White Folks Can't Handle That Smoke

Folks think I dislike white people. lol stop that. What a reductive way to perceive critical thought and honest assessment. I just really love Black people and I don't want white people to hurt us.

Some are dope and others are harmful as hell. This applies to any group of people.

What I despise with every negro fiber of my being is white culture.

There is a difference between white people and white culture.

White culture is built on a foundation of:

• Fear

• Perfectionism

• Binary (either /or) thinking

• Denial and defensiveness

• A right to comfort

• Fear of conflict

• Individualism

• Quantity over quality

• Urgency

There are plenty of white people that don’t live their lives based on a culture of whiteness.

With that said, if you’re white and you haven’t taken *active steps to unlearn* then there’s a damn fine chance you’re operating from a whiteness culture mindset. If simply reading that statement made you tighten up, well..

...you’ve just proven my point.

That’s defensiveness.

I don’t believe white people have the capacity to hold space for the trauma that Black people have experienced and continue to endure

And a piece of advice before you come for me: Don’t do it.

Because I truly do not care.

I recently wrote a guide for white facilitators who work with Black clients in the psychedelic space. With that said, I created the guide with the intention to *lessen* harm, not pretend it would eradicate it.

Whiteness has historically been harmful to Black bodies.

I don’t care how well intentioned you are, I don’t care that your best friend is Black, I don’t care if you’ve been invited to the cookout. (I’ma need you to prove it but fine.)

If you haven’t taken ACTIVE steps to unlearn the harmful behaviors of whiteness, then you’ve probably caused harm in your interactions with Black people.

• What are you going to do when the trauma of our ancestors comes up?

• How will you hold space when your feelings are triggered as we process racial trauma?

• How will you create safe space for us when your ancestors made our entire existence unsafe?

With that said, you will continue to have Black clients in your offices, ceremonies and circles because unfortunately, there aren’t enough Black sitters, therapists and facilitators to serve the Black community. Well, not yet.

We are building.

Again, my intention is to help you cause the least harm possible.

We have work to do. All of us.