comes the knowledge needed to build strong, resilient, multicultural, multiracial teams, organizations, and communities - the sturdy trunk.

It is there where we branch out to include others, always working towards the establishment of a just society. Roots, trunk, branches.

The Root Of Us works with educational, government and nonprofit organizations in service of racial healing, racial solidarity and social justice.

We shape our work to fit your needs and we can't wait to meet, work, build, learn and heal with you

We are rooting for you!