Healers: Decolonizing Knowledge within Afro/Indigenous Traditions

Ryan Mann-Hamilton

Member

Dr. Ryan Mann-Hamilton is Assistant Professor in the Social Science Department and teaches a variety of courses in Anthropology, Music and Latin American studies and is heavily invested in issues of Environmental Justice. Dr. Mann-Hamilton has extensive experience working on land and marine based conservation projects in the Caribbean and social justice activism in the context of the Americas, and supporting and participating in food sovereignty projects He is currently the faculty Co-Leader of the Presidents Society Environment Program working with a cohort of 20 students and various community partners to design and implement green spaces and environmental education at LaGuardia over the next three years. Dr. Mann-Hamilton was also selected as Faculty Lead by the Center for the Humanities at the Graduate Center, CUNY to direct a two year public engagement program focusing on the relationship between race, environment and the humanities that will center the experiences and existing networks between communities in New York and those in the Caribbean. He has extensive experience in public programming, project oversight and curriculum development. His most recent publication was a chapter on community centered fisheries conservation and education programs that were developed in the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas and the lessons learned from that endeavor. Email: [email protected]

Brujas of Brooklyn

Brujas of Brooklyn are identical twin sisters, Doctora Griselda Rodriguez-Solomon and Doctora Miguelina Rodriguez. These Brujas, or witches, merge the magic of ancestral medicine with sharp intellect. Their platform provides the balm to help People of Color, particularly Womyn of color, heal from internalized oppression. As certified Kundalini and Hatha yogis, these Black Dominican sisters design multi-sensory workshops that provide sacred space for Womyn of color to heal from womb imbalances. Both are professors of the Social Sciences within the City College of New York (CUNY). They’ve both authored academic pieces on the effects of racialized oppression on communities of color, Dominicans in particular. Their work has granted them access to platforms such as ABC, NPR, Univision, Google, Buzz Feed’s Pero Like, and Facebook to name a few. Joy is their ultimate form of resistance. Visit their website here.

Ana-Maurine Lara

Dr. Ana-MaurineLara is a multiple award winning creative and academic author, and Associate Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at University of Oregon. In 2021 she received the Randall Kenan Prize by the Lambda Literary Foundation. Visit Dr. Ana-Maurine Lara’s website here.