Dr Geeta Ludhra

Sometimes it's ok to feel the weight of everything, alongside the numbness of nothingness.

@Vicky_Bowskill Thank you Vicky 🦋💚🙏🏾🌳

POC who write, do the deep antiracism wk~what toll have recent events taken-on their MH & WB? How are they healing, recovering, processing again? TY @ForestryEngland for org a day of healing~nature art, walking, meditation & outdoor cooking @TheMERL

@JennyMitchellGo @ForestryEngland @TheMERL @ForestryComm @gurchrandhawa @EsmeeFairbairn Love this Jenny- how a smile is part of a minor revolution 💚🦋🌳.

@educatinggeeta @ForestryEngland @TheMERL @ForestryComm @gurchrandhawa @EsmeeFairbairn Me? Adversely impacted when the racism that simmers in the UK bubbles up, so that there are not only actual victims but collateral damage? Me? Never. I smile more and that's my defiance and minor revolution. Sending hugs. 🦋

@mkvphotography Thank you Mala 🙏🏾🦋🌳 The nature art was simple, yet so calming.

@educatinggeeta @ForestryEngland @TheMERL @ForestryComm @gurchrandhawa @EsmeeFairbairn I love healing like this 🙏💖 Looks like a peaceful day out with crafts in nature 😍🌿☘️

@Ali_K_70192262 Thank you 🙏🏾🦋🌳

@educatinggeeta @ForestryEngland @TheMERL @ForestryComm @gurchrandhawa @EsmeeFairbairn Love the collage, hoping you feel more replenished with some tree companionship. 🌳

Today is my birthday. Five years ago today, I celebrated my birthday and the book birthday of How to Be an Antiracist. Little did I know that millions of people across the world would read this book that Pulitzer Prize winning Black Studies scholar Jeffrey C. Stewart called “the most courageous book to date on the problem of race in the Western mind” in the New York Times. How to Be an Antiracist narrates my journey of internalizing racist ideas as a youngster and how I ended up recognizing those ideas and started striving to be antiracist. The book simultaneously narrates the history of different kinds of racist ideas—including biological, ethnic, cultural, behavioral, color, class, space, gender, queer—and their antiracist opposites, all the while demonstrating that the true opposite of racist isn’t “not racist,” it is antiracist. The book demonstrates how the fixed binary of racist and “not racist” is nonsensical since those being racist have historically self-identified as “not racist.” The book defines racist and antiracist not as terms that identify who a person inherently is, but terms that describe what a person is being in any given moment based on whether they are deconstructing or reinforcing the structure of racism. Humans are complex and contradictory. Depending on the racial group or issue or place or context, we can be racist one moment and antiracist the next. I have come to appreciate the people who have largely spent the last five years misrepresenting and banning the book and trying to discredit me. What you have done—and why you have done it—have functioned like the book’s postscript. I really appreciate the people who offered constructive feedback—not to elevate themselves, but to elevate the book. Your feedback formed the basis for my revised paperback edition that came out last year. I also really appreciate the people who ended the book and saw it as a beginning. They joined with us on our journey to be antiracist, as we transform ourselves to transform society. This isn’t about professing a desire for radical change. Anyone can say anything. Anyone can’t do anything. This is about changing ourselves and working diligently and often privately to create that radical change in society. Many people are doing that today. The eyes of the mainstream press may have moved on, but the eyes of history are with you, as you build, as you organize, as you strive to end starvation and exploitation and genocides, as you work to shift power and policy. And I want to take this opportunity, on my birthday, to thank you for the antiracist gifts you keep giving to the humanity. I remain hopeful because of you.

Beautiful ancestral mediation led by this kind volunteer @ForestryEngland - just what the mind, body & soul needed. We honoured the earth and all directions with gratitude, grounding ourselves in the forest. Thank you to this amazing volunteer.

Had such a heartbreaking call with a family member this morning. They were so excited for their day trip and said we'd rather lose the £ & be safe staying at home. "Why is this all happening Geeta?" Where do I start? How do I explain to those elders who are in their 70s & 80s?

Family & friends cancelling UK holiday plans, their community seaside picnic trip for elders-fear as they don't want to take risks-naive to say 'be brave', 'carry on as normal'-how can they? Our elders have lived through racist riots already -@RajeshThind #Defiance Ch4. Monday.

@xeviemuir @eandtbooks @AbiRFellows @DHHlitagency @sabrenakhadija @BlkGirlWriters @PeaksOfColour A brilliant book indeed and recommended it so many Evie x

Instagram saw it first but… it’s cover reveal time! ☁️🌿RADICAL REST: Notes on burnout, healing and hopeful futures🌿☁️ Coming to bookshelves on the 18th July, and available to preorder now! Pinch me!

A very moving series. Be mindful of your mental health as this time if you choose to watch it (I don't think I could re-watch atm). Saw a couple of Ppl that I know in it and familiar spaces.

@DrMehwishSharif Thank you for all you do ✨️💚🌈

In times of despair, our (grand)children carry hope - through their innocence, laughter, the magic of rainbows 🌈 They bring lightness and joy to heaviness. For you @DrMehwishSharif and your family, for @GiulianaFerri4 🌈

@Sion_McG @RoseONei11 TY Sion. No showing off, she is gently present BTS, genuine care that feels trusted, safe, kind~beyond lipservice sympathy & pity. TY @RoseONei11

When @RoseONei11 sends you a genuinely kind message to check-in, ask how she can hold space for you because...be there as a white ally etc. I've seen her actions in practice & they're noticed, appreciated-the world has kind ppl 💚🙏🏾🌳

@MankamalSingh I'm hearing this story from others too.

My daughter just cancelled an Airbnb she booked with her friends in the country next week. TBH, as a parent I’m relieved she did. Wouldn’t be surprised if many other asian/black families cancel summer staycations. Reminds of why we never saw the countryside or beaches as kids.

I spoke to the sun this morning 🌄 Shine rays of love, kindness and care in abundance - so that hatred has no space. With love Geeta ☀️

@preetikdhillon A great book to reread, which I will. Study of black & brown #antiracism struggles in the 60s-80s. The Shoulders We Stand On. TY Preeti. Look forward to meeting IRL and having a signed copy.

🧶 What am I (re)reading atm? 📗 In this🧶I'll share books that I'm trying to read or revisit. Books that encourage me to ? differently- about the 🌎 nature 🌿 my own & more diverse lived experiences, books that bring me joy. Feel free to add your choices with some context.

@EdelMcGurk x.com/educatinggeeta… TY Edel for showing up, importantly the follow-up actions you take. It was good to see you as always 💚🌳

Hard to beat the wonderful subtle colours of #chalkdownland at #AstonRowantNNR. Taking in the views with the troop of #Dadimas walkers today. Such a pleasure to walk and talk, sharing knowledge and bringing together cultures and generations in #SouthAsianHeritageMonth.