Cancer Journal 5: An Angry Life

Angry Black Woman

Continuing this blog series “Cancer Journals”, named after Audre Lorde's classic The Cancer Journals.   Please leave your comments below.  Thanks.

Anger has always been an issue for me.   And even as a young child, I always believed that anger is connected with cancer – if we don't find ways to process our anger effectively.

As Black people, we cary a lot of anger due to the oppression we face, and we have carried that anger for generations. When we carry negative emotions, they block us from attracting the things we want and deserve.  For more about this, see Achieving Success and Why We Need to Heal.

The negative emotions we carry affect our families as well, and I believe they can not only make us prone to disease, but also block our healing process.  But I have long felt the need to hang onto my anger.  It's as if I think it protects me.  I have thought of anger as a protection, a form of armour.  But really, the opposite is true.

This is why I have decided to record a healing meditation to help me let go of any negative emotions and anything that could be blocking my healing process.  It will not just be for people who have cancer, it will be for anyone who needs physical or emotional healing.

I have carried a lot of intense anger and fear in the past, which stems partly from the abuse I experienced growing up.

I'm a lot less angry than I used to be, but I still experience the full range, from mild irritation to annoyance, to anger, rage and fury.  Even lingering resentment can be destructive, as it alienates us from others, and eats away at us from the inside.

I trust that my new healing meditation will help me, and will be beneficial for you, too.  I shall be posting a link in the next few days.

Why We Need to Heal Part 3

How the legacy of slavery continues to affect our families.

Our self-hatred means that our communities suffer financially and in other ways. Our money is flowing into other people's communities.

Click here for Why We Need to Heal Part 3.

Click here for Part 1.

Click here for Part 2.

Stay tuned for Part 4.

Please leave your comments below.

Why We Need to Heal

I was recently asked why people of African heritage need to heal and transform ourselves, our families, our communities and our world.

I thought the answer was obvious. We need to heal physically, psychologically, emotionally and financially.

The damage that has been done is all around us, and inside of us.

To read more, see: Why We Need to Heal. This is the first part of a series.

For practical ways we can heal, see Success Strategies for Black People.

See also: Join Us on the Radio Again.

Stay tuned for Part 2.

Black Women, Men and Self-Hatred

I’ve been reading an article in “Essence” on Black women and self-hatred. The article states that our negativity towards each other is due partly to our conditioning, i.e. Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome. I couldn’t agree more.

But this negativity does not just affect sistas. It damages brothas too. It damages our children. Its toxic effects seep into our families.

This affects people from Africa as well – witness the use of wigs and skin-bleaching creams.

What can we do about it? My work is all about practical solutions.

To read more, see Getting Past the Hate, to Have More Love.

Connecting with Our Feelings and Needs

Click here to read about Nonviolent Communication.

This is a repeat and update of an earlier post.

I read about these killings of young people, by other young people. It surely cannot be natural for children to kill.

We need to find more love in our hearts. Sorry if this sounds airy-fairy. I am talking in purely practical terms. We need to find more love and learn how to express it better or, I fear, our species is not going to survive much longer.

We can find more love. There are methods that work. Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is a highly effective method. I have seen the effect it has had in my own life and I am determined to help make it available as widely as possible, particularly within African Diasporic communities.

We can use NVC to help improve our communication at home, at work, at school, with partners, loved ones, and with ourselves. Nonviolent Communication is very practical and its results are exceptional. It is used by children as young as four. It is used by people all over the world, including places where there is a history of extreme violence, such as Rwanda and Burundi, Sierra Leone, and Israel and Palestine.

Click here to find out more about Creative Communication.

Click here to read about Nonviolent Communication.

See also: How to Get Our Needs Met, NVC vs. Anger Management. These are both old posts, so the links are probably out of date.