Research Symposium

BIO

I aspire to advocate for underrepresented communities as a human rights attorney. As an Associate’s degree holder and International Affairs major, I pursue opportunities to learn about global communities. My service as an OMNI Institute research mentee offered me a new perspective on the variance of a single racial group’s experience worldwide as I engaged in an intergenerational, international story circle and conducted literature review on Black wellness. I became certified in CITI Human Subjects Research, developed an autoethnographic research paper, and presented at the 2025 FURC and International Association of Autoethnography and Narrative Inquiry Conferences. As a prison reform legal intern at the James V. Cook and Elizabeth Buchanan Law Firms, I learned that injustice is often disguised within complex policies that complicate self-advocacy efforts. Analyzing abuses documented within legal discovery reaffirmed my passion for defending vulnerable populations and making legal systems more navigable as a pathway to social change. I prioritize youth development as the NRECA’s 2023 National YLC runner-up spokesperson and advocate and a team leader within my church’s youth ministry. As an Intervarsity leader, Community Ambassador, and Resident’s Assistant, I will continue promoting lasting impact through law and empowering my peers through personal community investment.

Discovering SoulClap: An Intergenerational Auto-Ethnographic Discussion on Black Joy, Health, and Wellness

Abstract

The OMNI Institute prioritizes Black Joy as a non-medical factor of public health, countering trauma-based narratives typically associated within the community. This research project extends our investigation into Black women’s health through our work on the OMNI Institute’s latest project, “SoulClap Cafe: A Black Joy Journal.” Contributing to the release of the inaugural edition’s theme, “Black Joy and Nature,” we participated in the interviews of two Black women from Bristol, U.K. with Dr. Omni and intergenerational researcher Michelle Gunn in three segments, themed “Joy,” “Nature and Spirituality,” and “Growth, Lessons, and Self-Care.” We identified common themes within the interviewees’ experiences through embodied knowing and endarkened narrative inquiry, integrating intuition and sensory awareness into the traditional analytical research process. As a team, we followed Dr. Omni’s Kujima Theory of Collective Self-Motivation, featuring "kujichagulia" (self-determination), "ku’umba" (creativity), and "ujima" (collective work and responsibility). We investigated the broad influence of these themes on Black women’s sense of identity and collective wellness through literature reviews. We identified key theories like Alice Walker's and Dr. Melanie Harris’ eco-womanism. Considering our personal connections to the research as young Black women, we ultimately challenge the modern characterization of the Black woman and argue for the normalization of self-care, agency, religion, and sources of wellness found to intersect with Black women’s experiences in nature.

Keywords: Black Women, Wellness, Public Health