Methodology
How We Do What We Do
​​​​​​Research, Study, Practice
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​​​Chocolate Soul Revival has always functioned much like a "Think and Do Tank". We research, study, and train in innovative work at the frontiers of healing and social transformation. From the best of what we know and learn, we turn theory into liberatory practice. We’re standing in a gap where academic, medical, and large scientific institutions often leave off; taking the best from all of those worlds and uplifting a level of cultural brilliance that is frequently limited and restricted by those worlds. We believe in the power of building our own table, a table that is big enough to invite collaboration and support from field experts, yet always remains under the leadership of the actual community it’s intended for. That's a part of what reclaiming our power as women of color leaders looks like for us, in real time.
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We regard the lived experience of women and girls of color as one of society's greatest teachers. Forever canaries in the coal mine, our vision is born of a deep commitment to prioritizing our own individual and collective healing and wellness in everything we do. For we know that women cannot continue the legacy of skipping over ourselves in our efforts to create justice, equity, and liberation for our people. That which we seek to create must be born from the very depths of our beings. As healing does not happen in a vacuum, we know that we are responding to a collective call for the transformation that happens when women gather in service of saving our own lives and honoring our deepest truths.
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Cultivated by artists, healers, activists, and cultural workers, our founding research, study, and practice cohort has given birth to a unique system of healing justice, and an accompanying theoretical framework. It is a gender and culturally specific process for women, girls, and gender expansive people of color, centering those of African descent. We've witnessed it’s healing and transformative capacities first hand. We know it is medicine our communities need and deserve.
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Some of the core content areas that inform our work include:
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Dr. Linda James Myers' theories of Optimal Psychology & Optimal Worldview
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Grounded in Dr. Myers’ Optimal Wellness Theory, our work acknowledges the inadequacies of mainstream Western psychology in addressing the mental health needs of people of color, particularly those of African descent. Myers’ question—“What is mental health within a toxic social context?”—guides us in our explorations and offerings. ​
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Dr. Joy DeGruy's work on Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome, epigenetics, and the continuing assault on Black lives
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The embodied practice of Generative Somatics
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Dr. Resmaa Menakem's work on Somatic Abolitionism
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Dr. Bayo Akomolafe's offerings on Post Activism which poses the question "What if the way we respond to crisis is part of the crisis?"
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Dr. Jonah Paquette's work on the neuroscience and evolutionary psychology behind awe and wonder
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The Earth wisdom present in the areas of Ecology and living systems theory
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