Led and Guided by Kamora Herrington, of Kamora’s Cultural Corner

August 21 through December 11, 2024:  bi-weekly meetings 6:30pm – 8:00pm

The KCC’s Book and Somatic Abolitionist’s Working Group

An 11-workshop series bringing together participants who are looking to allow for transformation through the somatic healing practices contained within Resmaa Menakem’s book, My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending our Hearts and Bodies.

JOIN US:  FINDING CULTURAL HUMILITY WITHIN MY GRANDMOTHER’S HANDS

*scholarship available

INDIVIDUAL SELF-DISCOVERY NEEDS COMMUNAL ENERGY IN ORDER TO CREATE MEANINGFUL CHANGE

From Kamora: “We can’t think our way out of the ism’s, we need to check-in with our bodies and minds and slow down. We can easily temporarily change behavior, but the revolution of transformation is in the pause when we can reflect and connect.”

We cannot just study and think our way through the effects of white body supremacy.  The charge and effects of race are contained in the body. Somatic Abolitionism is a living, embodied philosophy—a way of being in the world. It is a return to the age-old wisdom of human bodies respecting, honoring, and resonating with other human bodies.  

WE MUST WORK WITH THE BODY.  

The body practices asked of us in the book can be done individually, but truly it is in relationship to one another, in a communal space, where we are able to utilize our individual gifts and privileges with others that allows for a much deeper emergence of the true healing potential that can live through us and extend into our communities.  

AS WE, OURSELVES, BECOME ANTI-RACIST INDIVIDUALS, WE MUST WORK TOWARDS BECOMING AN ANTI-RACIST CULTURE.

From Resmaa:  “Trauma that happens in the body, over time, can look like personality.  Trauma that happens in the family, over time, can look like family traits.  Trauma that happens in the people, can look like culture.  Trauma in the culture can look intrinsic or natural.”  We are working towards anti-racism becoming intrinsic and natural. 

What is available to all of us that join this series:

• • A pre-class labyrinth connection event where participants will be introduced to the Labyrinth and each other.  The Labyrinth is located at 75 Sterling St., Hartford.
  • 11 bi-weekly group ZOOM sessions where we will use VIMBASI cards, playful materials, exercises within the book, and our Healing Artists
    • VIMBASI – Vibrations; Images and thoughts; Meanings, judgments, stories, and explanations; Behaviors, movements, actions, impulses, and urges; Affect and emotions; Sensations; Imaginings
  • A year-long KCC membership which includes weekly drop-in members-only community conversations on ZOOM.
  • A shared Kwanzaa experience at our December Thinking and Doing Day 12.27.24
  • An opportunity to come back together for our Juneteenth 2025 Thinking and Doing Day 6.21.25

We will not be finishing the book during this class; we will collectively read and work through parts 1 & 2 and, following our I.D.E.A roadmap, at the end of the course, participants will be partnered to complete the 3rd part together. 

Please take some time to listen to this podcast featuring Resmaa Menakem; it is required and we will be discussing it during our first engagement:  The Embodied Path to Healing Trauma with Resmaa Menakem

JOIN US: FINDING CULTURAL HUMILITY WITHIN MY GRANDMOTHER’S HANDS

*Scholarships available.

We recommend purchasing your book from an independent, Black-owned or LGBTQIA+ friendly bookstore such as:

keybookstore.com   or  bennettsbookstore.com
Love audio books? You can support an independent bookstore by using Libro.fm instead of the other billionaire-owned audio book services.

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Kamora Herrington is a member of the National Black Justice Coalition’s (NBJC) Leadership Advisory Council, a founding member of CT Black Women, and the recipient of numerous awards. Kamora has been able to extend her Cultural Humility work as the Founder and Visionary of Kamora’s Cultural Corner, a membership organization that offers opportunities for experiential community education and collaborations. “Creating spaces where families are free to love their children”  is a guiding principle; she can often be found doing that at the Sterling Street Sanctuary and Nature Reserve – a Black History and Cultural Heritage Land Trust that she created in the North End of Hartford, CT.

Founder and Visionary of Kamora’s Cultural Corner kamora@kamorasculturalcorner.com