Pomba Gira’s Dance: Making Peace With Your Old Blacks

As a mixed-race woman growing up in a white town in the Midwest with a First Nations reservation nearby, I struggled to find where I fit in. My father’s family wanted nothing to do with me, as my green eyes were proof there was a white rapist somewhere in the Afro-Disaspora bloodline (not that anyone really needs proof of that kind of thing; it happened heartbreakingly often). My mother’s family were a bit more accepting as they had Lenape and Quaker heritage. Abolitionism and civil rights was as natural to them as breathing, and they fought the cause for generations. The First Nations people were incredibly accepting, having birthed the idea of the ‘Rainbow Tribe’ in the early 80s (but I also think my great-grandmother’s reputation had a lot to do with their acceptance). While a lot of problematic stuff came out of that time period of opening First Nations’ spirituality to others, some good work happened as well. I was probably happiest speaking to elders and teachers among Lakota — an opportunity I didn’t often get due to Fundy Christian parents, but I took it when I could. <a href="https://medium.com/@rosanegres/pomba-giras-dance-making-peace-with-your-old-blacks-d88c68a6eff7">Read More</a>