Part 3: Co-Created Events to Address Community Bullies and Inspire Collective Healing

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On July 17, the Talk & Do group that is focused on communal healing of ICE-occupation–related trauma and its long-lasting impact on our communities, met for the third time.

The discussion started with an acknowledgement of the sister Talk & Do group focused on racial bullying. Two young girls recently committed suicide weeks apart in Brainerd, one known to be directly related to racial bullying she was experiencing. This was brought to my attention by Victoria McWane-Creek, who has been leading efforts to address racial bullying in numerous Greater Minnesota counties. Our Facebook post about this latest incident prompted a reader to share the concern she had for her son about racial bullying he experienced in Bemidji, which started in sixth grade, went through his high school graduation, and was never satisfactorily address by local leaders.

Bullying remains an acceptable part of our culture — highly visible during the civil rights and school integration work of the 1960s, passed down through generations — as well as condoned, modeled, and executed by political and community leadership, or ignored by business leaders.

We discussed the commonality of bullying — from ICE agents, to perpetrators and predators and groomers, to classmates and teachers and bus drivers.

The Talk & Do series we have launched in Minnesota, for story sharing that builds to collective action, is currently focused this year on two of the ways we can play a stronger role in naming bullies and learning how to support pressure on accountable for people who inflict trauma. We also are building toward community awareness and participation in intergenerational wellness and resilience training, stronger senses of belonging and connection, and multicultural joy and rituals.

Next Up for Healing Community Engagement

At the July 17 discussion, we talked about creating a series of community events that could include intergenerational healing circles, community storytelling, cultural arts, creative wellness, communal cooking and multicultural recipe exchange, dance, drumming, music, arts, and more. We intend to build youth-led discussions, such as with political candidates. We will be merging concepts of trauma stewardship that reflects experiences of therapists, educators, health care workers, community leaders, faith leaders, and policy advocates.

Centered at the start will be discussion and execution of solutions for addressing community harm and mental health challenges, led by known specialists from BIPOC communities. Some of us are members of Truth Council efforts, led by the Advocates for Human Rights and Monarca, to sensitively collect and share stories.

Minnesota Women’s Press also has begun to convene trusted independent media producers, as well as supporting members, to explore statewide collaborative and multimedia story sharing approaches. A media literacy curriculum, story-sharing database, and selection of four foundational investors, are also in early stages of development related to launching a successful co-op.

This week’s Talk & Do discussion began exploring community engaged healing efforts. How do we ensure people feel visible and empowered rather than simply exposed and vulnerable in community connections?

The group discussed the importance of moving beyond crisis response to sustainable healing approaches — beyond immediate safety needs to long-term healing for children, adolescents, and parents.

One idea is to co-host a “Healing the Healers” summit, to help address the natural burnout that happens with prolonged caregiving. We talked about the importance of taking an intergenerational approach to healing and trauma stewardship, partly so elders and rituals are preparing new generations of healers. Awareness can be engaged about trauma stewardship education to integrate into social work.

We noted that it is important to center creative, new paradigms that are healthier than what we have, rather than returning to past systems.

This Talk & Do group is in the process of creating ideas for a series of quarterly community gatherings — with funding that eventually travel around the state in different permutations based on local needs and participants — to feature cultural activities, resource fairs, shared meals, and intergenerational forums about topics that could include “addressing bullies,” “building resilience” and “co-creating joy.”

To be involved with this work, connect with members of the team who you might know — such as Alfreda Daniels, Comfort Dondo, Ana Mariella Rivera, Tanya Kennedy — or become a supporting member for communication about next steps.