Today we’d like to introduce you to Fatima Mann.
Fatima, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am the daughter of a womayn of the African Diaspora born to a womb filled with trauma. My father was also born to a womb filled with trauma. I am the product of post traumatic slave syndrome, my ancestor’s prayers, my ancestor’s affirmations, love, and faith. I have learned to love myself in a society that has perpetually illustrated that they are not capable of seeing people of the African Diaspora as human beings. I have overcome not having a home, believing that cutting myself was the best way of loving myself, and healing the traumas caused by childhood experiences.
My life began when I was twenty-six and joined Americorp Vista in Wilmington, North Carolina. I worked for the Carousel Center, a child advocacy center where children that have been abused go to get the holistic help they need. I saw children experiencing horrible experiences because of the adults in their lives. Working in this space showed me I had to invest in being grounded. I did not know the importance of having a spiritual practice centered in basic goodness. It was in 2014 when I really began to learn how I was sufferings, how to meditate, and how to get in touch with my Higher Self.
Once I began a journey of healing I was awaken to the senseless killing of people of the African Diaspora throughout the country. I began to realize that there was at least one Trayvon Martin in my neighborhood, community, and city. I began to organize with local leaders, police, department of justice, and others to learn about the injustices in which people have been facing for generations in Wilmington, NC.
After a year of working in Wilmington, I moved to Austin, Texas, where people of the African Diaspora were also being shot and killed by police officers. I learned of Larry Jackson and how he was shot fleeing from police. I was inspired to get involved and cofound an organization that would create policy that positively impacts people of the African Diaspora. I moved to Austin in 2014 and then began law school in 2015. In April 2015 I began my journey of not wearing shoes. This journey began because I wanted to learn to run without shoes. The more I traversed through the world without shoes I began to embrace the healing and abundance Mother Nature provides. I learned how to be mindful of every living thing, and that I am connected to all things. Being without shoes has guided me to a peace I didn’t have, and showed me that I am not greater or lesser than any other living being.
I began to learn that Black womayn weren’t safe, protected, or cared about. When I learned about Sandra Bland’s death in July 2015, it was the first time I saw myself in the eyes of someone lost in to state sanctioned violence. I didn’t know how communicate, organize, or fight for Black womayn until I started fighting for justice for Sandra Bland. I went to law school organizing around Sandra Bland and others that have lost their life to police violence. While being in law school I still organized marches, helped families impacted by police brutality and gun violence, and was able to take what I learned to help write policy.
During law school, the other cofounder and I disconnected, and was forced out of the organization. I was forced to learn the importance of investing in cultivating genuine relationship and connections with others in doing advocacy work. The first organization I cofounded was centered in policy reform. The second organization I cofounded was centered in self-love and self-care as an intricate part of advocacy work. I was shown the injustices womayn of the African Diaspora experience at the hands of police brutality and our fellow peers, so I began to unapologetically support womayn of the African Diaspora. I was taught this idea by the beautiful people at the Afiya Center to unapologetically uplift the voices of all self-identifying women of the African Diaspora. It wasn’t until 2016 I learned to embrace the unique experience I was having because I am a womayn of the African Diaspora.
During my work with the second organization I cofounded Counter Balance: Atx, I was able to create a counter experience to disaster recovery. I created Community Restoration Project which centers culturally mindful and healing resources, supplies, and experiences. During Hurricane Harvey and Maria, I was able to work with other organizations to raise money, collect supplies, and distribute supplies. I have personally distributed supplies for the last three years during hurricane season to Black and Brown communities.
I did this organizing while being a full-time law student in 2017. In 2017, I was able to assist write the Sandra Bland act which provided de-escalation training to all law enforcement, and changed how law enforcement engage. After graduating from Southern University Law Center, I began working on healing from my traumas. I became a practitioner in trauma conscious yoga, and human potential work. In the summer of 2018, I founded another organization called Community Advocacy & Healing Project. An organization that centers culturally mindful, healing and human-centered experiences and policy reform.
I have taken my lived experiences and theories to embody cultivate change in the world.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road to being who I am and the successes I have made has not been easy. I have had to heal from generational trauma, I have had to recognize the harms I have created, and resolve them. Being a womayn of the African Diaspora in leadership, that loves other womayn has not been easy. Most movements have been founded on the backs and hardworking of womayn of the African Diaspora but men are the ones that get credit. Being a womayn of the African Diaspora comes with so many intersections and I have been forced to choose between my intersections. I have had to choose to be a Black womayn, a leader, a someone that loves womayn as a womayn.
I have had to live in secret, or water down who I am to belong or help liberate people systemically oppressed.
Please tell us about Community Advocacy and Healing Project.
Community Advocacy and Healing Project is a nonprofit that cultivates culturally mindful, healing, and human centered policy reform and experiences. We center healing as an essential part of advocacy work. We are grounded in co-curating consensual spaces with others. We practice focusing on the human experience and not just the oppressive systems humans spend so much time working in. Healing interpersonally, collectively, and holistically as we advocate for the necessary transformations has to be practiced to occur simultaneously. We have curated an organization that co-curates consensual spaces with everyone participating.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
One of my favorite memories as a child was learning how to spell and the definition of cordial. I was nine years old. My godmother surprised my older brother Raabbi and I with a trip to Disney World. There was a catch to this trip. She had invited her boyfriend at the time. A boyfriend that I did not like much as a nine-year-old. I told my godmother I did not want to go with him.
She asked me did I think I could be cordial towards him. I am nine years old; I had no idea what cordial meant, how to spell it, or why it mattered. I come from a family that tells you to go look up words as response to you not know the meaning of a word. So, I went to the big red Webster dictionary. I was guided through phonetically sounding out the word cordial. Once I found it, I had to learn the definition, spelling, and how to use it in a sentence. Within a couple of hours of this conversation with my godmother, I came back and was able to tell her that I could be cordial during my trip to Disney World.
I was able to learn a new word and experience a new place, and those are two of my favorite things.
Contact Info:
- Website: commadvocacyhealing.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CommunityAdvocacyandHealingProject/?ref=bookmarks
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