115: Ayize Jama Evertt - Decolonizing Healing: A Conversation on Spirituality, Race, and Community
The Sacred SpeaksShow Notes
Interview begins: 3:40
In this episode of The Sacred Speaks, Dr. John Price hosts Ayize Jama-Everett for a discussion on spirituality, religion, cultural identity, and the pervasive impact of colonization. Ayize shares insights from his journey, beginning with how his roots in Harlem and his work within the psychedelic space have shaped his perspective on community, healing, and cultural reclamation. Together, they examine how long-established cultural dynamics continue to influence our lives, often without our conscious awareness. Ayize discusses his efforts to influence these dynamics at a cultural level, reflecting on religious and spiritual practices as tools for both personal and collective transformation. They also explore the complexities of whiteness—not only as a cultural identity shaped by colonization but as an orientation that often perpetuates colonizing behaviors toward other cultures. Ayize shares the purpose behind his documentary, A Table of Our Own, which aims to expand access to healing practices for Black people and to highlight the important work already being done within these communities. The project seeks to de-stigmatize these substances, reframing them as natural balms that have served as spiritual and psychological support for Black people over millennia. The conversation touches on Black joy, the importance of reconnecting with land-based spiritual practices, and the need to decolonize healing spaces. Ayize’s reflections offer a fresh lens on the healing power of connection, inspiring listeners to consider how we might engage in reclaiming and honoring our spiritual and cultural roots.
Bio: Ayize Jama-Everett holds three Master’s degrees: Divinity, Psychology, and in Fine Arts, Writing. He blends these degrees in all his work, often identifying as a guerilla theologian, a community-based therapist, and an afro-futurist in the same breath. He’s taught at Starr King School for the Ministry, California College of the Arts, The University of California, Riverside, Western Colorado College, and several private High schools for over twenty years. His expertise includes working with adolescents, the history of substance use in the United States, the history of Sacred Plant medicines in the Maghreb, the religious roots of political violence from Ireland to the Middle East, educational arts pedagogy, and Afrofuturism. He’s published four novels (The Liminal series) and two graphic novels (Box of Bones and The Last Count of Monte Cristo).
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