ANTI-RACISM
FromSoil2Soul Commitments
Scholarships are available for QTBIWoC at low or no-cost as needed
I locate myself in the anti-racism movement as a longtime frontline ally/organizer in deep solidarity with black and brown-led movements for nonviolent structural change. After two decades of frontline community organizing across deep structural divides to agitate against oppressive systems - I’m deeply committed to the ongoing work of unpacking my privileges, and dismantling white supremacy. In all my courses, community agreements are in place with a strong commitment to uphold a safe space for QTBIWoC (Queer Trans Black/Brown and Indigenous Womxn of Color).
In my classes, we anchor in deep humility and root down to enrich the vital conversations that take us all back to the soil, the blood, and the bone. Conversations about race and equity are openly engaged.
Indigenous Land Rights
Having witnessed firsthand the near complete erasure from the forced displacement of Bedouin in Israel/Palestine as a frontline organizer for two decades, I actively support land rights for indigenous people. As a land steward, I strongly believe in agitating for the safety and prosperity of indigenous nations and their right to steward natural resources, federal forests and national parks. I encourage support for indigenous land trusts, as well as voluntary land-use taxing, and community food sovereignty through indigenous-led nonprofits like Honor the Earth, Sogorea Te Land Trust. I am in strong solidarity with water keepers, land rights activists, farmers, food and environmental justice stewards and organizers advancing #landback, with womxn leading steps to ReMatriate through healing justice for indigenous nations.
Today I urge my friends, students, and clients to learn what native lands you are on, and learn how indigenous peoples are disproportionately impacted by the historic and ongoing expropriation and confiscation of land, labor, and finite resources through settler colonialism. Learn how to write a Land Acknowledgement and follow #landback to stay current on struggles for land return. Consider diving deeper and read As Long As the Grass Still Grows (Dina Gilio-Whitaker).
Today it is crucial to support the indigenous-led fight for #landback and 10% of my revenue goes toward local efforts through the newly forming Tovaangar Conservancy.
Financial Commitments
Inspired by the Jewish agricultural tradition of pe’ah (tithing our harvests), I give pe’ah, 10% of my earned income, to support the thriving of #BIWoC-led organizations like Dignity and Power Now!
*Commitment that some 50% of the guest teachers in my programs are BIWoC.
*FromSoil2Soul is committed to directing 10% of my revenue toward local #landback efforts through the newly forming Tovaangar Conservancy.
*I also donate my time and my herbs as a member of DPN!’s Building Resilience team to teach and to make herbal medicine quarterly. This year:
-400 jars of FromSoil2Soul Pine Eucalyptus Voice Balm
-200 jars of FromSoil2Soul Tulsi and Lavender Body Butter
-FromSoil2Soul Oregano Flower Essence for distribution through Alma Farms in South LA to support QTBIPoC farmers and the community.
-150 jars of FromSoil2Soul BREATHE GREEN: Beyond Organic Magic Body Oil (eucalyptus, pine, rosemary) and
-150 jars of FromSoil2Soul ANCIENT TREE MEDICINE Olive ReLEAF: Beyond Organic Olive leaf for distribution through the DPN! Political Campaigns Team.
Spiritual Bypassing
I am committed to naming spiritual bypassing and weeding it out of the garden. According to Psychology Today, spiritual bypassing is “using ‘spiritual ideas and practices’ to sidestep personal, emotional ‘unfinished business,’ to shore up a shaky sense of self, or to belittle basic needs, feelings, and developmental tasks.”
Antiracism Daily asserts that Spiritual Bypassing acts as a deterrent when we are not ready to confront difficult emotions in our lives. However, it is also a common tool used to avoid acknowledging one’s privilege because doing so is inherently messy, painful, and requires continued awareness.
Privilege is the ability to step in and out of this content at leisure, without any difference in your capacity to move through society. Spiritual bypassing shows up so often in the wellness field that I feel it has warped into normalcy. It is ANYTHING but that.
Continuing Education
I bring a strong commitment to continuously celebrating diversity, ensuring inclusion, and prioritizing equity, as well as continuing to learn at the intersection of race, land, and justice with my food system and healing/herbalism organizing. I commit to the active process of composting oppressive systems with all of my platforms and privileges. I join with the Jewish Farmer Network in believing that “Jewish agricultural values compel us to be in right relationship with the lands we steward, the original stewards of these lands, and our fellow farmers who face systemic barriers to their ability to build livelihoods rooted in the land. We do not shy away from the brutal histories and ongoing realities of theft, genocide, enslavement, and exploitation that pervade agriculture in the United States. Our experience as a Diaspora people gives us a unique perspective on the ongoing heartbreak that is the loss of ancestral homelands.”