RESEARCH
Our partnership with California State University, Los Angeles is a residency grounded in Apocalyptic Education’s Fireproofing Framework, birthed from a conversation between Kenjus and his mother, Terry, who described Black children as “pieces of paper in a burning forest”. From this truth, the residency builds and practices collective defense systems against racial trauma through three core components:
Cultivating and Protecting the Black Body (Culture): through somatic and ritual practices, critical reflection, and storytelling, this component develops visual and narrative tools to document lived experiences, co-created and remembered wisdom, and pathways forward;
Fireproof Architecture (Consciousness):
involves creating new frameworks that respond to harm—both metaphorical and literal—by rebuilding what has been lost, including Indigenous practices such as earthen architecture
Cross-Institutional Collaboration (Community):
focuses on strengthening relationships across universities to enhance our collective response to racial trauma.
(Bench built in Altadena, CA through the Fireproofing Framework, outside the home of Ms. Louise)
In partnership with the Institute for Regenerative Futures' Black Futures Lab, we engaged in a year-long Participatory Action Research Study to support in the development of a Black Wellness Framework to disrupt racial/ethnic health disparities and improve perinatal outcomes in an Oregon-based birth initiative program.
BIRTH Framework
OTHER RESEARCH
revealing & uprooting cellular violence