Racial Wellness A Guide to Liberatory Healing for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color

A guide and workbook centered on self-care, healing, and empowerment for Black, Indigenous, and people of color—from racial wellness visionary and designer Jacquelyn Ogorchukwu Iyamah.

As a society, we rarely talk about how racism affects the holistic health of Black, Indigenous, and people of color. Author and healing-informed designer Jacquelyn Ogorchukwu Iyamah refers to racism as “the multifaceted abuser” because of the ways it affects the emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing of BIPOC. Whether these communities are experiencing microaggressions or overt racism, they are constantly forced to practice resistance. Using her background in social welfare and interaction design, Iyamah seeks to stimulate revolutionary healing for communities of color, shifting the conversation from racial trauma to racial wellness.

This powerful book helps BIPOC understand, reflect, and cope with racial trauma. Divided into five sections—emotional wellness, mental wellness, physical wellness, spiritual wellness, and our interconnected wellness—Iyamah lends readers a gentle hand on their journey toward racial wellness by providing ways to heal on individual, interpersonal, and institutional levels, while encouraging deeper reflection through insightful journal prompts. Filled with uplifting affirmations, tender reminders, love letters, and helpful graphics sprinkled throughout, Racial Wellness is as informative as it is comforting, offering communities of color the opportunity to rest, rehabilitate, and rebuild.

Jacquelyn Ogorchukwu Iyamah (she/her) is a racial wellness visionary and healing-informed designer. She has a Bachelor's degree in social welfare from UC Berkeley and a Master of Science in interaction design, where her focus was on creating healing environments for Black, Indigenous, and communities of color. Today, she is the founder of Making the Body a Home, where she designs offerings for the body and home that help people stimulate racial wellness.