October is Black History Month in the UK, and we're honoured to have partnered with Kim Loliya who runs Black Psychotherapy, for October's #DiversityDictionary series.
At The Other Box, we take the firm position that EVERY month is Black History Month, but still wanted to mark the occasion of it being recognised in October in the UK by raising awareness to and celebrating the diversity of Black British and Black diaspora experience. As a company founded and led by three people who would be classified as ‘women of colour’ we did not wish to speak on behalf of the Black community. This is why we partnered with Kim to form explorative and expansive understandings of commonly known phrases.
You may have seen Kim in a previous post on our blog as part of our TOB community spotlight. Her organisation Black Psychotherapy provides counselling/psychotherapy, workshops and training to Black, indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC) communities. "We have a decolonial, African-centred orientation with an emphasis on inclusion and intersectionality. We believe that trauma-informed, culturally-sensitive mental health support is crucial to heal, survive and thrive."
Black Psychotherapy organises a monthly "Decolonising..." discussion group, where past events have included fitness, food and spirituality. They also run a decolonial book club, and run regular BIPOC group therapy sessions.
BLACK JOY
A phrase that reminds people that laughing, having fun and taking up space is not only essential to Black people’s lives, but is radical too. “It emphasises the importance of spontaneous Black joy and is inherent to the Black experience of pain and struggle,” says Kim.
As journalist @chantayyjayy has written in @britishvogue: “Where society has told Black people to ‘be quiet’, or that we’re ‘too loud’, revelling in joy is an act of resistance. As our feeds become even more inundated with images of trauma, joy can help us heal, too.”
However, as radical as joy is as an act of resistance and source of healing, it also has the potential to be co-opted as a phrase that enforces positivity in ways that may not be helpful: “There can be the pressure to conform to the stereotypes of Black joy. To always be smiling and laughing, extroverted, or the life and soul of the party. It’s really difficult to come out of that and find an authentic way of being joyful,” says Kim.
“There’s also a lot of shame when people don’t feel joyful but giving ourselves permission to feel joyful can feel impossible. If someone is anxious, depressed or heartbroken, giving ourselves permission to feel joyful can feel impossible. It can feel challenging in a racist society full of microaggressions. Feeling joyful when you have a mental or physical health issue within an ableist society might be difficult too.”
Kim therefore proposes a more expansive definition of Black joy that removes the pressure and embraces diversity of Black experiences: “It could be an invitation to feel joyful. A gentle reminder, not an expectation. Remember that your way of being joyful doesn’t have to look a particular way and doesn’t have to meet the standards dictated by society. It could be an inner expression of joy, where no one needs to know. And it doesn’t have to be a solo sport, it can be a community-wide celebration too.”
BLACK GIRL MAGIC
A phrase that recognises and celebrates the beauty, power and resilience of Black women. The term was originally coined as ‘Black girls are magic’ by CaShawn Thompson in the US and made popular in 2013. Since then it’s been shortened and is used around the world as the hashtag #BlackGirlMagic.(Source: @latimes)
Why magic? “Because it’s something that people don’t always understand,” Thompson said in a phone interview with The LA Times. “Sometimes our accomplishments might seem to come out of thin air, because a lot of times, the only people supporting us are other Black women.” (Source: @latimes)
“It’s an unseen force-field that every Black woman has and can be perceived by others too,” explains Kim @blackpsychotherapy. “It is inherently in us, because we exist and survive in the world. And it is unconditional: Black girl magic is something we can have on a bad day too. It celebrates our beauty. Not just physical but our inner beauty as well.”
These four syllables carry a lot of meaning, but Kim also seeks to interrogate the use of ‘girl’: “What does it mean when a Black woman uses the term Black girl magic? It could be feeding into the narrative of infantilising Black women, which is close to objectification and possibly even disempowering us.”
“A phrase like Black girl magic also may not resonate with our trans sisters, women, girls, nonbinary people, femmes and others within our community. There is often a tension in Black communities around homophobia and transphobia that could be perpetuated by this phrase.”
Kim recognises the limitations of language and seeks to push the boundaries for a more gender-inclusive alternative: “Black girl magic is strong, concise and succinct on purpose. If we were to make it Black-girl-woman-trans-nonbinary magic, would that still have the same power?”
Kim ends by saying: “I would love for others to suggest other terms that resonate with them”.
BLACK LIBERATION
Black liberation is a journey of people getting free from racism and anti-Blackness - both within institutions and within their minds too. “It’s about liberating ourselves from internalised racism and the oppression we have been conditioned to accept,” says Kim, “A rejection of shadism and colourism.”
Sometimes, ideas of liberation can come with the pressure to take constant action: “There’s a political aspect to Black liberation, but it’s not just about whether you’re marching or doing antiracism and antioppressive activism.”
“We embody and inhabit Black liberation all the time. You could sit and vision Afrofuturism and that would be Black liberation. Ritual ancestor practice is Black liberation. It has different flavours for different people and that’s okay. It’s also important to consider what we can do every day to move closer to liberation. This requires an intersectional approach and centering of community.”
To explain further, Kim uses her own practice as a psychotherapist for BIPOC communities as an example: “During 2020, with Black Lives Matter, there was a feeling in group therapy sessions of ‘I’m not doing enough’ and many felt like it was the ‘one chance’ to do something. But many of us were already burnt out from dealing with COVID.”
“I was also asking myself, ‘How much protesting should I be doing?’ But if I got arrested while out protesting, then I’m not doing the work of being a support system in my community. I didn’t want to be in a position of canceling clients’ therapy.”
“It was a chance to interrogate my own roles and responsibilities, my own desire to be an ‘activist’ and a therapist. It’s okay that I occupy a different role in my community.”
“Feeling that we ARE enough is so important for Black liberation. Surviving is important.”
BLACK POWER
A revolutionary movement that began in the US in the 1960s and 1970s, emphasising racial pride, economic empowerment, and the creation of political and cultural institutions.(Source: archives.gov)
Kim considers ways to bring the phrase into the 21st century, to make it more globally applicable and intersectional: “As we build power, we can keep self-awareness of how we use it. In that way power ties to privilege. There are dimensions of power that go beyond ethnicity and race: age, status, class, who you’re in a relationship with. We can embody and use power in a safe and sensitive way.”
“There’s also the power of vulnerability. For generations, Black families have not accessed mental health support, saying ‘we’re Black people, we don’t go to therapy’. Rejecting that conditioning and making different choices for wellbeing is powerful.”
“We can build power through community accountability. From a decolonial perspective, what do we do with people in our community who perpetuate violence? For example, Black men who are perpetrators of sexual violence in Black communities. A lot of things happen in Black communities that are harmful and people don’t feel able to engage with white authorities. In precolonial times we wouldn’t have gone to the police, we would have dealt with it in the community.”
“Black power is an inner process, a community process, and ties to accountability practices. It’s about building power and also what we do with that power. For example, how do we heal when we misuse power or our power causes pain? How can we build power, especially when we’ve been in situations that are disempowering, such as sexual violence, racism and ableism? Sitting in these questions makes Black power literally the work of a lifetime.”
“Black power is not top-down, it’s from within. Bodies, pleasure and sexuality, these can be part of our power. The journey of body-neutrality and self-acceptance, where you can celebrate your skin colour. For that to be beautiful, that’s powerful too.”
Our mission at The Other Box is to make space for difference. Diversity Dictionary is where we explore meanings and histories of the language of diversity, beyond a dictionary definition, so we can all build a deeper awareness and critical understanding of perspectives that may be different to our own.
On all our social channels, we share weekly words and their definitions, with a different theme each month. These terms are a taster and have been taken from our Diversity Dictionary™ course in our TOB for Teams™ programme. If you'd like to learn more, check out our courses page and fill in the contact form.
Is there a theme you’d like to see covered in Diversity Dictionary? Let us know! Our work is co-created by our community to work towards creating a world that is more inclusive and safe for everyone.
Words by Roshni Goyate
Header image by Oladimeji Odunsi on Unsplash