Myisha T Hill
Myisha T Hill (born in 1982) is a Black American author, mother of three, mental health activist, speaker, and coach, and passionate about mental wellness and the empowerment of men, women, and non-binary folks. She is exceptionally passionate about mental health and wellness for Black, Brown, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, Indigenous Women of Color, LGBTQI, and Persons who experience disabilities.
Early Life
Hill was born in 1982 at Cook County Hospital in the historic Bronzeville district on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, to Susie Ann Hill and James Thomas. Hill was selectively mute until the age of 12, her journey stemming from her own experiences as a non-diagnosed autistic Black American child to a woman.
Hill worked in various jobs as an adult, including as a 1:1 educator at the community school for Creative Education, as a Recreational Aide at We Rock The Spectrum Berkeley, CA, and as a Communications Coordinator and Deacon at Oakland City Church. There are numerous work experiences in addition to these listed here.
In 2018, Myisha T Hill was curious about White women due to a personal trauma with a friend, who happened to be a White woman. From this, Hill wanted to understand more about a White person’s relationships with privilege (White privilege is the “unearned” access to resources that is readily available due to being a White person). [1] It was the beginning of Hill’s journey to identify her own internalized oppression and how racism affects her as a Black woman, and a human being[2]. Hill has been involved with anti-racism groups throughout her life and on her own journey as a Black Woman [3]
Hill founded an online organization called Check Your Privilege as an interview series during Minority Mental Health Awareness Month in July of 2018. Through coursework, shared storytelling, books, corporate education, and community, Myisha T Hill continues to center the work of Check Your Privilege from a “mental health perspective, using self-compassion practices and reflection to help White folks step back, reflect, and compassionately dismantle their relationship with power, privilege, and oppression.”[4] Hill also does not necessarily agree with Cancel Culture as humans have worth. [5]
Hill also noticed a trend in the social spheres of the Internet like Instagram where teaching and communicating with large swaths of people could get messages about developing an “anti-racism journey,” developing all-ship, leaning into the discomfort of growth and change. She also saw the inclusion of “…White people so they could help themselves and become ready to engage in relationships across racial lines. Hill saw a way to train, teach, and mentor White folks on the Interlocking Systems of Oppression Racism, Patriarchy, Ableism, Body type, Homophobia, and now through the Internet, Facebook, Instagram, and others that can reach as many people as possible. There are reference materials that support her supposition; one such article is titled “The Phenomenon of Education on Instagram” which states “Affinity spaces are online and/or offline locations where people convene due to a shared interest or endeavor. This common interest or endeavor supersedes distinctions such as age or gender that might shape users’ interactions in other spaces. In many cases, affinity spaces are related to avocations rather than vocations. However, by reducing traditional geographical, hierarchical, temporal, and institutional barriers, social media such as Instagram can facilitate the creation of affinity spaces for educators rooted in shared professional affinities. Such spaces encourage diverse forms of participation and the sharing of various kinds of knowledge. Additionally, by facilitating connections among geographically dispersed users, these spaces can create new and larger audiences for user-generated content. For instance, an outstanding teacher who might previously have shared their ideas and resources at a local level can use social media as a platform from which to disseminate those ideas and resources to a larger number of teachers.[6]
There is also a concept that Black Educators including Hill which is the “…concept of intersectionality was introduced to the field of legal studies by Black feminist scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw,[15] [as early as 1989] who used the term in a pair of essays published in 1989 and 1991.[8] While the theory began as an exploration, primarily, of the oppression of Black women within society and the ways in which they both exist at an intersection, and experience intersecting layers of different forms of oppression, today the analysis has expanded to include many more aspects of social identity. Identities most commonly referenced in the fourth wave of feminism include race, gender, sex, sexuality, class, ability, nationality, citizenship, religion, and body type. The term was not adopted widely by feminists until the 2000s and has only grown since that time.”
Feminism and Activism
Hill identifies with Loretta J. Ross. In 1977, Ross and a group of Black and minority activists coined the term "Women of color" at the National Women's Conference as a unifying term to address political and social issues.[7]
Hill also identifies with Bell hooks who was an American author, Social Activist, who wrote on Feminism, Race, Class, and more. Hill admired hooks and read many of her books and applied the knowledge. Hill uses many of hooks’ quotes about healing and love in her daily practice. Hill sees life on planet earth as “needing healing love, transformation, restoration, and justice.”
In 2014 Hill started a Non-Profit Organization called Brown Sisters Speak which provided therapy scholarships and mental health care for Black, Brown Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) Community. This organization changed its name to Iwosan Collective in 2021 and continues its work today.
Writing and Teaching
Hill writes, contributes to, and teaches on the “great white awakening” of 2020 when George Floyd was killed by police and it was witnessed on National Television. Suddenly it seemed that a large percentage of White Folk wanted to be “woke” or experienced an awakening of Black people in America. Hill published a Book “Check Your Privilege” and an anthology that has an accompanying workbook published by Dirt Path Publishing. This book discusses “Leaning into the discomfort” of anti-racism work in 2020 to help address somehow lean into the work of looking at White Privilege and make changes in an individual.[8]
Hill published a book in 2022 “Heal Your Way Forward” through Row House Publishing. Heal Your Way Forward is a seminal work in antiracism, guiding white and white-identifying folks to utilize activism for intergenerational healing. In 2018, Myisha T Hill created the @ckyourprivilege “handle” on Instagram to undo the harm created between White women and women of the Global Majority.[9]
Hill attended and marched in Minnesota. Hill also sat on a panel at the George Floyd Memorial Commemoration in 2021.
Awards and Honors
Board of Directors for the George Floyd Memorial Foundation
References
- ↑ "Archived Copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-10-18. Retrieved 2022-07-15.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)
- ↑ "Fundamentals, Core Concepts, Internalized Racism". Racial Equity Tools.
- ↑ "The Case for Capitalizing the 'B' in Black". The Atlantic. 18 June 2020.
- ↑ Palmer, Geraldine L.; Ferńandez, Jesica Siham; Lee, Gordon; Masud, Hana; Hilson, Sonja; Tang, Catalina; Thomas, Dominique; Clark, Latriece; Guzman, Bianca; Bernai, Ireri (June 21, 2019). "Oppression and Power" – via press.rebus.community.
- ↑ "Americans and 'Cancel Culture': Where Some See Calls for Accountability, Others See Censorship, Punishment". May 19, 2021.
- ↑ Carpenter, J. P.; Morrison, S. A.; Craft, M.; Lee, M. (2020). "How and why are educators using Instagram?". Teaching and Teacher Education. 96: 103149. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2020.103149. PMC 7380928 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 32834464 Check|pmid=value (help). - ↑ Ross, Loretta (2019-08-17). "Opinion | I'm a Black Feminist. I Think Call-Out Culture Is Toxic". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-07-11.
- ↑ "Allies have had their "great white awakening." but who will guide them?". 11 July 2020.
- ↑ https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/-/media/files/schools/school-of-education/final-leeds-beckett-1102-global-majority.pdf
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