Dr. Joi on Minnesota's Black liberation movement

CATHY WURZER: It's Wednesday. Happy to have Dr. Joi Lewis back with us. Dr. Joi is a community healer, speaker, and founder of Joi Unlimited, and the Healing Justice Foundation, and author of the book Healing-- The Act of Radical Self-care. Today, Dr. Joi is talking with Shvonne Johnson.

She's a teacher and author and head of the new organization based in Minneapolis called Pimento Relief Services leading Black liberation work in Minnesota. Welcome, Dr. Joi.

JOI LEWIS: Thank you. I am always pleased to get to be here. And I am particularly feeling really grateful to get to spend some time sharing space with my amazing friend and co-conspirator, this amazing human being and scholar, Shvonne Johnson, who also has just been named as the first executive director of Pimento Relief Services, y'all. So it should be really a good time. Welcome, welcome, Shvonne. How you doing?

SHVONNE JOHNSON: Dr. Joi, I can't say this enough. Before healing was trendy, you were healing. So being in this space with you, you already know I'm elated.

JOI LEWIS: Yes. We're going to just jump right in. Shvonne, I'm interested as you are making this transition. You have lived several lives. You have done several things. What heartbreak are you bringing with you into this role that you want to try to work out?

SHVONNE JOHNSON: So I've been a teacher for 17 years. I've been a professor for 12 years, a community activist, an author, a poet, a daughter, an auntie, very active in the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP. But I was called to be a teacher from a child. I wanted to be a teacher when I was eight.

And so today, I actually had just stopped up by the middle school that I recently left to learn that one of my former students had shot someone and is now going to be serving life in prison. And I started working with him when he was 12. And he's now 17, I believe.

So that is the most recent heartbreak in terms of the family structure of the African-American community has historically always saved us during the plantation situation and post-plantation situation. And so one of the things that I bring in terms of heartbreak in conjunction with hope is the restoration of our family structures.

And sometimes you get new family. Sometimes you can pick family like. And so I want, for the sake of our future and our children, for us to find our people so we can create some security, some example, some love to be an example for our children, because that is our future. I do bring heartbreak, but in conjunction with heartbreak, I always have to come with love.

JOI LEWIS: Absolutely. I love that thinking about our family of origin, but then also kinship. And I call everybody my cousins, right? So you're my cousins if you're out there listening. And I say that a little bit in jest but not so much, because it really is about connecting back to our own humanity and to each other's humanity.

And when we see that kinship, that fictive kinship to know, I care about you in the way that I would a family member, and so this restoration that you talk about is necessary.

SHVONNE JOHNSON: Yeah. We're family that we haven't met yet.

JOI LEWIS: That's right. That's right. There has been so much going on. And I would love for you to just share with us a little bit about your new role as the first Executive Director of Pimento Relief Services, and that work and how it will impact folks here in Minnesota.

SHVONNE JOHNSON: One of the things that's really powerful is that there already is an established name Pimento in the city.

JOI LEWIS: And I will also say this-- if you have not been to Pimento Jamaican Kitchen, I'm going to tell you right now you're missing out in good fun, and good music, and you just feel like you just made it home. So I want to invite folks to check it out-- patio, all of that.

SHVONNE JOHNSON: Yeah. Yeah. Shortly after George Floyd was executed, the founder Tommy Beavis of Pimento Jamaican Kitchen immediately jumped to action in terms of providing food, in terms of providing services, in terms of providing space for folks who were on the ground to convene just to process the tragedy. People started to say, this needed work.

And so Tommy then established Pimento Relief Services in 2020. Our mission is economic, political, and social liberation for Black people everywhere. And given the historical oppression and degradation specifically of people of African descent, current and past, the work is necessary. And we need all hands on deck. As tragic as the loss of brother George Floyd was, it sparked a movement for the world in terms of the healing that has always been necessary, but not necessarily directly addressed.

JOI LEWIS: Yeah. And just to be clear, at that time, it was just the Pimento Jamaican Kitchen, which was amazing. But it became a headquarters. This thing was quite something to see. People needed places to be able to put food in freezers, and folks just kept coming. And it was a situation-- there were hundreds and hundreds of volunteers.

SHVONNE JOHNSON: It's thousands and thousands of people that were fed from donations given by community and Tommy's brilliance and generosity and connection to the community, to be honest, as well. We have been hired as consultants for various corporations throughout the state to work specifically around the work of liberation in the Black community.

JOI LEWIS: Because you have quite a bit ahead of you taking on this new role, want to encourage you to make sure that you are, in fact, taking some time for the radical self care.

SHVONNE JOHNSON: I'm a historian by trade as well, and so one of the things that Stokely Carmichael used to say is the most radical thing for any oppressed peoples can do is love themselves and each other. What does that mean? I'm going to go to sleep when I'm tired.

What does that mean? I'm going to drink my water. And in a day where it's hustle, and bustle, and move, move, move, it's almost frowned upon to sit at a certain time and eat your lunch, because there's work to be done. But no, radical self-care means I'm going to sit down and eat.

I don't know about you. You're welcome to join me, but I'm going to make time to nourish my body because I got to keep moving.

JOI LEWIS: Yeah. I'm actually going to hopefully, Shvonne, you'll be willing to join in with me, I'm going to end with a practice called your inner guide, your wise guide. I want to leave you with an opportunity to be able to tap into a wise guide who can help you. Is that all right?

SHVONNE JOHNSON: Yeah. Yeah.

JOI LEWIS: So I'm going to invite you to come to a comfortable seat wherever you are. Yep, you have permission to just slow down for a minute. Go ahead and breathe and relax. Feel yourself supported by the chair or the floor.

Allow your eyes to come closed if that's comfortable for you. Or find a soft gaze on the floor in front of you. Let your breathing become even and comfortable. So now, I'd like you to imagine yourself in a very special place. It could be real or imagined.

Begin to appreciate this scene with all of your senses. Hear the sounds, smell the aromas, feel the air as it caresses your skin. Notice what you're wearing. Notice the time of year and time of day.

Become aware of the temperature of the air on your skin. Is it warm or is it cool? Notice how old you are there. Notice if you are alone or someone else is there, even, perhaps, an animal. And look around you to notice if there's anything else that would make this place more comfortable for you.

If you would like to bring someone or something else into the space, go ahead and do that now. And now, looking into the distance, you notice a wise and helpful beam moving slowly towards you, coming to offer you support and guidance. There is nothing threatening about the experience.

You are feeling comfortable and at ease. Begin to picture this wise being who will greet you. Just accept what comes. It may be a man, or a woman, a trans person, a child, or an animal, a color, or a presence, or, perhaps, just a feeling.

If this person or creature makes you feel warm, comfortable, and at ease, you know it is your inner guide, your wiser self, your spirit guide, whatever name feels right for you. And as the being or presence approaches, greet it as you feel appropriate.

You can make contact with it in any way that feels right by words, by thoughts, by touch. Know that this wise being is here to help you and to serve you. The wise being may have a message for you-- listen. Or if you have something you want to ask it, you can. You can spend some important time with your wise being. I'm going to be quiet for just one minute.

OK. In just a few seconds, I'm going to begin to ask you to come back to this room. But before I do, your wise being they have a gift for you. If so, accept it. Now, give thanks, knowing that you can return any time you wish by doing what you are doing now, sitting or lying in a comfortable place, allowing your eyes to come closed, and going to your special place, and imagining your wise being coming to you.

But for now, at your own pace, let your breathing deepen. Very gradually let the awareness of your body against the chair or the floor return. And now, when you are ready, and only when you are ready, gently open your eyes.

I so enjoyed sharing space with you all. I so enjoyed sharing space with you, Shvonne, and learning more about your work ahead. And thank you.

SHVONNE JOHNSON: Thank you, Dr. Joi.