Soul II Soul

Palma Black is the founder and director of Soul Purpose 360, one of the community groups participating in Hounslow Council’s?Celebrating our Sisters?event for Black History Month on Wednesday 4 October at Hounslow House.

Here she expands on how personal tragedy inspired the birth and growth of her burgeoning organisation.?

In a nutshell, Soul Purpose 360 CIC is a Black women's empowerment organisation.?

It came about because I was searching for?my?soul purpose. It was at a time when I was asking the big question; what am I here for? What am I supposed to do? My older sister had become seriously, and then terminally ill. It took six years for her to die and during that time we had some understandably deep conversations, and I developed a natural sense of urgency to find out what my purpose was.?

I worked in community development which involved consulting with residents about the changes needed in their community. I was habitually getting reasons why they couldn't get involved;?Being a single parent,?having childcare responsibilities?etc. You initially think they’re excuses, but these are just people lacking confidence.?

They didn't feel that they had the skills and knowledge, experience, qualifications, or language to participate in structures or processes of regeneration.?

They also didn't feel they had the skills to even bring about changes in their own lives. So, I hatched the USP of Soul Purpose 360, if you like – the blending of personal and community development, and I try to support women to find that strength within themselves.?

I talk about turning their pain and shame into their superpower! So what if you're a single parent? So am I. So what if you've experienced poverty? It's nothing to be ashamed of. Neither is having experienced domestic violence and abuse, mental ill health or a chronic illness. Do you realise how much your experience and knowledge can help somebody else? It’s about trying to open minds and see the value of their lived experiences. And to try and get them to see that their views, their experiences, are valid. And that can build confidence.

For many Black women – and when I say that I mean women that are prone to racism - there are lots of things outside of our sphere of control - things like racism, sexism, misogyny, and the country’s economy. But there are also things that are within your control and one of those things is your mind and how you think about yourself and how you treat yourself and what you do with your life.?

A lot of obstacles and challenges are actually things that women experience in childhood and things that they grow up believing.?Oh, this is who I am??You’re?mouthy?or?troublesome. You’re?naughty. You grow up believing these things that our parents, people that we love, or trust, tell us who we are. And we never question who we truly are and that's what coaching and personal development does. It enables women to begin thinking for themselves.

Black women may have had experience of racism and trauma in childhood that they often don't share with anybody. It remains commonplace but was worse when I was growing up in the 1970s. It was just something that you experienced outside of home.? Not having a space to deal with this trauma that we experienced as children – in the streets, in school, from strangers and teachers and police – can have long lasting effects and shape and distort lives and leads to many not realising their true potential.

I encourage my coaching clients to tell me about their values.? Values are so important because it should inform the decisions we make. If you're making decisions and you're not clear about your values, you end up having sleepless nights and worry.

What Soul Purpose 360 has been good at doing is reaching these women. Women who’ve not left the house for months. They haven’t got any friends or social network and they often don't have a job due to ill health or depression. They don’t have any of those things - but they come to our monthly meetings, and they find a safe space to talk about it.?It's a community of women with shared experiences.?

Subsequently, they come back and feel free to talk about the transformation in their life. They talk about hearing other women expressing their pain, talking openly and authentically about their experiences. Sharing lived experience is a powerful?thing.

Soul Purpose 360 is a national social enterprise. We host the national Black Women’s Networking & Empowerment Circle, but we also have a series of local groups set up in communities as well. We’re already actively established in Croydon, Lewisham, Lambeth, Southwark, Brent, Barnet, Birmingham, Nottingham, Yorkshire - we have members all over the country - the world in fact. We have African, Caribbean, Asian, Chinese, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, and agnostic women participating in Soul Purpose 360.?There's common ground, unexpected common ground. You’ll find women saying:?I thought that was only in my community. And this notion builds that we are stronger together.

We’re launching officially in Hounslow too, and I hope these events can spread the word further and bring more women together.

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For tickets to?Celebrating our Sisters, go to:??https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/black-history-month-2023-celebrating-our-sisters-tickets-710191751647

Soul Purpose 360?will be launching in Hounslow?on Friday 27thOctober at 6:30pm, Floor 6, Room 6:10 Hounslow House.

#blackhistorymonth #hounslow #soulpurpose360?#communitydevelopment