Kufikiri Imara

Greetings to You All,

Wherever this message finds you, may it find you in a space of balance and allowing.

We thank you for your gracious patience and thoughtful understanding with the period of time it has taken for this communication to be sent out. This dynamic and layered moment that we are all navigating both individually plus as a collelctive, is resonant with the intentions behind the impetus for this project coming together. And just like the larger social moment we find ourselves presently in, this project as well will require a collective effort to become manifest and set up for the fullest benefit of its intention to be realized.The powerful vision of this project is embodied in each and everyone of us that have made a connection to support this work. We thank you for your continued commitment to this project as it grows through its own informed process, at the pace of trust. We look forward to building together collectively within and for the community. 

I am humbled and honored to be a part of such an inspiring and powerful collective such as this. My name is Kufikiri Imara, and I was invited to be a contributor to this project by Katie Loncke. The Universe abides, and so it was by a chance meeting in an entheogenic integration circle that I facilitate that they and I first became introduced some months ago. I am happy to have this opportunity to continue the ever present work of being of service to the community in whatever ways I can, for the needs of the community. To offer a little bit about myself, I was born and raised on Huichin territory of the Ohlone people (aka Oakland, California). I grew up in a family and community environment that strongly emphasized social awareness and responsibility. My personal healing/spiritual journey has led me to experience such moments as volunteering with the Green Earth Poets Society in NYC, bringing poetry to incarcerated African-American youth. I am one of the early members of the Entheogen Integration Circle, a support group in NYC with a focus on marginalized communities within the psychedelic community. A friend of Sacred Garden Community (SGC), I was a member of the SGC team of facilitators, who partnered with the former OLP, in Jamaica, who offered instruction for the first of its kind above ground training for therapists engaging in psychedelic assisted therapy. A former member of the Decriminalize Nature Oakland (DNO) grassroots collective that worked to pass the landmark resolution, after the unanimous passing of the resolution, I then went on to head the DNO committee on Outreach, Education, Access, & Integration. I am actively working with individuals and organizations doing the work in their communities for a better tomorrow. With efforts like facilitating a BIPOC Entheogen Integration Circle with the San Francisco Psychedelic Society (SFPS), I continue to work towards accessible choices for ethnically and socially diverse communities in their ability to heal themselves.

Like all of you, I look to bring the full breadth of my experiences to this project from a heart-centered perspective of being a supportive resource for those that this project seeks to engage with, as they look to make the choice of embarking on deeply transformative growth cultivation in their own lives. All while aiding each individual in growing the tools they need to show up for, and be able to heal, themselves in new and profound ways. As this is about a journey and not a destination, the commitment required to fully and authentically show up for each step of the journey is one that calls for renewal with each new day, and each step taken. As we collectively show up for each other while we take these initial steps in the process of seeing this project realized, moving from ideation to strategy to transformative action, let us stay mindful of the visionary purpose that calls us to embark on this journey while we strive to move beyond the burdens of the process. As well, whenever possible to do so we will look to cultivate regenerative connections with the earth, and the land stewards that have been and continue to be here, offering the lessons of how our own healing is connected to the healing of the Earth. Being in right relationship with the land stewards of our local and global communities, those that continue to be the example of how to honor the Earth and thus ourselves, is a guiding principle of this project. Similar to theories expressed in Dr. Bessel van der Kolk's book, The Body Keeps the Score, so too does the Earth.