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New Perspectives

Three Grief Specialists to Follow Right Now

Maybe you’re grieving the loss of a spouse right now or maybe you’re grieving something else. I don’t know why everyone comes to my blog, but today, I want to highlight three Black women whose work focuses on grief, loss and healing. Their candid discussions are relevant for everyone, and as you’ll note, two of these women are also widows. You can find the links to their various social media pages and websites below.

Sabra Robinson is a fellow widow who runs the website and podcast Black Women Widows Empowered. While her group was created specifically for Black and Brown widowed women, her work is relevant to anyone who is grieving the loss of a partner or who wants to know more about the intersection of race, loss and healing. Her group’s website is also a great place to start to find out more about the trauma that Black widows face. It has data and surveys, which are very important, but there are also many compelling stories written by widows on their blog. You can follow her group on Facebook or at their website.

Alica Forneret is a grief specialist who candidly discusses the many aspects of grief including end-of-life experiences and other trauma. I first read her written work at Modern Loss, though she’s been published all over the place and writes a great blog. Currently, she’s working on a database of grief and mental health resources by and for people of color. It’s not yet complete, but you can sign up for her newsletter on the same topic or follow her on Instagram @alica.forneret. She also has a great website.

Karen Millsap is a mindset expert who is also a fellow young widow. She lost her husband in a tragic accident, something that she discusses in her Ted talk on grief and post-traumatic growth. She has connected extensively with the young widowed community (including letting me interview her for a forthcoming piece) and speaks with a wide variety of groups. You can contact her on her website and read more about her current work.

As I said in my last post on books, this is clearly not an exhaustive list of Black grief specialists – there are many, many more. But all three of these women have spent extensive time helping others through trauma and loss, and they all continue their work today. Their websites, blog posts and social media pages are great starting resources for all of us.