Dismantling racism—through touch

Aaron Johnson (Holistic Resistance) is a touch specialist who believes that touch, intimacy, and deep connection help to dismantle racism.

An episode of the The New Story Is with Dave Ursillo podcast, hosted by The New Story Company, titled "Dismantling racism—through touch" was published on April 18, 2023 and runs 42 minutes.

April 18, 2023 ·42m · The New Story Is with Dave Ursillo

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Summary

Physical touch is crucial for healthy human development. Safe touch may be a key to living whole and well in our lifetimes. But what happens to those in our society who have been deprived of touch and conditioned against intimacy and connection?Aaron Johnson (he/him) is a facilitator, public speaker, and touch specialist who says touch can help dismantle systems of oppression and racism. As the co-founder of Holistic Resistance and Grief to Action, two black-led organizations and movements, Aaron's work holds the trauma stories of Black people and strives to make touch a radical action to interrupt oppressive systems in modern American society. He is a graduate of the California Institute of the Arts and blends teaching, singing, photography, filmmaking, minimalism, and more to create intimate experiences of creativity to transcend oppressive forces.In this interview, Aaron shares how touch facilitates a holistic connection with nature, ourselves, and one another. He says that being creative in our healing journeys is an antidote to oppressive forces, from internalized oppression to forceful repression in modern American society.Aaron is also the creator of the Chronically UnderTouched (CUT) Project, an initiative to support Black men and People of the Global Majority—people of color—to access healthy, nourishing, platonic touch in a culture in the United States that denies access to touch.Please rate and review our show on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to help other listeners find our work!Questions? Comments? Leave us a voicemail.Support our partners and affiliates for exclusive discounts:Fathom Analytics: Get beautiful, secure website data without trading your customers’ private browsing data to Google and FacebookFlywheel: Seamless WordPress website hosting on US-based serversHover: Register domains with ease. Save $2 on your first purchaseMailerLite: A lite, powerful, affordable email marketing platform with premium plans starting at just $9/mo.Sanebox: Take back your inbox with machine learning to automatically organize your emails. Save $5 when you join.Trint: Turn recordings of meetings, calls, and interviews into transcripts with 99% accuracy.Affiliate Disclosure: Our show is listener supported through affiliate and partner links. By clicking one of the above links and registering or making a purchase, we may earn a small commission, which helps pay for the costs of our show. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode Description

Aaron Johnson (he/him) is a facilitator, public speaker, and touch specialist who says touch can help dismantle systems of oppression and racism. As the co-founder of Holistic Resistance and Grief to Action, two black-led organizations and movements, Aaron's work holds the trauma stories of Black people and strives to make touch a radical action to interrupt oppressive systems in modern American society. He is a graduate of the California Institute of the Arts and blends teaching, singing, photography, filmmaking, minimalism, and more to create intimate experiences of creativity to transcend oppressive forces.

In this interview, Aaron shares how touch facilitates a holistic connection with nature, ourselves, and one another. He says that being creative in our healing journeys is an antidote to oppressive forces, from internalized oppression to forceful repression in modern American society.

Aaron is also the creator of the Chronically UnderTouched (CUT) Project, an initiative to support Black men and People of the Global Majority—people of color—to access healthy, nourishing, platonic touch in a culture in the United States that denies access to touch.

Please rate and review our show on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to help other listeners find our work!

Questions? Comments? Leave us a voicemail.

Support our partners and affiliates for exclusive discounts:

Fathom Analytics: Get beautiful, secure website data without trading your customers’ private browsing data to Google and Facebook
Flywheel: Seamless WordPress website hosting on US-based servers
Hover: Register domains with ease. Save $2 on your first purchase
MailerLite: A lite, powerful, affordable email marketing platform with premium plans starting at just $9/mo.
Sanebox: Take back your inbox with machine learning to automatically organize your emails. Save $5 when you join.
Trint: Turn recordings of meetings, calls, and interviews into transcripts with 99% accuracy.

Affiliate Disclosure: Our show is listener supported through affiliate and partner links. By clicking one of the above links and registering or making a purchase, we may earn a small commission, which helps pay for the costs of our show.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.