S2E5: “Surviving Adoption & Colorism” x Dr. Pamela Phoenix

“There’s things in your family that you’re just not going to be able to do anything about, because it’s really not up to you. It’s up to them to want to be a part of this healing, too, and everybody doesn’t want to be a part of healing.” – Dr. Phoenix

In radio, they call it dead air, but on this podcast we call it holding space. There is healing on the other side of the discomfort of listening to the silence. Thank you, Dr. Phoenix, for reminding us of that. Forty years ago at the age of 17, Pamela Phoenix learned that her favorite aunt was actually her biological mother. Learning she was adopted devastated her, and in the process of losing who she believed she was she also lost her family.

Since 1998, Dr. Phoenix has been going “Black to the beginning” to the roots of her trauma and helping others along their own healing journeys for more than two decades as the facilitator of the Sankofa Rites of Passage program for youth and adults (Sandria is a graduate of the 2021 adult cohort). Dr. Phoenix’s life and work underscores the fact that adoptees are SURVIVORS, there is power in (re)writing your life’s story, and being rooted in the divinity of Blackness and your purpose can feel like a return home.

This extended episode is not for casual listening. Grab your journal, a cup of tea, and settle in for this intimate conversation. May it shine a light wherever you are on your healing path.

SHOW NOTES

CONNECT WITH US!

• Black to the Beginning on Instagram
  
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• Black to the Beginning on Youtube  
  
• Dr. Phoenix on Instagram
  

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

• Sankofa Rites of Passage with Dr. Phoenix
• Good Grief  – Support and resources for grieving children
• LISTEN: Black to the Beginning: The Black Adoption Podcast Season 1 (check out Episodes 6 and 14!)  
  
• READ: Black to the Beginning Reads Bookshop  – A carefully curated list of #BTTBreads…for the culture! Get into “The Four Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz

SUPPORT BLACK TO THE BEGINNING: THE BLACK ADOPTION PODCAST

• Zelle: info@blacktothebeginning.com
• PayPal:info@blacktothebeginning.com
• SHOP Black to the Beginning   
  

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