You've heard it your whole life. We're all we got.
And in a moment like this one, when so much feels built to wear us down, isolate us, and convince us to go it alone, that truth lands different. For Black women and women of color, community has never been a nice-to-have. It's how we've survived.
But survival-community and aligned-community are not the same thing.
So much of what we call community is actually transaction. Keeping a quiet tally of who owes who. Showing up out of obligation instead of desire. Giving until we're empty because somewhere along the way we learned that's what love costs. Being the strong one everyone leans on, while no one ever asks who's holding us. Connection that drains instead of fills.
This July, Holding Space is about the difference.
What does it mean to be in real community? Not the performance of it. Not the networking version. Not the version where your worth is measured by how useful, how low-maintenance, how endlessly capable you can be. The kind built on alignment. On shared values. On mutual witnessing. On the radical idea that you get to belong without earning it.
July is what the country calls Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. And the most honest thing we can say about mental health for Black women right now is this: we cannot heal in isolation. We were never meant to. We are each other's medicine, when the community is built right.
Holding Space is therapeutic, not therapy. The healing happens through being witnessed, not through tools or techniques. The container itself is the medicine. Whatever you take from this space, whatever clarity, whatever release, whatever permission, that's yours to make of what you need.
WHAT WE'LL TEND TO TOGETHER
Naming the difference between community that depletes us and community that aligns us
Looking honestly at where transaction has crept into how we connect, often without us realizing it
Releasing the belief that we have to earn our place by being useful, strong, or easy to deal with
Exploring what it means to receive, not only to give
Honoring the people and circles that have held us, and grieving the ones that didn't
Imagining what aligned, non-transactional community could actually look like for us going forward
WHAT TO EXPECT
A guided grounding practice to settle into the space
Four reflection prompts with time for journaling and optional sharing
Facilitated witnessing centered on the lived experiences of Black women and WOC
Space for silence, breath, and honoring your nervous system
A closing ritual to honor yourself and the community you carry
WHO THIS SPACE IS FOR
This Holding Space is an affinity space centering Black women, femmes, and nonbinary folx.
It is designed with the cultural, emotional, and systemic realities we navigate at the forefront.
Those who do not share these experiences are welcome to attend with the understanding that this space does not center them, and that listening, witnessing, and respect are required.
This is not a debate space, an educational forum, or a place to be centered if your lived experience differs from the group being held.
COMMUNITY AGREEMENTS
Speak from the "I"
Witness, not fix
Honor confidentiality
Respect silence and pacing
Care for your nervous system (pausing or stepping away is welcome)
DETAILS
Date: Sunday, July 26th, 2026
Time: 1:00 - 2:30 PM ET
Location: Online (Zoom link sent upon registration)
Facilitator: Philicia Ross, LCSW-C
This July session is donation-based and open to the community.
If this space gives you a taste of what aligned community feels like, there's a place to keep being held all year.