Bodies of Culture: Introducing the Center for Black and Indigenous Praxis with Preston Vargas and Deanna Jimenez

In this episode we meet Preston Vargas, the director of the Center for Black and Indigenous Praxis, and Deanna Jimenez, Assistant Professor in the Somatic Psychology Department and head of the Emerging Black Clinician Fellowship. We discuss strategies of navigating white academic space as a black scholar, the notion of bodies of culture, the importance of Afrocentric Healing modalities, scholar-activism, the importance of arts, as well some fundamental ideas in the emerging field of Black Psychology. Preston Varvas earned an M.A. in Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness as well as a Ph.D. in Transformative Studies from CIIS. He also worked at CIIS as a Teaching Fellow. Preston joins us from the San Francisco Aids Foundation, where he was the Senior Director, Community Partnerships & Engagement. We are thrilled that he will be coming on board to establish the CBIP as a hub for Black and Indigenous thought, wisdoms, and ways of being. Preston carries the blessings, wisdoms, and joys of his ancestors. He was born from the land of his grandmother's ancestral Wampanoag people. It is a place where his liberated Black ancestors found family and home with the local Indigenous communities. It is also the land where his mother's Cape Verdean immigrant ancestors cultivated cranberry bogs and blueberry bushes amidst deciduous forests. Though he lives on the Pacific coast, Preston honors his ancestors, the land-water spirits of Massachusetts who periodically draw him back home. Deanna Jimenez is a somatic/transpersonal psychotherapist in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is Assistant Professor in the Somatic Psychology Department at California Institute of Integral Studies and has a private practice supporting individuals, couples, and organizations. Her clinical work is centered in the dialogue of mental health as it intersects with race, culture, and spirituality. She received a B.A. in International Relations from UC Berkeley studying the efficacy of conflict resolution and cultural awareness in the international workplace. Following a career in corporate and non-profit fields, Deanna received her M.A. from JFK University in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology. The EWP Podcast credits East-West Psychology Podcast Website Connect with EWP: Website • Youtube • Facebook Hosted by Stephen Julich (EWP Core Faculty) and Jonathan Kay (PhD student) Produced by: Stephen Julich and Jonathan Kay Edited and Mixed by: Jonathan Kay Music: Mosaic, by Monsoon on the album Mandala Introduction Voiceover: Roche Wadehra