With each day of continued protest over George Floyd's killing and a growing widespread realization that for Black Americans, a "new normal" is one without ubiquitous bigotry, it has felt like a change is in the air.

But the activism required for that change is tireless work, and Philadelphians Sudan Green, Tayyib Smith and Meegan Denenberg know it. The three of them, in collaboration with creative agency Little Giant, and wellness movement NextStepsTogether are holding mass meditations throughout the City of Brotherly Love as it recovers from the chaos that Philadelphia, like several other cities, endured in the week following Floyd's death.

The initiative is titled Spirits Up!

"Spirits Up offers a safe space for protesters to heal from the trauma experienced on the streets [recently]," Green, a music artist and activist, told Blavity. "The 5-day event serves to ease and unite our collective consciousness so the Black community can continue to obtain the rights we deserve."

The three-hour gatherings will take place for a week beginning June 14 and ending on Juneteenth and will take place in different locations throughout the city. The first half of the event will involve listening to community leaders while the latter half will consist of yoga and guided meditation. Event attendees will also be provided with free yoga mats.

Spirits Up! began after Green, a music artist and activist, had a friend killed. He wrote a song for him of the same name. After Floyd was killed, the song morphed into something much larger.

"My city was broken, in a broken country," Green, 25, said. "I felt that no protest was healing us from this multi-generational wound of racism."

By June 1, the National Guard had been called into Philly after countless fires were set and stores were looted after peaceful demonstrations turned violent, according to Philly Magazine.

Prior to recent events, Green had been trying to find ways to incorporate yoga and meditation into Black communities. Since high school, he has been organizing diversity and inclusion conferences throughout the country.

Green said Black folks need healing right now.

"The Black community is deeply traumatized by the racism we have to face every day," the lyricist and rapper said. "On top of that, the Black community and our allies have been fighting tirelessly, getting tear-gassed, beat, emotionally abused, and falling asleep to sound cannons."

The meditation will also serve as a chance to counter the laments of pain echoed at protests.

"We will fill the airwaves with words more positive than 'We can't breathe,' and 'We have no justice.' We will call justice to us, 'We want justice,' and raising Spirits Up!"

But they'll also serve as more than a space to clear your head.

"Spirits up is about uniting the spirits of the Black community, as well as honoring our ancestral spirits," he said. "Worldwide, people are honoring our ancestors by educating themselves, their peers, and their families on Black history. Worldwide, our spirits are being lifted up, their stories are being told, justice is being demanded and glimmers of justice are being seen."

After seeing the first week of protests take place in the city, Green became one of many to suspect that these protests would be unlike the others.

"At first, my reaction was: 'They're exposed. The police are finally going to be exposed because this protest will not stop, I feel it.' … [My first thought] while being out there and witnessing first hand officers mace young protesters in the face, beat them on the head with their batons, and laugh at their pain was that we need to keep this going," he shared.

And he believes yoga is one of several ways this change can come.

"As a young Black man, the yoga studio is a place for me to heal myself; heal the anger I feel from so many different angles. For years I've wanted to broaden the yoga community so I can see more faces like mine," Green said. "Others have been calling for diversity in these healing spaces too, and I'm honored to cultivate that in Philadelphia."

Green, Smith and Deenberg are also hoping to establish a wellness center and have created a GoFundMe to raise efforts for the initiative.

Spirts-Up

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