The Four R’s

As a Network Leadership Learning Lab fellow, we examine a number of connected ideas and explore systems change in relationship to one specific issue.

In our learning we explore a number of different methodologies and look deep into how they are present in the work we do as well as in our personal lives.

The Four R’s are a way of looking at healing that seems very poignant for the current conversations on race and healing. Reconnect, Reclaim, Reengage and Restore–each has a realm that it affects. And each of those actions leads to a holistic liberatory practice.

Reconnect is bringing a person back to their source. Or rather, back to the source. It can be mediation, prayer, tarot, yoga…Reconnection is opening up to a practice of metaphysical relationship. It is understanding the larger energy body that connects us all and our relationship to that whole.

Reclaim is to take back the body. Through the repeated ideas of violence we form habits of disconnecting from our bodies. That violence can take on many forms but the outcome is a dissociation from the container that holds us. Reclaiming your body is a practice of joy, it supports a physical existence as a birthright and a body as a space of happiness and connection.

Reengage is the process of taking back emotions and allowing feeling. So often emotions are used as examples of weakness. Through a deep connection to what you feel, it becomes possible to trust your intuition and to speak your own truth. Reengagement is acknowledging that oppression has conditioned people to mistrust what they know.

Restore supports the telling and reclaiming of story. The storytelling movement doesn’t seem to be much of a coincidence. As we collectively heal, stories allow a deeper and more profound connection to one another. By understanding someone’s story you are able to further develop empathy and connection.

A few storytelling series to check out:

Second Story (Chicago, IL)
 Porch Light (San Francisco, CA)
20 x 2 (Austin, Tx)