Designing Collective Racial Healing Spaces

Spaces for collective racial healing within predominantly White institutions are meant to support the path to collective liberation for Black, Indigenous, and students of color. It is imperative that we intentionally create racial healing spaces that support the identities and experiences of students of color on a predominantly White institution. We assert that physical spaces support empowerment and create access to opportunities for students of color through protection, healing, and community. The question that guides this work is, how might people with an agency within institutions of higher learning build sustainable, inclusive, and supportive spaces for and with Black, Indigenous, and students of color to increase retention and positive campus experiences? We explore how spaces for racial protection and healing should be supported in predominantly White institutions, and we hypothesize how this support can be crafted into an intentional curriculum, pedagogy, and course. It is our hope that this art will add to the conversation with like-minded educators who are interested in cocreating and sustaining similar spaces.