On September 15, 2022, Shape Up SF and the SFDPH Healthy Eating Active Living Team co-hosted the Sugar & Decoloniality Workshop featuring Dr. Amber McZeal and Saeeda Hafiz. It was a powerful day to make the unseen more seen as we discussed the devastating impacts of sugar and coloniality on our communities.
Dr. Amber McZeal guided participants through a safe and sacred space to examine what it means to decolonize sugar, de-pathologize communities and the powerful (and often invisible) dynamics that push communities to the margin.
The goals of the workshop were to:
- Network with mission-aligned organizations;
- Integrate movement into our learning;
- Increase understanding of sugar production, sugar addiction and its colonial roots; and
- Discuss how we can use policies and systems level strategies to decolonize food, re-center and value the communities that have been pushed to the margins.
Saeeda Hafiz led a 30-minute yoga session to help process what we learned through our bodies and gentle movement.
Workshop Resources:
Continue the journey with us and register for the Sugary & Decoloniality 2.0 series in 2023!
Amber McZeal – Writer, vocalist, Sacred Scholar, and artivist, Amber utilizes sound therapy and guided somatic imagery to engage the knowledge of the body within an interactive and liberatory arts practice. Amber weaves somatic praxis with social justice and Afro-Indigenous Spiritual technologies—deep decoloniality—in her efforts to end oppression and create more humane social relationships. Amber holds an MA in Somatic Depth psychology and PhD in Community, Liberation, Indigenous, and Ecological depth psychology. www.decolonizingthepsyche.com
Saeeda Hafiz is a yoga teacher, author, and wellness expert with certifications from the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers, the Natural Gourmet Institute. She is also a graduate of Temple University. She shares her knowledge of physical and mental wellness with diverse groups through the SF Unified School District. Saeeda has appeared on various podcasts, radio, and television programs and has been featured in several national and regional publications. Her speaking engagements have educated the public in yoga, holistic nutrition, and healthy living from coast to coast. www.saeedahafiz.com
