Global Fellows Network (GFN) regional liaisons reflect on racial healing efforts globally and why our collective efforts are necessary to create more inclusive communities worldwide.
Southern Africa Fellows Engage in Global Dialogue as Tembinkosi Semwayo Shares Reflections on Belonging, Healing and Transformation
As part of the WKKF Global Fellows Network’s ongoing global conversations on belonging, healing and transformation, fellows gathered to explore what racial healing looks like in communities — and how communities are actively using it to drive transformation.
GFN Southern Africa regional liaison, Tembinkosi Semwayo, offered reflections that deepened the dialogue, particularly around the connection between belonging and racial healing.
While racial healing as a concept resonated with him, Tembinkosi shared that the link between belonging and healing had not previously been explicit in his thinking. Through small group discussions, he recognized the power of creating intentional “holding spaces” — environments where individuals feel seen, heard and valued. These spaces, he reflected, are not simply supportive environments; they are foundational to healing. Creating a sense of belonging is often the first step toward meaningful transformation.
Tembinkosi was also struck by how common experiences of exclusion were across fellows from different countries and contexts. Participants shared stories of being made to feel that they did not belong — in workplaces, civic spaces, local communities and even across national boundaries. While these experiences were deeply personal, they were also collective. This realization underscored both the pervasiveness of exclusion and the importance of addressing it directly. He emphasized that standing one’s ground and calling out exclusionary behavior is a necessary step in interrupting cycles of marginalization.
The conversation also reconnected him to the principle of Ubuntu — the belief in our shared humanity — which shaped his upbringing. He was inspired to see how this concept is reflected globally in efforts to create more inclusive spaces that honor diverse identities and perspectives. Across communities, leaders are embracing practices that intentionally foster belonging, dialogue and mutual respect as pathways toward racial healing.
These reflections remind us that transformation does not happen in isolation. It begins in community — through courageous conversations, shared vulnerability and the intentional creation of spaces where everyone can belong. Through the Global Fellows Network, fellows continue to explore how belonging and healing are not abstract ideals, but active practices shaping systems, cultures and collective futures.
U.S. Fellows Unite for Healing Conversations on Belonging, Courage and Community Transformation
As part of the WKKF Global Fellows Network’s global conversations on belonging, healing and transformation, fellows from across the United States of America — representing different classes, generations, states and lived experiences — came together to reflect on what racial healing looks like in their communities.
While the National Day of Racial Healing (NDORH) provided a meaningful moment to gather, the dialogue made clear that healing is ongoing, relational work that unfolds in classrooms, boardrooms, community spaces, faith institutions, and around family tables across the country.
For many Fellows, the conversation began with belonging. Healing was grounded in the creation of intentional environments where individuals feel seen, heard and valued. Creating spaces of belonging, fellows reflected, is often the first step toward meaningful transformation.
Healing in these conversations was not framed as passive or abstract. It was described as a daily practice — cultivating empathy, fostering courageous dialogue, reshaping policies and building environments where belonging is not conditional. Fellows emphasized the importance of creating spaces to share our humanity, to listen deeply, and to be fully present with one another, especially in times that feel hard and complex.
Across the United States, fellows are modeling what racial healing can look like in action: creating brave spaces for dialogue, challenging systems, mentoring across generations and reimagining institutions to reflect the fullness of community voices. They also reflected on their own autonomy and leadership in intentionally creating these spaces — not waiting for permission, but recognizing their responsibility to lead with courage and compassion.
The gathering reaffirmed a powerful truth: transformation begins with belonging. When individuals feel that they matter — when their identities, histories and perspectives are honored — healing becomes possible. And when healing becomes collective and inclusive, communities begin to change.
Through the Global Fellows Network, these conversations continue — connecting leaders across states, sectors and generations in the shared work for children and working families.
Latin American and Caribbean Fellows Reflect and Share Everyday Practices for Racial Healing
In January, Fellows from Latin America and the Caribbean joined the Global Fellows Network conversations marking the 10th National Day of Racial Healing. While the observance originated in the United States, the reflections that emerged from our region made one thing clear: racial healing is not confined to a single day or geography. It is lived, contested and rebuilt daily within our communities.
For Jaqueline Soares (KWETU), a Black historian and educator from Brazil’s Northeast, racial healing begins in the classroom. “We are not born Black; we become Black,” she reflected, describing how social structures impose racial distinctions over time. In a country shaped by the largest forced enslavement of Africans in the Americas, Jaqueline centers the histories of enslaved Africans, Indigenous peoples and women in her teaching. She names herself not only a history teacher, but an anti-racist educator. In Brazil, she reminds us, healing must be accompanied by action and public policies of repair—such as racial quotas—because confronting racism means rejecting the myth that it belongs to the past.
In Mexico, Marco Poot Cahun (LASPAU), a Maya fellow from Quintana Roo, turns to humor and stand-up comedy in Maya as a path toward healing. Laughter becomes a bridge. Seeing audiences connect, reflect and reclaim joy gives him hope that healing is possible. He shared that when discouragement dims his inner flame, returning to dialogue spaces within the GFN rekindles it.
In Bolivia, Wilma Durán (LASPAU) works alongside the Guaraní community, using storytelling as a form of liberation. When Indigenous people who have endured exploitation narrate their own histories and their voices circulate through books and publications, they reclaim dignity and agency. As Wilma says, these stories safeguard “the moral reserve of our humanity.”
Across Latin America and the Caribbean, racial healing emerges as memory reclaimed, identity affirmed, policy demanded, laughter shared and stories told. It is both personal and collective—a daily practice of restoring wholeness and building power for a more just future.