Today we’d like to introduce you to DejaJoelle. Them and their team share their story with us below:
DejaJoelle is a master of her life and the reaper of the consequences sown by her choices. As a child, DejaJoelle was very close to her father and unfortunately lost him to sickle cell anemia. In her teenage years, DejaJoelle was a victim of sexual exploitation followed by extremely codependent relationships. Since the age of four, DejaJoelle has Danced. It was nothing special but something that resonated in Black culture and still does. It was how she connected with the Divine higher power. As time progressed, DejaJoelle lost her connection and questioned how she possessed the gift of Dance while simultaneously having her body abused and exploited. She wondered what the abusers saw in her that she couldn’t see or feel. Her body was numb. In 2017 DejaJoelle began to “thaw out” and all of the traumatic emotions and memories came flooding her mind and debilitated her ability to be connected with her body and Dance. DejaJoelle attempted suicide in 2018 in hopes of alleviating the pain she couldn’t put words to. In spite of her downward spiral, DejaJoelle decided to tune into her gift of Dance to assist in healing herself and getting reconnected with her body.
Since then, DejaJoelle has developed a specific aesthetic that drives the work that is being shared with you today. Using Dance, Revolutionary Love Practices, meditation, and affirmation DejaJoelle’s mission is to help guide other Black women who have had their bodies abused, used, and taken away from them towards healing and reclamation. DejaJoelle does not claim to be a therapist and owns her title of a Healing Artist using art to soothe and develop the spirit. DejaJoelle’s mission is to eradicate Sexual trauma, exploitation, and trafficking, in our communities by sharing her journey and techniques with Black communities across the globe.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a Healing Artist, Cultural Healing Curator, and the founder of Body Prayers. I use Dance, ASL, Meditation, and Revolutionary Love techniques to guide Black Community to their most authentic Self. We believe every Black person is equipt with Ancestral messages and gifts waiting to be unearthed. Our Bodies hold the code to our Liberation, Healing, and Understanding. And we use Dance as a tool to Explore, Reclaim, Surrender, and Conjur our best-case scenario.
With the experience of anti-Blackness across the globe, it is important we as a community Practice our Power and Multiplicity. We believe in using both Traditional and Innovative ways to dig deep into Collective Care.
Dance is a way for us to put Prayers and Thoughts into action. What does it mean to embody the very thing you Prayed for? What do you move like or speak like when you know you are Prayed for? Dancing Collectively is traditional. We have always been informed. Always been poly rhythmic people. Layering one rhythm on top of another to build something cosmic. Like we’ve never heard before. OR one that is familiar but brings about something new in the times in its Presence. When we open ourselves up to the specific rhythms pressed into our DNA. We are able to guide ourselves towards our purpose. These things feel like they have been predetermined once they are discovered. Purpose.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Rest. Care. Nurturing my intuition. Spending time with and or daydreaming and imagining with Loved ones. Meditation. Dance.
Contact Info:
- Email: deja@dejajoelle.com
- Website: www.bodyprayerspractice.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dejajoelle/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deja.stowers/
- Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/47OoSg6rYQ6MwppWXghbob?si=-K3iGucWSQ-22cqTs7FVxw
Image Credits
Awa Mally
