You may wish to have a blanket or socks nearby, and you can light candles or incense to help you get into the vibe if that feels aligned. Lastly, if available to you, you’ll want a smartphone, tablet, or computer. I have curated a special guided breathwork audio track for this exercise (with a playlist!), which you can find online at www.rachelricketts.com/do-better. Alternatively, you can listen to the playlist alone by searching “Do Better Breathwork” on Spotify or play your own playlist of inspiring, heart-stirring songs for fifteen to twenty minutes (think Solange’s A Seat at the Table album).
Once you are set up, you will want to lie on the floor if that is accessible to you. If not, you can lean against a wall or otherwise find a supported posture where you cannot fall down. If you have the guided track accessible, turn it on now, and I will guide you through. If not, read on.
PLACE ONE HAND ON YOUR LOW BELLY AND ONE HAND OVER YOUR HEART. BEGIN TO BREATHE DEEPLY THROUGH YOUR MOUTH AND FOLLOW THIS THREE-BREATH PATTERN:
1) Inhale long and slow into the bottom of your belly and into your diaphragm so you feel your stomach rise to meet the hand over your belly as it fills up with air. Breathe deeply, fully filling up your lungs, including the back of your ribs.
2) Next, inhale into your chest area where your hand is over your heart so you feel your chest rise to meet your hand. Again breathing fully into the chest area, including the back of the heart.
3) Finally, exhale long, slow, and controlled to release all the air from your belly and chest. Do not force or rush the exhale, it should be soft and slow.
If you’re pregnant or on your moon cycle, just breathe long, connected breaths instead of the more active three-part breath. Practice your breath cycle for two to three rounds as you get used to the pattern and sensation. Ensure the breath is all happening through the mouth. Then hit “play” on your playlist and keep breathing for as long as you can through that time. You will be challenged, you will feel uncomfortable, and that is why it’s called breathwork. This is a beautiful opportunity to expand your capacity to tolerate your own discomfort. That said, you know your body better than anyone, so pay close attention and return to normal breath when needed.
Try to stay as still as you can; the only things moving should be your belly and chest. If your hands or feet cramp up, that is a frequent experience. Practice a softer exhale, and if that doesn’t relieve the cramping, return to normal breath. If you need to cry, cry. This is your opportunity to really tap into yourself and allow whatever needs to move through you to move. Breathe, relax, and feel it so you can heal it.
Reflect on all we’ve learned together, breathe into the spaces that need more support, and breathe out all that no longer serves. When your playlist finishes, scream as loud as you can. Let it all out. Then seal your lips, return to regular breathing, and lie still to allow all that juicy energy to reverberate through your body. You got this! As always, let us honor and give thanks to Indian communities for cultivating this powerful practice and give back to them in whatever ways we are able.
Reflection Questions
When you finish your breathwork, journal on the following questions:
How did this breathwork make me feel? What was most challenging? How did I get through?
What did I most need to release? Did the breath help it move?
How does my body feel? My heart?
What are three ongoing anti-oppressive calls to action I will commit to today (lasting six months or more)?
This is an exercise you can return to on your own whenever you need support in the fight for racial justice. You are never alone in this work—we are in this together. At a minimum, you can always call on Spirit, your ancestors, and your breath!
WHAT NOW?
Congrats—you’ve finished the book and are now anti-racist! KIDDING! Though we’re at the end of our time together, you are nowhere near the end of your work. Take time to be with everything you have learned, then revisit all the calls to action set out in this book and keep going. I suggest starting with Owning My Impact (p. 182), Setting Your Racial Justice Values (p. 215), You Betta Act in Allyship (p. 232), Rest & Respite (p. 292), and Chapter 6’s Getting Spiritually Activated prompts. Review, rereview, ask informed questions to appropriate people, and be critical and mindful of all you ingest here and out in the world. This sounds counterintuitive, but do not take anything I’ve said as fact simply because I (or anyone else) said it. The goal is to be constantly learning and unlearning. Do your own research (but #followBlackwomen+), critically engage with the concepts presented while being mindful of how white supremacy plays out in your learning, questioning, and critiquing. Revisit the soulcare prompts on a regular basis to support you in caring for yourself and better tolerating the discomfort that arises as you lean into radical racial justice. And actively take up the work of dismantling white supremacy as though your life depends on it. Because it does.
To continue this vital work, join me over at www.rachelricketts.com/do-better for more info including discussion topics, my racial justice webinars, and a list of racial justice resources (with other Black and Indigenous educators to support and learn from).
You are a wise, worthy, intuitive, and capable humxn and you can do better. I hope you will.
With love and anger,
xo Rachel
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I did not write this on my own and especially want to thank the Black queer, trans, dark-skinned, fat, disabled, poor, elder American women and femmes who paved the way. This work truly takes a village, and I want to thank everyone who has played a role in my learning and unlearning, including those who have caused me the most harm (often serving as my greatest teachers).
To my mom for always being my greatest champion (I know I did you proud!). To my husband, Tyler, for nourishing, loving, and encouraging me—thank you for being my best friend.
To Auntie Donna for your daily prayers and helping me fill in the gaps my mom isn’t here to. To my cousin Safiya for being a beacon of bright blackity Black light.
To my incredible agents, Wendy Sherman and Cherise Fisher (you’re a goddamn goddess, Cherise!), and my team at Atria for helping birth my first book baby into the world (especially Michelle, Libby, Shida, Dana, Morgan, Melanie, and Maudee). To McKensie Mack and Vita E. at Radical Copy, and to Nikki Fraser, for helping me and this book be more inclusive. To Nancy Tan for copyediting, Melissa Medwyk for guiding the book cover design, and my publicist Kathleen Carter for spreading the gospel. Linday Keele—thank you for your unwavering support and for being my first reader!
To Team RR—Tianna Grey, J. Chavae, and Karlene Graham—for helping hold shit (and me) down. I love and appreciate you more than I can say. To Chantaie, Tiffany, Sara, Natasha, Steph, Gen, Kait, KP, LB, Britt, Sarah, Sachi, Beth, Renee, Kari, Liz, Rachel, Randy, Meenadchi, Anita, Ken, Thansha, Dionne, ShiShi, and Maryam—I love y’all. To all the Black folx who inspire me—Harriet Tubman, Audre Lorde, Toni Morrison, Oprah Winfrey, Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, Malcolm X, Tupac Shakur, MLK Jr., Marsha P. Johnson, bell hooks, Angela Davis, Brittney Cooper, Janet Mock, Munroe Bergdorf, Janaya Khan, Patrisse Cullors, Solange, and so many more—I bow in deep gratitude.
To the Sami, Mississaugas of the Credit, Anishnabeg, Chippewa, Haudenosaunee, Wendat, Musqueam, Lumad, Bali Aga, and all Indigenous peoples of the lands upon which I wrote and dreamed this book.
I need to thank all my guides, spirits, and guardians for supporting, protecting, and empowering me to write and all the healers who supported me in my healing (Jen Maramba, Julie Third Eye Goddess, and Kim Boivin especially!).
I want to thank my ancestors for giving me the privilege of being their greatest legacy. I am simply the conduit of all they have manifested to fruition, and I am blessed to be their descendant. To my future ancestors, I hope reading this serves you even half as much as it served me writing it.
Lastly, I want to thank myself—for navigating mad oppressive trauma, working my ass off to help myself heal, and bravel
y defying the bullshit that is white supremacy. May we all rage against its existence.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
RACHEL RICKETTS is a queer, multiracial Black woman. As a global thought leader, racial justice educator, healer, speaker, and writer, she hosts intersectional racial justice workshops worldwide, including her renowned Spiritual Activism series. Rachel cultivates change by fusing her experiences as an attorney, a trained anti-racism educator, and a grief coach with her spiritual certifications in breathwork, yoga, mindfulness, and Reiki. She has helped numerous global brands with anti-racism efforts, including Google, WeWork, and Lululemon. Rachel was named one of Well+Good’s 2020 Changemakers and has been featured in international media such as The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, Goop, and The Atlantic. She loves donuts, dancing, disruption, and all things metaphysical (ideally at the same time). Learn more about Rachel at rachelricketts.com and on Instagram @iamrachelricketts.
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GLOSSARY
Language is confined and yet always changing. Since English is the colonizer’s language, concepts outside of colonized ideology cannot be adequately captured, nor will we all agree on how to best capture such concepts. Below are definitions of the words and acronyms used in this book as I understood and agreed with at the time of writing, and I give thanks to the Black queer and trans activists and educators who paved the way for much of this language and my own understanding of it. I invite you to research further and update anything that no longer aligns as we all continue to learn, grow, and do better.
AAVE—
Acronym for African American Vernacular English, a dialect of English created by Black Americans, most notably queer and trans Black Americans, including words like: “yo,” “word,” “slay,” “preach,” “girl,” “queen,” “werk,” “mad,” “dope,” “bomb,” etc. Given the status quo of anti-Blackness, and the fact that many Black folx are oppressed when we use it, the use of AAVE by non-Black folx is appropriative and harmful.
Ableism—
The pervasive system of discrimination and exclusion that oppresses people who have mental, emotional, and/or physical disabilities.
Ally—
A person who actively uses their privilege to advocate on behalf of someone else who doesn’t hold that same privilege. One cannot be an ally (nor name themselves as such), but one can act in allyship.
Anti-Blackness—
Race-based oppression against anyone from the Black-African diaspora as perpetuated by any race or ethnicity, including Black. Consequently, proximity to Blackness is something to be shamed, no matter your race or ethnicity.
Anti-racism—
An active, daily, consistent, and continuous process of personal and collective change to eliminate individual, institutional, and systemic racism derived from white supremacy as well as the oppression and injustice racism and white supremacy cause.
Asexual—
Defined by the UC Davis LGBTQIA Resource Center as sexual orientation generally characterized by not feeling sexual attraction or a desire for partnered sexuality.
Authentic anti-racism—
Intersectional and comprehensive anti-racism synonymous with “racial justice” (see definition on page 332).
Bias—
A conscious or unconscious prejudice against an individual or group based on their identity.
Bisexual—
Being attracted to folx with the same gender identity as your own as well as to folx with other gender identities (which may be “male,” “female,” or otherwise). Can be synonymous with “pansexual.”
BI&PoC—
Acronym for Black, Indigenous, and People/Person of Color. Some spell this as “BIPoC,” but I have added the ampersand to encourage us to read out the full term in order to help mitigate against depersonalizing BI&PoC and our experiences.
BI&WoC—
Acronym for Black, Indigenous, and Woman+/Women+ of Color. Some spell this as “BIWoC,” but I have added the ampersand to encourage us to read out the full term in order to help mitigate against depersonalizing BI&WoC and our experiences.
Call in/call out—
“Call out” is generally described as challenging someone on their oppressive language or behavior, while “call in” is similar though intended to refer to doing so in a compassionate and/or patient way. I don’t believe in policing people’s responses, especially not the oppressed, so either is fine in my books (I do both), so long as neither is emotionally or otherwise violent.
Cisgender/cis—
Defined by Trans Student Educational Resources as someone who exclusively identifies as their sex assigned at birth. Being cis is not indicative of gender expression, sexual orientation, hormonal makeup, physical anatomy, or how one is perceived in daily life.
Classism—
The systematic oppression of subordinated class groups (i.e., the poor) to advantage and strengthen the dominant class groups (i.e., the rich).
Climate change—
A change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid- to late twentieth century onward and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide resulting from humxn-made behavior.
Colonialism—
When a national or other collective power violently subjugates another by conquering and exploiting an area and/or its people, often while forcing its language and cultural values on the subjugated region and/or inhabitants. Mostly performed by white Europeans or Americans.
Cultural appreciation—
Defined by Susanna Barkataki as seeking to connect with cultures different from one’s own from “the inside out.” It respects the codes, mores, values, and practices of the culture. Cultural appreciation can happen when one enjoys or respects the culture of origin and, instead of harming or taking, gives back and uplifts the source culture.
Cultural appropriation—
A particular power dynamic in which members of a dominant culture steal intellectual, spiritual, cultural, and/or informational wealth from a culture of people who have been systematically oppressed by that dominant group (most notably by white or white-passing folx).
Decolonization—
A long-term process involving the bureaucratic, cultural, linguistic, psychological, and spiritual divesting of colonial power and simultaneous promotion of Indigeneity. Includes an acknowledgment of settler privilege or proximity to it.
Digital colonialism—
Defined by the World Wide Web Foundation as the new deployment of a quasi-imperial power over a vast number of people (often poor and/or communities of color) without their explicit consent, manifested in rules, designs, languages, cultures, and belief systems by a vastly dominant power.
Disabled—
Refers to the experience of a functional and/or social disadvantage or restriction of an activity caused by contemporary social organization (as created by systemically oppressive forces). Disabilities are socially created by the status quo. Use “people with disabilities” or “disabled people.” Do not use “the disabled,” which implies disabled folx occupy a separate sect of society.
Emotional labor—
A term created by sociologist Arlie Hochschild meaning to “induce or suppress feeling in order to sustain the outward [support] that produces the proper state of mind in others.” Under white supremacy, this is unacknowledged labor most often e
xpected from women and femmes.
Emotional violence—
A range of psychological-based behaviors inflicted, intentionally or unintentionally, to manipulate, silence, hurt, coerce, control, belittle, isolate, intimidate, or otherwise psychologically, verbally, emotionally, or spiritually harm another, including gaslighting, spiritual bypassing, white silence, white entitlement, and others.
Equality—
A discourse that focuses on same or equal treatment, as opposed to equitable impact. Often perpetuates discriminatory practices by the dominant culture due to a failure to consider the holistic and intersectional issues creating and perpetuating oppression. Focus on equity instead.
Equity—
Defined by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation as “a condition or state of fair, inclusive, and respectful treatment of all people. Equity does not mean treating people the same without regard for individual differences.” One of the goals of racial justice.
Ethnicity—
A group of people who identify with one another based on common ancestral, social, cultural, or national experiences like Jewish, Latinx, Tamil, or African-American. Not the same as race.
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