Racial Healing Circles
The Lexington Black Prosperity Initiative, a community-advised committee of Blue Grass Community Foundation, in partnership with the Center for Healing Racial Trauma, announces free Racial Healing Circles for members of the Black community.
These free six-week online sessions will allow Black community members to discuss racial identity development, racial socialization, and cognitive, emotional, and somatic responses to racism. Participants will learn strategies for coping, healing, and resistance. Three groups will be available to discuss specific areas of interest:
- Surrendering Superwoman Syndrome: Group for Black Women
- Healing While Black: Group for Black Men
- Family Matters: Empowerment Group for Black Families
“I am so grateful to the leaders of the Lexington Black Prosperity Initiative and Blue Grass Community Foundation for selecting the Center for Healing Racial Trauma as their first partnership to support essential work of racial justice and health equity,” said Dr. Candice Nicole Hargons, executive director of the Center for Healing Racial Trauma.
“It is an empowering opportunity for our community to have Dr. Hargons’ expertise providing mechanisms for healing” said Lisa Higgins-Hord, Lexington Black Prosperity Initiative co-chair. “Her passion and commitment are undoubtedly key in the maturation of this initiative.”
“I founded the Center for Healing Racial Trauma because I saw a great need for healing that specifically focused on racially and ethnically marginalized people. Through my training as a licensed psychologist, my scholarship as a scientist of healing racial trauma, and my lived experience as a Black woman, I have gained the understanding that we can’t heal racial trauma without an accompanying strategy to prevent racist stressors from occurring. That is why a partnership like this is so timely and necessary.”
Dr. Candice Hargons
Those interested in participating in a Racial Healing Circle are urged to sign up by February 13 to receive priority. More information is available online at www.centerforhealingracialtrauma.com/center or by emailing [email protected].
The Racial Healing Circles pilot project is made possible thanks to the support of many community and corporate donors, with special thanks to Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky and CVS Health for their extraordinary support.
“We are all so grateful for the additional funding support of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky and CVS Health,” said Higgins-Hord.
“Great corporate partners like these accelerate our work, and we look forward to partnering with other businesses committed to advancing racial equity,” said Tiffany Daniels, Lexington Black Prosperity Initiative co-chair.”
Businesses and community members interested in supporting the mission of the Lexington Black Prosperity Initiative can donate online at https://bgcf.givingfuel.com/lexingtonblackprosperityinitiative. All gifts to the Initiative’s endowment will be matched dollar for dollar, up to $100,000, thanks to an anonymous donor and the Jenna and Matthew Mitchell Family Foundation at BGCF.