THE ROOT OF US

A Racial Healing Consulting Firm

with a focus on identity development, empowerment and building strong communities.

OUR VISION

That all children, youth, mentors, and community members have accurate knowledge of themselves and their roots, and use that knowledge to build strong, equitable, inclusive and diverse communities of practice.

We believe that strong roots

build strong communities.

OUR MISSION

To provide children, youth, mentors and community members opportunities to grow their knowledge of self, knowledge of historical and contemporary inequities, and acquire the tools, skills and strategies necessary for building more equitable and inclusive communities one root at a time.

OUR PHILOSOPHY

The Root

"When we unlearn the lies we were told or taught about ourselves and each other, the truth we discover can be applied and acted upon with authenticity, confidence and courage.

That's why we start with the root of us."

-Fernell Miller

Founder - The Root of Us

OUR APPROACH

Here Is the Truth

Knowing ourselves, digging up our roots, is the first step in building strong diverse, inclusive and equitable communities of practice.

Diversity, equity and inclusion policies and practices only work when all parties fully invest, trust the process and do their inner work first. We cannot expect our community to fully value its diversity, solve inequities and truly be inclusive if we are not willing to look at our own strengths, weaknesses and the roots of bias and privilege which we all have.

From this ground work comes the knowledge needed to build strong, resilient, multicultural, multiracial teams, organizations, and communities - the sturdy trunk. It is there where we branch out to include others, always working towards the establishment of a just society. Roots, trunk, branches.

By seeking authentic relationships through conversations, consultations, circles, classes and conferences, we learn the history of injustice in this country, how injustice is maintained through individuals, culture, and institutions, and the strategies, skills and tools to disrupt this. To educate, empower and uplift individuals and communities, one root at a time.

Diversity, equity & inclusion work is more than a few trainings that come with a checklist of superficial inequities to be swapped out; it's deeply rooted in our identities and relationships with one another.

Strong relationships with strong roots builds strong communities.

We can't wait to dig up your roots with you!

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Why Racial Healing?

“A tree stands strong not by its fruits or branches, but by the depth of its roots.”

― Anthony Liccione

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DIVERSITY

Diversity is a fact; it is how we exist, and what we see all day right in front of our eyes but have been taught to look away, to not notice, to be color-blind.
The very root of our strength is our uniqueness and difference. Our collective wisdom and healing medicine that we bring to each other has been ” whitewashed” away by our learned indifference to our differences.
Yet we ARE the diversity we need for our individual and collective healing.

EQUITY

Equity is a choice, and is always about justice and fairness in all aspects of our lives - be it racial equity, gender equity, economic equity, education equity, etc. With equity, we wouldn’t need to stack up crates to see over a fence that doesn’t need to be there in the first place. Our social identities along with our physical, mental, and emotional capacities need to be present in the room and deserve a seat at the table. In fact, why don’t we just gather in a circle outside without the table in the first place? We have PLENTY, and even more when we share.
Scarcity is a lie that fuels fear and competition; abundance fuels generosity and collaboration.

INCLUSION

Inclusion is an action. It is the full participation of all that we are - our identities, our roots.
Inclusion is not assimilation or melting into a pot. Tokenized appearances and positions, calendar observances, and illusions of equity are deceitful and cause more harm and trauma.
Everyone wants to be visible, validated, and valued every day. We want to experience access without policing, engagement without special favor or a catastrophe, offered opportunities fully and freely in life without apology, and with our humanity fully intact.
Inclusion without full acceptance is too high a price to pay for the mere optics of acceptance.
In the end, authentic inclusion is experienced as genuine belonging.

IDENTITY

We often ask people,
"Who are you?"
For different reasons, we are curious about each other. Our assessment of others can be riddled with ignorance, historical inaccuracies, limiting stereotypes, prejudice, and bigotry. We owe it to each other and ourselves to learn about one another in a context of trust, mutual respect, openness, and most of all safety.
Knowing that our identities begin forming in the womb, are shaped by nature and nurture, and are acted upon by other aspects of our social identities (culture, ethnicity, race, gender, etc), it is incumbent on each of us to uncover our roots and be responsible for defining who we are. To deny anyone the root of who they are is to deny their humanity.

BELONGING

Belonging is an outcome of being with and practicing humanity with fierce self-love. Fear and ignorance take us to a place where humanity can be discarded, and replaced with dehumanization, but from our abundance of self-love, family love, and communal love, we can show up with fierce love for each other. We are each other’s medicine. We are each other’s healing. We need each other. We are each other. We belong to each other.I belong everywhere, and everywhere belongs to me.We belong together.