We had nourishing conversation with Nicole Raines, LMFT, on her Be Love, Be Well, Be Whole podcast (that Dena is also a podcast co-host of). We talk music, defining and tapping into hope amidst grief and injustice, and the stellar move, One Night in Miami. Listen on all the places podcasts live.

We believe that justice work involves both the head and the heart. Here are some of the teachers, activists, researchers, artists, writers, organizers, and thinkers that inspire and inform our work.

At and/now, we live by these core values to be and act for equity and justice, allowing each to guide our mindsets, behaviors, and relationships. When we are faced with complicated truths and complex emotions, we lean into our values to better understand ourselves, others, and the distance between us. That’s how we build stronger, connective bridges together.

We had the privilege and opportunity to chat with DJ Rome on his radio segment, Psychotic Bump School, about how and/now came to be, how we met back in 2015, and how we’re making sense of police brutality and COVID-19 within the racial justice and healing space.

We put forth a different way forward that interlocks justice, healing, transformation, and growth as expansive possibilities that begin with the collective us. As we carry on, let’s put DEI and mental health on intersecting, inseparable, and undeniably ambitious paths forward. We all deserve healing.

Break the barrier, then get out of the way. Trust our lived experiences as evidence enough. Don’t be colorblind; see color and center race. Believe in all of our infinite capacity for radical transformation and healing. Stop beating the odds and start changing them instead. It matters how we position ourselves in this world, especially when it feels safer to build up walls and close our gates. Stay open. As Rinku Sen says, “If you have some privilege, risk it.”

Let us no longer disenfranchise our own grief and speak loudly about our pain, rage, and sorrows. Disenfranchised grief (aka hidden grief) is that unacknowledged by society or invalidated by social norms. We say F* that.

We started looking for the things unsaid. What did we do when no one was looking? How did our behaviors shift, even in the slightest, when we weren’t displaying all the ways we were anti-racist or inclusive or allies this week? How do we find space for ourselves within all this noise?

Download the weekly racial justice x social healing prompts and practices, wrapping up five weeks of applying the stages of grief to navigating racism in our lives. Featuring the work of Dr. Anneliese Singh.

Download the weekly racial justice x social healing prompts and practices, wrapping up three weeks of racial socialization, featuring the work of Dr. Anneliese Singh.

Download the weekly racial justice x social healing prompts and practices, wrapping up three weeks of racial identity development, featuring the work of Dr. Anneliese Singh.