| This study examines the lived experiences of Diasporic African women in Canada by focusing on the interlocking systemic mainstream oppression to spirit injury, a common factor unacknowledged in current literature. Psychosocial constructs of matrilineal racialized women were reviewed in an effort to explore the extent to which identity, image and inter-intra-personal relations impact individual mind, body and spirit health.;Revelations as a result of herstories of African women of the Diaspora as they relate to matrilineal spirit injury, survival of racism, and the after effects of slavery, were of major significance in providing education information to individuals and groups positioned to provide support to spirit injured women. The concluding chapter clarifies the extent of transferability to those who, other than Diasporic African women, experience intergenerational spirit injury. I anticipate the research will contribute to the body of knowledge available to those positioned to facilitate self-help strategies among women who are burdened with spirit injury.;This empathatic qualitative narrative inquiry examines herstories of fifteen women who participated in three independent focus groups. Using the metaphor of the quilt as both method and hands-on praxis, I was able to incorporate an amalgam of reflexive genres. The data derived resulted from interviews undertaken over a total of 40 hours. I integrated Sankofa, a transformative Afrocentric cosmology paradigm, as I invited participants to reflect on matrilineal herstories of spirit injury as they moved through their often painful reflections of assaults to their emotional selves; they were then invited to elaborate on best practices in self-care. |
