Presenters: Abou Farman, Ifetayo Harvey, Dr. Diana Quinn, and Oceana Sawyer a

Although grief is a universal human experience, our walks with grief are unique and informed by our identities. As Black and brown people, we carry intergenerational and historical grief along with the weight of ongoing systemic oppression and racialization. What role might psychedelics have in tending to our acute and inherited grief? How can we reclaim and reinvent practices for moving with grief as people of color? Join us for a conversation about psychedelics in navigating grief and loss.

Psychedelics and Grief

Academic Journals & Books

• MDMA and Life Threatening Illnesses

• Psilocybin for Existential Distress in Patients with Cancer

• Psilocybin for Anxiety & Depression in Patients with Cancer Griffiths et al

• Psilocybin for Anxiety & Depression in Patients with Life-Threatening Cancer Ross et al

• Grob, Charles S., Anthony P. Bossis, and Roland R. Griffiths. 2013. Use of the Classic Hallucinogen Psilocybin for Treatment
of Existential Distress Associated with Cancer. In Psychological Aspects of Cancer, B.I. Carr and J. Steel (eds.). Springer US.

• Back, Anthony L. 2019. "What Psilocybin Taught Me About Dying." Journal of Palliative Medicine, 22(7), pp. 861–862. 

Grief and Race

Academic Journals & Books

• Sharpe, Christina. In the Wake. Duke University Press.

• Holland, Sharon Patricia. 2000. Raising the Dead.  Duke University Press.

• Frohne, Andrea E. 2015. The African Burial Ground in New York City : Memory, Spirituality, and Space, Syracuse University Press.

• Shareefah Al’Uqdah & Frances Adomako. 2018. From Mourning to Action: African American Women's Grief, Pain, and Activism, Journal of Loss and Trauma, 23:2, 91-98, DOI: 10.1080/15325024.2017.1393373

• Laurie, A., & Neimeyer, R. 2008. African Americans in Bereavement: Grief as a Function of Ethnicity. OMEGA — Journal of Death and Dying, 57, 173 - 193.

• Farman, Abou. 2020. By Their Damning Presence: The Work of the Dead in Mourning and Protest. UCHRI – Boiling Point. 

Articles, Essays, & Blogs

• Rankine, Claudia. The Condition of Black Life Is One of Mourning. New York Times. June 22, 2015.  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/07/podcasts/the-daily/george-floyd-protests.html

• Stanley, Tiffany. 2016. The Disappearance of a Distinctively Black Way ​to Mourn. The Atlantic. January 26, 2016.  

• Granek, Leeat. 2015. Psychology, Grief and African Americans. The Huffington Post. 09/08/2015. 

Race and Psychedelics

Academic Journals & Books

• Saldanha, Arun. 2007. Psychedelic White: Goa Trance and the Viscosity of Race. University of Minnesota Press.

• George, Jamilah R., Timothy I. Michaels, Jae Sevelius And Monnica T. Williams. (2020) Psychedelic renaissance and minority inclusion. Journal of Psychedelic Studies 4(1), pp. 4–15 https://doi.org/10.1556/2054.2019.015

• Williams, Monica T, and Leins C. Race-based trauma: The challenge and promise of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. Multidiscip Assoc Psychedelic Stud Bull. 2016;26(1).

• Michaels, T.I., Purdon, J., Collins, A. et al. Inclusion of people of color in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy: a review of the literature. BMC Psychiatry 18, 245 (2018). doi: 10.1186/s12888-018-1824-6

• Williams, Monica et al. People of color in North America report improvements in racial trauma and mental health symptoms following psychedelic experiences

Articles, Essays & Blogs

• What Psilocybin Could Mean in End of Life Care, Psychology Today

• Psychedelics in Palliative Care, Scientific American

• Shaking Off The Spirit: Passing Baby Over Coffin A Gullah Tradition That Endures, The State

• How Black women can create space for grief and vulnerability during the holidays

• Rest Supports Grieving: Grief Rituals, Nap Ministry

• How Psychedelic Science Privileges Some, Neglects Others, and Limits Us All, Chacruna.net (2017)

• Blinded by the White: Addressing Power and Privilege in Psychedelic Medicine, Chacruna.net (2019)

• Psychedelic Scientists Should Honor Indigenous Plants and Traditions, Chacruna.net (2020)

Podcasts & Presentations

• Weaving Worlds: Indigenous Traditions & Western Psychotherapy, Eugenia Casimiro & Françoise Bourzat in conversation w/ Ismail Ali

• Death, Dying, & Psychedelics Horizons film premiering January 21, 2021

• COVID-19, Black Lives, and Psychedelics Horizons film

Organizations

• Alicia Forneret, grief and mental health resources by and for people of color, courses, blog

• Going with Grace, end of life training, resources

• Oceana End of Life Doula, BIPOC Death Cafe, grief support services

• The Grave Woman, funeral director and sacred grief practitioner

• A Sacred Passing, community death care, death midwifery

• Radical Death Studies

• This Hallowed Wilderness, support for grief, loss and dying

• Black Folks Grieve, community care, support for grief

• Titipoza, anticipation grief, grief support services

• What’s Your Grief https://whatsyourgrief.com/grief-as-a-social-justice-issue/

Social Media

@latinxgrief

@griefwerk, sacred digital grieving space centering black folx

@thegriefgang, podcast normalizing grief

@thegriefsafespace

@thegloriushum, queer Black death guide focused on grief

BIPOC Mental Health Resources

• NAMI BIPOC mental health resource guide

• National Queer & Trans Therapists of Color Network

• Black Emotional & Mental Health Community (BEAM)

• Black Mental Health Alliance

• Latinx Therapy

BIPOC-centered Psychedelic Assisted Therapy

• Behavioral Wellness Clinic

• Teas by G