PRENTIS HEMPHILL on Choosing Belonging [ENCORE] /281
Photo of a silver-colored spiraling snail shell nestled next to dandelion flower arranged on a larger textured stone. A matching shell rests nearby on the dark pebble-strewn ground; courtesy of @dmnphoto.
This week we are rebroadcasting our interview with Prentis Hemphill, originally aired in July of 2021.
“There's no magical return. We're not all going to return to an unblemished time in history, and if we know that...what do we have to do? Who needs to have conversation with whom? Who needs to heal what relationship? Who needs to ask for what permission? Who needs to offer something back?” This week on the podcast, Prentis Hemphill offers us these questions in conversation about how we can be in relationship with each other at this very moment in time. In recognition of the tremendous intricacies of our experiences when it comes to our collective histories, forced severances, and the manipulation of trauma in our society, Prentis shares how embodiment is a resource that allows us to connect with the Earth, recognize grief as an entry point, and shape the impossible into possible.
In conversation, Prentis and Ayana also explore what it means to heal across time, the importance of boundaries, recovering our capacity within a system that violently seeks to concentrate trauma, and the detrimental impacts of our obsession with innocence. Recogizing the connections between these topics, Prentis reminds us of the importance of training ourselves to pay attention to the ecosystem we are a part of, while grounding in the tremendous potential that embodiment provides us when it comes to capacity, relationship, mending, and a deep desire for connection.
“Boundaries are evidence of our interconnection, not a denial of it.”
Photo of Prentis Hemphill
Prentis Hemphill is a movement facilitator, Somatics teacher, and practitioner, working at the convergence of healing, collective transformation, and political organizing. Prentis has spent the last 15 years bridging wellbeing and power building as a part of movement building organizations, most recently as the Healing Justice Director at Black Lives Matter Global Network. In 2016, Prentis was awarded the Buddhist Peace Fellowship Soma Award for community work inspired by Buddhist thought. At present, Prentis is the founder and leader of The Embodiment Institute and The Black Embodiment Initiative as well as host of the Finding Our Way Podcast.
♫ The music you heard on this episode is “New Dune” (Instrumental) by Tan Cologne, “Codetalker” by This Flame I Carry, and “Let The Cards Fall” by The Breath.
Episode References
“Letting Go of Innocence” by Prentis Hemphill
“Contagion, Consent, and Connection” by Prentis Hemphill
“How the Wonder of Nature Can Inspire Social Justice Activism” by adrienne maree brown
We aim to be a gathering place for ideas and solutions ensuring that the growing body of work that we steward remains accessible to the public. If you want to see us continue, or perhaps are especially moved by the episode you are listening to today, please become a monthly sustaining member through our Patreon or consider making a one-time donation directly to us through our website. To stay up-to-date on our work, sign up for our newsletter.
For The Wild Podcast is an anthology of the Anthropocene; focused on land-based protection, co-liberation and intersectional storytelling rooted in a paradigm shift away from human supremacy, endless growth and consumerism.