my Black body
...
Remember
“how much they took from us
and how they transfigured
our very bodies
into
sugar, tobacco, cotton, and gold.
…
by the Civil War
“our stolen bodies
were worth
four billion dollars.”
~Ta-Nehisi Coates
Have you ever taken the time to think about this shit? As much as you can, to make yourself next to - inside of - as many layers of what this means? Comprehend it? Wrap your head - and soul - around it???
Our bodies, like the Earth, are the keepers of memory.
~Dr. Ruby Gibson
Will you take a moment with me now ... to think about it?
Let's see ... within my body in 2026 is the memory of being kidnapped from the only home I've ever known --
-- transported across a vast ocean that my worldview could only conceive to be a much smaller body of water --
-- enslaved + horrendously abused physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, socially, and more ... --
-- oppressed, segregated, subjugated, hunted, and otherwise discriminated against for 407 years.
Alllllll of this as memory is kept
within
my one, singular, right-here body.
create . heal . build
This path speaks to us as a viable one toward full freedom as descendants of those kidnapped from Africa.
candi dugas collective creates, heals, and builds through relational storytelling, justice-rooted/embodied care, and intentional legacy-making.
Explore our Pillars
We create because that's how meaning gathers.
We heal because it's necessary for full freedom.
When we build, vision becomes strategic plans becomes protected reality.
As world structures reveal themselves - dissolve - before our eyes ...
... this moment requires practices + approaches that:
- are anchored in eternal truths
-
move at the speed of wise + well trust
-
understand repair beyond the rupture
-
hold capably grief, transition, and possibility all at the same time
The work of candi dugas collective is built for this - for threshold moments. For aftermaths. For migrations. For reckonings. For rebuilding with an eye twd sustainability.
Maybe you've never thought about this all quite like this before; that's okay. You are here right on time.
I do not recall exactly when I fell in love with wildflowers ... I do recall that having "wild" in their name had something to do with it. And, and - I LOVED that their seeds are blown away by the wind, and they land somewhere away from where they started. Then they take root, flourish, and produce a regular, everyday beauty that too many of us miss as we rush past. It's a beauty like none other, courtesy of nature.
~dr candi
Like the wildflowers, we may feel as tho we're tossed + driven about by life. When we're Black, even more so. Yet this same life/nature/universe/G~d has us so well that often we do not realize it.
We may not like this lifin' all the time, but eternal truths remain throughout the generations. This wisdom we know from history just as much as we recognize the same shit, different day.
May we also recognize the same love, same care, same providence - same we got this, different day. Asé!
If this kind of work, if our pathways to full freedom interest you, drop us a line, and we'll be in touch with more information. Thank you for your interest.
Let's create, heal, and build - for good this time - together!