A reflection on this journey
Watch this short video to get an overview of the series and the intersection between sugar, capitalism, coloniality, and slavery.
Session 1: The Subtle Body of the Institution
Get a deeper understanding of the links between coloniality/decoloniality, slavery, capitalism, and sugar production. Explore how these perspectives may impact work within communities, and how a holistic perspective on sugar in processed foods may help depathologize those communities.
Resources:
Session 2: Centering Imagination in Change Efforts
Explore how the imaginal–a world that precedes and gives shape to physical form–may be a fountain of inspiration and resource in efforts to promote health & create well-being in our communities.
Resources
- The Spell of the Sensuous
- Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown
- “Mundus Imaginalis or the Imaginary and the Imaginal” by Henry Corbin
- “Touching Earth, Finding Spirit: A Passage Into the Symbolic Landscape” by Betsy Perluss
Session 3: Peace Walk and Deeper Integration
This session will invite participants to pause, reflect, and share how our learnings can transform how we approach our work.
Resources:
- Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds (book)
- ES Practices Excerpt (PDF)
- ES Cultural Strategy Toolkit (PDF)
- ES Interview with adrienne maree brown (video)
- Artist Brief (PDF)
Session 4: Gathering Seeds, Tending Futurity
Session 4's celebration was a moment to witness what seeds have been gathered, and to cultivate space in pondering how they should be planted.
Resources:
In Amber's Words...
"The hope - the radical optimism - is to not succumb to the notion of defeat or inefficiency because you're just one person within a larger system. But like fractals, the one part does mimic and can impact the whole. It just depends on how much you believe your ideas."
Witness the Journey
We were lucky to work with Fox Nakai to document the Sugar & Decoloniality series in photos and videos.
Dr. Amber McZeal
Amber weaves somatic praxis with social justice and Afro-Indigenous Spiritual technologies in her efforts to end oppression and create more humane social relationships. Amber holds an MA in Somatic Depth psychology and PhD in Community, Liberation, Indigenous, and Ecological depth psychology.
About
The Shape Up SF Coalition and SFDPH Healthy Eating Active Living Team co-hosted an experiential journey to explore sugar & decoloniality with Dr. Amber McZeal. This 4-part series delved deeper into why decolonizing sugar matters and how we may undo the impacts of coloniality on our communities experiencing the greatest health disparities.
Participants:
- Explored somatic and creative experiences to deepen understanding of the impacts of coloniality on the health of our communities
- Received resources to continue this conversation in our workplaces, homes, and communities
- Networked with other healthy eating active living organizations
Thank you to our partners at The Presidio Trust and SF's Recreation and Parks Department for hosting this series.