As we celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month, I am excited to amplify a local LA based mental health organization, GUTT Healing Circle. Founded and facilitated by two Black women with distinctly different backgrounds, GUTT (Gaining Unity Through Transformation) Healing Circle designs a safe space for Black men and women to personally develop, to establish community, and to support one another in building consciousness in a holistic way.
This organization is dedicated not only to the healing of Black communities but also applies the science of healing through meditation, breathwork, team building, therapeutic exercises and so much more. GUTT encourages all participants to dig deep into their personal and familial history to carve out ways for a more positive path forward.
Both LaTanya Ward and Raven Morgan understand and leverage that Black people are not a monolith. Raven, hailing from Baldwin Hills (“Black Beverly Hills”), up the hill, is a college graduate of Howard University. While LaTanya, a successful business owner, hails from Baldwin Village (“The Jungle”), down the hill, where there is a long history of gang violence and poverty that she has had to work hard to overcome. The bond of LaTanya and Raven exemplifies the infinite and impactful possibilities that can actualize when Black people from different backgrounds unite.
“I feel like there is a positive mental shift happening where Black people want to do better for themselves. We want to break generational curses, we want to be able to communicate better with ourselves and each other, and break the hold of systems that suppress our potential. Black folks of all backgrounds deserve and desire to be free through exposure to information and environments they can trust. GUTT Healing circle, is that,” Raven Morgan, Co-Founder of GUTT Healing Circle
My Energy Is A GIFT Not A GIVEN