After many months of dreaming, our first Heal the Healers Convening took place Feb. 27 – March 1 in Saint Paul’s Wellstone Center. The three-day gathering, hosted by our ROOT program, provided a reprieve from the heavy mantle of responsibility we feel as community changemakers—offering nearly 140 BIPOC movement leaders a much-needed space to slow down, dig deep, and let go.
For generations, community healers have supported us through times of joy and times of grief by holding and teaching rest practices. The Heal the Healers Convening was our way to support them.
In opening remarks, Nexus founder and CEO Repa Mekha explained, “The work is sacred; it goes beyond transactional. But at the same time it rewards us in a deep spiritual way, it also pulls from us.” Over a hundred heads nodded in agreement as Repa pointed out the myth we often get caught in: “If you aren’t running yourself into the ground, you must not really be down for the cause.”
But doing community change work requires us to be nourished for the long run. We need deep rest to reconnect with ourselves, our purpose, and our vision. “We are authors,” Repa continued. “We can create the space and experiences we want to have. In this three-day period, we come full—we leave fuller. You are doing sacred work, and you are creating a legacy.”
ROOT Co-director Rosalva Mujwid Hernandez designed the Convening alongside community healers Felicia Washington Sy, Casandra Clark Mazariegos, and Aja King. Their goal was to offer a sacred space where healers could come together and nourish one another; see each other; practice ways of rest, reclaiming, and healing; and replenish their journey.
Through 24 workshops centered around art, somatic movement, spirituality, and mending wounds, the Convening provided creative ways to reflect, opportunities to connect, and spaces to process grief.
After many hugs, singing for liberation, and supporting a cacao healing ceremony, Rosalva’s biggest takeaway was that “radical love is the pathway to liberation. We all show up as we are—some with prickly armor, some with open arms, others with open wounds. And this space we curated can hold all.”
Rosalva kicked off the Convening by warmly sharing ROOT’s vision and her personal rest journey guided by her great grandmother, grandmother, and mother. “My mother is a curandera descendant from a strong line of women healers, and I felt disconnected from that power. So I spent the last year learning in collective spaces across Minnesota, New Mexico, Mexico, and Texas. I dreamt a calling that my job was to bring healers together and that it would be a long journey and imperfect one. My role is in collective leadership—supporting from within, not in front—and that’s what I have leaned into this past year as Heal the Healers took shape.”
Attendee Reflections
Several attendees shared that they often hold roles of healers, changemakers, activists, and caregivers in their circles. The opportunity to be part of the Convening was their way of choosing to pour back into their own cups to receive much-needed healing, and to know that it is equally important to spend time caring for themselves if they are fighting and building toward collective liberation.
“The Heal the Healers Convening was exactly what I needed before heading into six weeks in Korea. Such good medicine was shared through tears, laughter, warm embraces, sacred wisdom, and embodied practice. I carry these with me and wield a protective shield. I feel loved and filled with a loving spirit.”
“I have never experienced such a sense of community the way I did during this Convening. Though I walked in on day one to a room full of strangers, by the end of the day, most of us were already building meaningful connections. The workshops provided the opportunity to be creative, vocal and vulnerable while also very educational. I came in this space differently abled and felt nothing but safe and secure from the second I arrived. By the end of day three, we were family. We laughed, cried, broke bread and shared our fears, dreams, and wishes.”
