Decolonized Healing

Grace Go, a Korean American college student, educator, and activist, thinks she has cracked the code on why our communities are still bleeding.Colonialism left a wound. Intergenerational trauma and systemic violence now act as fingers, constantly tearing our historical injustices open. Despite the best efforts of liberatory movements, the constant triggering of our lived experiences makes marginalized peoples feel like it’s impossible to heal from our past.In Forgetting Grace, we explore Grace’s argument that colonial wounds are persisting because we keep picking at our trauma, not giving ourselves air to heal. Assimilation, achievement, and the promise of economic success are Band-Aids that people of color place over our festering pain, hoping that if we become successful enough, respectable enough, or close enough to whiteness, we might finally feel safe. Grace argues that until we learn to forget; to let the wound close and fill our hearts with something that doesn’t leave us sick; we will keep bleeding.Through Grace’s experiences with racism, her Korean American identity, her relationship with her family, and her work teaching Asian American history, we explore how colonialism and intergenerational trauma can cultivate learned helplessness and how wounded people can unknowingly pass their pain down to those they love.Islamic philosophies of tawakkul, surrender, and divine trust, as well as early developmental research on shame and control, help ground her ideologies in evidence-based, well-known practices.Join us in Episode 2 of Decolonized Healing as we accept what we cannot change. As we discover that true control lives in our relationship with the outside world, not in fearful attempts to avoid being dehumanized by people who don’t consider us to be human. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decolonizedhealing.substack.com

Who were you before the world made you become someone?Rowena Federico Finn, a visual artist, mother, teacher, and longterm-community organizer, spent years trying to become the person she thought she was supposed to be.Until one day, her love for her daughter wrenched her away from needing to meet the expectations of a post-colonial society. As Rowena’s daughter struggled with their identity, Rowena noticed she had similar questions; and suddenly, her growing disconnection to her Filipino roots and the dreams that had been forgotten with time felt impossible to ignore.In Forgetting the Dream, we investigate whether who we used to be as children is truly the key to unlocking our happiness. Through exploring Rowena’s journey back to her art and ancestry, we investigate how colonialism and assimilation shape what children and adults believe is possible, what science says about childhood dreams and adult happiness, and why Islamic and Buddhist philosophies ask us to return to the truth we once knew.Special thanks to Aaadarei, Maryam Mustafa, Priya Patel, Tatianna Kalanioff, Gabrielle Panelo, Joanna Ye, Anika Bjupatiraju, and Julia Cai for their work on production, writing, and research of the podcast. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decolonizedhealing.substack.com