A sacred, sensual, radical and a limitless quest of my heart

AKA SLOW AND LUXURIOUS DYKE ISLAND.

I’ve been called to connect with the ancestors on my fathers side in St. Croix. It’s complicated y’all, since my father is a complex dude in my life, still my ancestors wanted me to know them and im grateful! It has been a sacred, sensual, radical and a limitless quest of my heart.

For some days we went to St. John which is the smallest and most rustic of the three Virgin Islands. AND hella gentrified by white people who were mostly oblivious or don’t care about the indigenous and Black history and presence of the island which was jarring. We supported Black St. Johnian businesses and connected with Black locals as much as we could.

A sacred highlight was: we got to commune with the Taino ancestors through visiting a reflective pool with spiritual carvings that predated the arrival of Europeans. This legacy of indigenous existence in the islands is precious and limited due to the brutality of colonization. Yet, the energy was peaceful potent and tender there.

We also visited the remains of sugar and bay rum plantations in the forest and on the ocean. I learned that many of these plantations were built on pre-existing Taino structures by forced African labor by Danish enslavement mostly. The African ancestors held my heart deeply in these spaces. They are amid forests that are peaceful and lush and yet you can still feel the misery that lingers amidst “paradise.”

The nature has reclaimed the structures via plants, bugs and ocean mist. Deer, hermit crabs, lizards, sun showers and rainbows everywhere you look. Ceiba trees are looming, living ancestors witnessing the generations and holding us. The ancestors omnipresent and loving.

I was held by one of my soul siblings @naimainfinity for this journey. We held each other for the first time in 2 years! This trip was definitely doula’d by Naima who always leads me into nature and to knowing this lineage with her love as chosen family. More chronicles soon!