Wood Element in Words & Images
By Gwen Tinuawe IfaSegun Orisatimileyin Bynum
This Wood Element Unit Project has not only confirmed that all of the spiritual, emotional, psychological, physical, and socioeconomic states of the collective conscious are inextricably intertwined and interconnected with one another, ebbing and flowing, waxing and waning in response to historical acts of aggression, festering wounds, and scars (psychological, emotional and physical) that have, and continue to be ignored, trivialized, minimized and repeated.
Established perpetual and cyclical behaviors, justified by altered perceptions, false narratives have created and continue dictate how the world, our country, our communities, cultures, sub-cultures, and the people within and outside of our immediate spaces, our “bubbles“ view people of color, to be more specific, descendants of enslaved Africans.
These macro and micro aggressions manifest, both consciously and subconsciously, before playing out in real time. However, there is now a recognized, pervasive pattern of its use/abuse and how many, NOT All, Caucasian people are using them as weapons against people of color with out care or concern for the ripple and after effects of their behavior.
They are Weaponizing “White Fear” and continuing to perpetuate a generalized profile and stereotype for all melanated people, so that even when cognitive dissonance is experienced with, those of us who “do not fit the profile“ there is still an automatic trigger resulting in immediately proceeding to engage in the same pattern of behavior.
Unfortunately, this pattern of behavior is very familiar to those of African descent (African-American), as America has a long history of defaulting to these types of behaviors, resulting in millions of melanated people being murdered by Caucasian members of society, everyday people, as well as law enforcement.
The sad reality is that what we are seeing today with the behaviors of the so called “Karens” and “Kens” (named because they are “caring too much about what other people are doing aka minding other people‘s business), has been ingrained into the fiber of this country, and the DNA and minds of those who are proudly verbalizing and demonstrating their erroneous, racist, irrational, fictitiously based belief.
I have been on the receiving end of such behaviors on more than one occasion ranging from a random Caucasian woman running her fingers through my hair, without my permission, while hiding in a crowd of people, to being pulled over by several undercover police officers, in broad daylight, without identifying themselves, guns drawn with their fingers on the trigger. What was I doing? While that is not important, and did not justify any of the violations that I have endured, I’ll will share that in the first scenario I was on vacation, in another country, and walking back to my hotel room. In the second scenario, I was driving back to my apartment, alone, from my clinical rotation at a hospital in our nation‘s capitol.
So, this period of Wood resonates deeply with me as a time for change, transformation, anger, annoyance, frustration, tapping into decisive action, and warrior energy to call on and access the spiritual energy of my/the ancestors in assuring that the momentum and the trajectory of this Movement, Activism, of Spiritual and Social shift and recalibration is Successful.
I have chosen to do a power point presentation as well as a song playlist for this project.
*Note: Just to be clear, I am not referencing, inferring, speaking of or insinuating anything directly or indirectly connected with Rioting.
Wood Unit Project & Reflection completed for In Our Element Flower Essence & Soul Medicine Immersion
