Black History (Month)
The simple, factual history of black people in the United States of America is hard to bear. It’s hard to imagine, and hard to accept. And yet Black History has shaped the present for individual Black people, for Black families, and for every American. We cannot understand ourselves as Americans or our country if we do not understand Black History.
The growth of this country into an international economic superpower happened because cotton became the foundation of the global economy at a time when the American south was producing up to 80% of the world’s cotton. Enslaved people, kidnapped from their homelands and forced to work for no compensation under threat of torture or death fueled the creation of unbelievable wealth, and supported industries throughout the country and jobs for millions of people. Every American today carries the legacy of this history in our bodies, our minds, and our bank accounts.
To learn Black History is deeper than celebrating the courage and valor of those amazing citizens who sacrificed so much during the Civil Rights Movement, or honoring the individual achievements of Black historical figures. To learn Black History is to look within and understand what it has meant and what it means today to be Black in America.
Yoga is a quest for truth. Truth includes Black History. Yoga is a process of touching truth and then allowing it to progressively come alive within our bodies and minds, to transform our self-experience. As citizens of The United States of America, this means facing Black History and the legacy of embodied trauma and institutionalized terrorism that it produced. It means asking “How can I help? What is my responsibility? Where are the opportunities for healing in my own unique life?”
As part of honoring Black History (month), we offer this video, which was created based on a talk given by our friend Malcolm. Malcolm is a Black American who lives in Auroville, a yoga community in South India. The audience of his talk is not American, and largely unfamiliar with Black American History, so the talk embodies a fundamental innocence while introducing painful facts. It’s a unique, valuable perspective.
The second half of the video does contain graphic images of lynched and murdered Black people — these are real images from historical archives, and they are disturbing. Please take care of yourself, and consider just listening to the audio if needed for self care.