Reparations Curious | Resolve To Do Better

Greetings, Beautiful Beings, Bienvenido!

Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous Moon
Sun Phase: after Winter Solstice
Prayer: May balance bring you peace
Affirmation: European settlers embody truth and reconciliation

I am writing as the Founding Steward of Artistic Apothecary. Since 2011, we have sustained a reputation as a community care and advocacy group. We are picking up the torch lit by our Ancestry, learning the truth about Turtle Island’s (colonial Amerikkka’s origin) story, having emotional conversations with neighbors, and developing soft solutions to abolish systemic anti-Africanness.

We are a month into a new year and amidst Black History Month. This is an essential time to reflect on and reaffirm our new years’ resolutions. We encourage non-African beings, especially European settlers, with the means (IS THIS YOU? Have you made space for reparations in your resolutions?) to make a lasting commitment to racial justice and anti-blackness by giving to Afro families, organizations and initiatives. It is not enough for pale folks to simply believe in the cause; restorative justice or health care for all. To create an equitable society, those who have benefited from racial privilege must contribute money, labour, and resources. think of reparations as part of your inheritance.

It requires consideration of the stories & experiences of African communities during slavery and the post-enslavement Jim Crow era; as well as modern racialized & displaced communities. 

It requires the remembrance of Generational Trauma. This includes European ancient cultures. How habits and behaviours have been transmitted & unconsciously passed on from elder to youth; as well as how it stews & resolves within our bodies & psyches while engaging with these words.

It requires imagination. Being remedy stewards is within reach when we hold a vision for a thriving future that will exist. Our radical imagination can conjure an ethically liberated world. Be bold. Aim beyond.

To create a better future – we must be a part of a working collective. Where we advance in there requirements. Are you aware that more than one million dollars worth of gift cards go unused each year?  We encourage you to put your undesired gift cards to use by giving them to us.

Are you searching for a grassroots group to give land to?

Are you seeking to pass down reparations?

At Artistic Apothecary we specialize in resource return with an emphasis in Slavery Reparations. Additionally consider joining Artistic Apothecary’s Truth & Reconciliation Committee. An accomplice working group that does community outreach to obtain resources for return to marginalized folks. 

This Spring Season, if you are serious about liberation for all, GIVE reparations, share the concept with others!

We require all pale (European) folks in our community to RETURN RESOURCES. If you are unable to be accountable to the truth, remove yourself from our community. All you are doing is perpetuating harm. Which is problematic and dismissive. Make no mistake, reparations and other forms of racial reckoning (LandBack/Rematriation/Repatriation) are the RETURN of stolen, withheld, and/or usurped resources, basic dignities, recognition, and remedies. While we humbly accept these returns, they are NOT donations, gifts or other forms of mutual aide. Act accordingly.