I am tired.
The psychedelic space, much like the rest of society, is exhausting.
- Black and brown people don’t have equal access.
- The folks working to create access are underfunded.
- The people with money talk about access but the majority of it is performative bullshit.
Primarily white psychedelic training institutions, why do you have one Black person in your cohort and why is their tuition not fully covered?
If you do offer 1-2 scholarships, why are you making applicants of color compete for assistance?
Major psychedelic corporations, why is your entire Board of Directors wealthy and white?
I’m working to create a non-profit, I’m learning how to fundraise, I’m organizing an initiative to help train more Black psychedelic therapists and I’m co-creating a space for the Black psychedelic community.
And to be honest, I feel as though I’m failing craptastically at all of it. I don’t know what I’m doing. I just continue to show up and “create for the culture” because I don’t know what else to do.
Every idea that I’ve had has come out of my own personal need.
I want to sit with the medicine in Peru because depression has kicked my ass for three decades. However, it’s $3000.
I want to train to be a psychedelic facilitator but, the program is $20,000 and only offers two scholarships.
This is why I created the Black Psychedelic Equity Fund.
I wanted to find more Black people in the psychedelic space and couldn’t.
This is why I created Black People Trip and co-founded The Black Psychedelic Collective.
All that to say, do better.
Put Black and brown people (that know what it’s like to be poor) on your advisory boards. Hire them to consult on your equity and accessibility programs and compensate them well.
We know what’s broken and we know how to fix it.
Actually, we know how to build it better.