It’s not uncommon these days to hear people talk about “the work,” or the inner healing that needs to take place within all of us in order to move forward as a society. And in most (if not all) cases, healing from grief is a part of this work.
“Grief work is the work, and we live in a society that’s so grief-adverse,” Cator tells mbg. But today, “We’re living in times that are calling us to slow down, stop, and grieve […] So much has happened, we can’t just keep going.”
For Black folks, particularly Black women, there’s the universal trauma of living through a pandemic, coupled with “racial trauma, and racism, which creates compounding effects,” Cator explains.
She adds that as it relates to Black women, “Historically, there’s been so much ‘Hold it all in; we have to keep going.’ I understand where that comes from […] and at the same time, we need to create that space so we can heal that intergenerational trauma and wounding and patterning.”