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The act of personal review is more thorough and rewarding when conducted in the company of other women. Our villages are our advocates, helping us uncover riches buried within our experiences. They shine a light on life moments that we may have forgotten––or willfully ignored.
My guest TiShaunda McPherson is senior vice president and first-ever chief diversity officer at the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago. For more than 20 years, TiShaunda has addressed institutional, regional, and systemic discrimination in employment and educational settings. She’s a member of my village and someone who embodies the practice of review without the peril of regression.
When I think about “review”, I envision the Sankofa, the mythical bird with its feet and body facing forward, its head turned back. Sankofa is committed to progress, propelled by wisdom from the past. As Black women, those lessons are embedded in the “strength” that we’re required to develop (not by choice) to endure the expectations often heaped on us.
“As a Black woman in predominantly white spaces, It's been instilled in me this notion that I have to work twice as hard and be twice as good,” says TiShaunda, “and, so, asking for help is counter to that.”
The act of review can help us unlearn generations of harmful survival training. Shaunda agrees. “I think this goes right back to the Sankofa, looking back and letting the past guide your future. Now I'm trying to pick that back up as I go into these new roles and how I show up for church, community, and family.”
We can move forward while looking back. With the help of our sisters, we can fetch lessons that are at risk of getting left behind.
Review - Here’s How:
- Gather your village. From blood relatives to chosen sisters, community can help us uncover what’s hidden in our past.
- Commit to the question. Are there experiences you've left behind that keep you from moving forward?
- Embrace the Sankofa. Don't go turning your whole body to the past. Keep your feet planted forward as you look back.
If this conversation has brought you to an insight, a story, a sense of relief, please email me at lisa@insideoutrecovery.com and let me know.
Take care,
Lisa
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Insideout Conversations is edited by The Creative Impostor Studios.
Theme music is by Nicholas77 at freesound.org and is licensed under the Creative Commons.
Learn more about Lisa and her clinical practice, Insideout Living: https://www.insideoutrecovery.com/
