"The Blacker The Yogi" - by "black lily" (a.c. workman) for VISION Magazine

"THE BLACKER THE YOGI" ~ VISION MAGAZINE
November, 2009
by a.c. workman (aka "Black Lily")

Okay, so black people don’t hike, ski, tip, vote Republican, support gay marriage, dig country music, read, age, get elected (see: president), ride horses, go camping or skydive.

And they definitely don’t do yoga, right? Wrong!

You know what the best thing about stereotypes is (besides the fact that they’re usually just the teensiest bit true?) Cracking them wide open with a sledge hammer, and then doing a cartwheel over the limited, misleading cages they try to trap us in.

Southern California is great for that—with all the Mexican, African-American, Filipino, Native American, Vietnamese and Pacific Islanders running around and, umm…intermingling (wink), you end up with a beautiful assemblage of brown folk of such ambiguous ethnicity that it becomes a colossal waste of time to even attempt guessing their racial ancestry. Hallelujah! For me, being an African-American woman new to the west coast, I’m still experiencing the unexpected joys of meeting brothers and sisters who break the mold of what we are supposed to be. It’s not like there are black hippies under every shaded palm ’round here. But, there are enough of us to make a girl feel comfortable getting her “bliss on” at yoga without feeling like the world’s biggest freak show.

But when you look at the African-American community as a whole, we’re still talking about a paltry few of us who are involved in or even exposed to the idea of alternative healing practices and holistic lifestyles. Why? Especially since the litany of ailments we as a people disproportionately suffer from (diabetes, heart disease, stroke, HIV/AIDS, infant mortality, etc.) would certainly benefit from the healing arts. Unnecessary, treatable ailments are literally killing us, yet there are possible solutions out there for the asking. So why wouldn’t we give them a try?

My guess is that a whole lot of what’s preventing African-Americans from embracing alternative healing practices is built on some unproductive and obsolete cultural taboos (yoga ain’t for black folks). It’s also about access, consciousness and, well, money.

It’s All About the Benjamin$, Baby
I am nobody’s authority on the intersection between holistic practices and economic factors. Let’s get that straight. However, I know this much—yoga classes generally ain’t free and, black president or no black president, we are far from economic parity between the races. Poverty and unemployment are still kicking our collective derrieres at alarmingly disproportionate rates, with the U.S. Census Bureau revealing that African American men earn 76 cents for every dollar of their European American counterparts. Try setting aside a few extra bucks for acupuncture when all you’re thinking about is keeping the lights on.

Monetary access is not just a problem on the individual (micro) level, either. So many of the African-American healing artists I’ve been blessed to meet have expressed their frustration over the obstacles with bringing their work into the black community. Bottom line? Funding. And when you can’t find the funding, what happens? These amazing and committed brothers and sisters have to take their services to places that have the means to support them. A young brother may dream of teaching meditation classes to inner-city youth, but his talent would more likely find a home in upscale places which are hardly bustling hubs of afrocentric culture.

Jerome Gross, a yoga instructor and founder/creator of Effulgence™ (a mind/body company), knows the obstacles firsthand:
“Over the past 10 years, I have definitely seen more acceptance. But, it’s not enough to make a noticeable impact. While I’ve witnessed influential black educators and leaders in the Rastafari community embracing alternative [modalities], it seems that for most of my peers, holistic practices are not even in the their circle of contact.”

Art: A Bridge to a New Paradigm?
Okay, so I may have taken a little artistic license when I said it’s all about the Benjamin$. Truth is, money (or the lack thereof) is only part of the story. Finding a quiet little spot at the park to sit down and meditate is free. So, at least part of the problem with connecting African-American people to the healing arts has absolutely nothing to do with finances. Like Jerome said, it’s about the fact that these practices are not even on our radar. And if consciousness and the mere lack of exposure to those ideas is the issue, then what better way to bring them to the forefront than art?

Brigitte Taylor, an event organizer and master’s level Reiki practitioner, understands the power of art to bring healing to new audiences.
“Music and art so easily express and yet transcend barriers of race/class and myths of all kinds,” Brigitte observes. It’s a lovely and hopeful thought. Perhaps, within art, there lies the potential to get the message of alternative healing to more communities, and to connect people of different races with each other, in a new space where the very idea (and relevance) of “race” can be seen with fresh eyes.

“Artists create bridges to places which—in my mind—are free from restrictions of all kinds. These beautiful channels that we create together open up sacred spaces for further understanding, observation, sharing and growth because we ultimately see, express and experience our basic humanness and ultimate oneness.”
Thanks, Brigitte. I couldn’t have said it better.

A.C. Workman is a San Diego-based freelance writer and poet. Currently at work on a book of humor about the cult of fitness that is the gym world, she is a frequent contributor to Clutch magazine, an online publication for women of color. To read more of her work, check out clutchmagonline.com.

Hi WorldBeat fam. Pick up a free copy of the NOVEMBER VISION around town. My article is on p. 6:) Or, it's online here:

http://www.visionmagazine.com/archives/0911/Viewpoint.html