Nicholas Powers: Chemical Exodus for a Free Black America

In episode 32, we reimagine what’s possible when we bridge psychedelics, healing and our most underrepresented communities of color in this reimaginatively rich conversation with Nicholas Powers. Nicholas is a poet, journalist and Associate Professor who has authored several books, including “The Ground Below Zero: 9/11 to Burning Man,” and has written for the Village Voice, Huff Post, Business Insider, and Chacruna among many others.

With the voice of a poet, mind of an academic, spirit of a healer and resiliency of a Black American man, Nicholas weaves a story about the “real America” that rarely gets told. If the ‘dual pandemic’ of COVID-19 and racial injustice has taught us anything, it’s that America is anything but its idealized version of freedom and justice for all. To move past the endless “isms” that continue to plague our country requires a sober reckoning not just in the mind, but more importantly in the body -- where intergenerational traumas and internalized racism are experienced and held if they’re not properly released.

In this conversation, we center psychedelics as one possible solution. While this story isn’t new, psychedelics can become yet another form of colonialism if we don’t address the elephant in the room -- what if we broke through the deeply stigmatized War on Drugs and gave communities of color access to psychedelics in a set and setting that helped them burn through their trauma chains? A “chemical exodus” (also the name of his upcoming book) is underway!

“America will not evolve until Black America is free.” -- NP

This conversation of masterful storytelling, history and poetry includes:

• What it’s like to live through (and witness) a dual pandemic of COVID-19 and racial injustice

• The major differences between talk therapy and psychedelic healing 

• How Nicholas experienced healing in a post 9/11 world in just one night (vs. the average person in 9 years)

• How to combat the real stigma around psychedelics in communities of color given the  War on Drugs

• Discerning between the importance of a psychedelic state vs. psychedelic drugs

• Defining the “Chemical Exodus” for Black America and why reclamation (of their land and identity) is at the core of this revolution

More about the show: https://www.digseedgrow.com/thealtnormal-podcast

Produced by Resonance™, the creative practice of Dig | Seed | Grow

This show is hosted at Destination Outpost, a coliving and coworking community based out in Bali.