EXCLUSIVE: The Importance Of Attaining A Decolonized Perspective Of Psychedelics Therapy

(Part one of three) 

Nationwide, the arrest data revealed one consistent trend: significant racial bias. Despite roughly equal usage rates, Blacks are 3.73 times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana.

No doubt these groups are not exactly jumping into the psychedelics space at the moment though healing through psychedelics has the potential to bring about restorative and transformative justice, something indigenous communities and non-heteronormative, patriarchal communities, such as the disabled, queer and BIPOC seem to be aware of. Indeed, some actively practice within their community toward group care and accountability.

The fact is that conflict and trauma do not arise from a distinctive personal sphere, but rather across groups, communities, cultures and even generations. Systemic issues such as capitalism, ableism, patriarchy, transphobia and white supremacy are likely triggering or pushing toward conflict at a deeper level.

Acknowledging these internal and external streams is a good way to begin working toward their resolution.

Psychedelic Liberation Training (PLT), a program developed by Charlotte James and Sara Reed on the necessary practices with oneself and others toward destigmatizing, decolonizing and providing a new pathway to anti-oppression, diversity and inclusion in what has become a predominantly white space.

The two Black women have been participating in the psychedelic space for several years. James is a co-founder of the Ancestor Project and Reed is a therapist for MAPS and Yale psychedelic studies. Their experience made them realize the dearth of effort undertaken to destigmatize psychedelics in Black and Brown communities.

The starting point for this ten-week certificate program is the recognition that we all have trauma and we have all been colonized. This takes place in virtually any relationship a person enters into whether with a fellow human being, activities or goods.

The process of decolonizing can be viewed as unlearning the conditioning that unfolds in every action we embark on, which goes hand-in-hand with deconditioning from patriarchy and supremacy in general. 

Again, the fact that psychedelics use in the Black community is not as common as they bare among whites is due to disproportionate drug arrests, cultural stigma and lack of visibility in the space. 

This is why, James says, “it is our conscious goal to uplift more Black voices, creators, and businesses to begin re-contextualizing how psychedelics look in our community and provide more representation to help Black psychedelic enthusiasts connect." 

Next up: EXCLUSIVE: Kambo And Sacred Medicines - Working Through Internalized Oppression

Photo: Benzinga edit with photo by Miha Creative and nfsstudi0 on Shutterstock and Benjah-bmm27 and Ben Mills on Wikimedia Commons.