Forward Promise

I’ve seen firsthand how much our leaders carry. The passion. The pain. The pressure to keep pushing, even when they’re running on empty.

That’s why we’re building Ayoku Healing Retreat Center. It’s not just a retreat—it’s a commitment to our well-being. A space where leaders of color can exhale, reconnect with themselves, and be poured into. A space where they can learn valuable skills to sustain their wellness in the future. 

Healing is more than a break—it’s a strategy for our survival.

Rest is part of the work. And we all deserve that kind of care.

April is Stress Awareness Month—but for people of color, stress isn’t just personal, it’s racialized. The daily weight of discrimination, systemic injustice, and cultural erasure takes a real toll.

For racial justice leaders, that stress is doubled—they carry the pain and fight to heal it. They battle their own personal trauma while battling dehumanization to transform society for us all.

This month, we honor their strength, and we call for public systems and institutional practices that relieve harm—not reproduce it.

My hope is that Ayoku will become that safe space to honor these leaders and reduce the harm of racialized stress. We want them to reinvigorate their activist spirits in the safety of a welcoming, culturally grounded environment.