Whole with joy w/India Arie
I started a practice last year of deep diving into the bod(ies) of work of Black womxn who have inspired my life during their zodiac season. This Libra season is ripe with the wisdom and creative energies of so many powerful, famous Black womxn who have deeply shaped my life. Today, I am honored to celebrate the one & only, India Arie. I don’t know where I would be when it comes to my self-love journey if it weren’t for the divine melodies/music of India Arie. I will never forget when I first heard “Video” as it brought light during a dark time of my college years. I felt like “Video” was made with me in mind. I felt understood, seen, & loved which helped me sit in my body with more ease & acceptance. Then about 5 years after the “Video” release, when my spirit needed it most, India Arie came out with “I Am Not My Hair” which helped me look into the mirror with a greater sense of pride & it made me curious to learn more about this “soul that lives within” that she sang about. Fast forward to many years later, the work & love of India Arie continues to shape me & my world.
I recently introduced my six year-old daughter to “I am Not my Hair” following an incident she experienced with a classmate at her school. The classmate of European descent told my daughter that she preferred for my daughter’s hair to be worn in a more tamed, protective style instead of wearing her hair out in her wild, kinky, coily afro. She even told my daughter that she looks more like herself when she wears it in a protective style. My daughter told me the exchange left her feeling “sad” & “left out.” I addressed this issue holistically with the school, with the student’s mother, and with my daughter. I witnessed her pain and I shared with my daughter how I too experienced something similar growing up. I then introduced her to the song that lifted & carried my spirit as a young Black womxn, India Arie’s “ I Am Not My Hair.” I sang, read, & danced the lyrics with her. We kept repeating the chorus until it became our sacred chant..
“I am not my hair
I am not this skin
I am not your expectations, no
I am not my hair
I am not this skin
I am the soul that lives within”
Another India Arie story stems from an experience I shared with a group of women, named Still Magnolias this past weekend. Still Magnolias is a healing space for Black, Indigenous women & women of color who identify as being “women of faith” that was envisioned by my vibrant 80 year old mother. During our last meeting, we discussed the importance of building shame resilience. We examined the ways shame shows up in our lives and keeps us from living authentically. We witnessed each other, we shedded tears, & we collectively released the shame together. Through the journey of India Arie’s “I Choose”- we shook it away, stomped it away, shouted it away & sung it away and our voices & hearts screamed out:
“I choose peace”
“I choose joy”
“I choose happiness”
“I choose love”
“I choose me!”
Happy Birthday India Arie, thank you for sharing yourself & your gifts with us. Your love for self, Black womxn/people & for humanity in general continues to feed us & bless our spirits. Thank you for helping me love myself more. Each one of your albums holds a special place in my heart and has supported me through my most trying life moments. Thank you for helping me see myself as the queen I am - full of strength, courage & wisdom who is worthy of love & life because I know I am light.
Here are some of my favorite India Arie songs: