Help Samuel Get Home

My name is Lynn Johnson and I am a Black, queer artist and entrepreneur.

So, I know that it is, in fact, the Black, queer artists who are leading us all towards collective liberation.

You’re welcome.

I also know that Black, queer artists and creative beings are under attack. For generations, we have had the nerve to declare that the rules of dominant culture do not apply to us. On the daily, we continue to reject the systems that actively seek to harm us and reclaim rituals and structures that honor our humanity and loving connections.

And boy, are folks mad.

This choice to live our lives fully and authentically has been met with harsh consequences. Our human rights and any sense of safety are on the chopping block week after week. We live in a perpetual state of vulnerability…just by being who we are.

This is why I am showing up here for my xibling…Samuel González.

Afro Indigenous, Gender Resistant, they/them

GenX, ADHD, Autistic, Highly Sensitive and Intuitive

Multimedia artist and healer based in the lands of the 39 Tribal Nations in Tulsa, OK

Sam is my heart.

We have been together since 2018 when we were part of the founding crew of the Dismantle Collective . Sam has been in the game of racial and social justice facilitating and consulting as long as I have. More maybe.

And, they just can’t do it anymore. Here’s how Sam describes it…

“The fight with capitalism and racism was important to me because I was able to touch folks in the communities I come from and support them. But that work comes at a great cost to me physically and emotionally. My mental health is not at all where it needs to be. My nervous system is kaput. I've done the bulk of my life's work in communities that are oppressed and marginalized and it's cost me my own well being.”

Now is the time for Samuel to focus on their own healing. They have been given the chance to take a pilgrimage to Elmina, Ghana—a fishing port on the south coast. Elmina draws folks from all over the world to its beaches as well as its historical significance as a base for the trading of enslaved human cargo during the transatlantic slave trade.

Samuel wishes to return to their ancestral home. To spend time on the beach, connect with other artists and healers, and find a way back to themselves.

“The water is very important to me. The ocean specifically. There's a release. But there's also the welcoming. I don't know what kind of welcome I will receive given my skin color or facial features, or any number of things. But I feel like the welcome is going to be there…like a welcome back. This is what I need for my nervous system to hopefully repair, adjust. To feel rested and at peace.”

Sam needs money. Not only to get to Ghana, but to take care of their basic expenses before, during, and after the trip. Their current struggles have made it so that they can’t (and don’t want to) keep up with the inhumane pace required by our inequitable systems. They are behind on mortgage payments and bills and they are looking for a soft place to land. To create a space for their own healing so that they can continue to show up for the healing of others.

“This will help reset my nervous system to be able to continue, maybe, in the same type of work…holding space for people to be well. At this moment, I'm so overwhelmed, like a sopping wet sponge. I need this to ring me out a little bit, give me a fresh perspective, give me some fresh wind blowing through so that I can continue.”

And...because this is who Samuel is...they will also be in Ghana making connections with other artists, healers, and entrepreneurs to explore the creation of One Africa, a spacious wellness retreat space that allows for decompression, healing, and dreaming. This space will create pathways for the diaspora to come home.

Samuel is a Black, queer artist who is leading us all towards collective liberation. By freeing themself, Samuel is freeing all of us.