About Us
Dismantling White Supremacy from the Inside Out
Our mission is to help end racism in America by creating dedicated antiracism training and education for non-Black allies. Our small team of abolitionist activists and holistic healers use trauma-informed methods to dismantle internalized racism, so that all people can live a life of fulfillment and safety, free from the toxic delusions of white supremacy.
Our Story
The inspiration for North Node was sparked during the 2020 BLM uprising and collective awakening. This time period was rife with emotion, as many white people were forced to recognize the truth of violent racism that has been the Black reality in our country for over 500 years. Many aspiring allies - including Angelina - made misguided attempts at allyship, and felt lost as to how to actually do something to change anything.
It is now "in vogue" to affirm that Black Lives Matter. Yet, in order for the lives of Black Americans to be treated like they matter in daily practice across this entire country, change needs to happen in the hearts, minds, and actions of non-Black Americans first.
North Node recognizes that non-Black allies need unique support and community if we are to heal from centuries of internalized racial trauma.
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Our services are modeled after Angelina's personal racial healing journey as a white Indigenous Mexican, and use a unique combination of community-based, trauma-informed, compassion-centered, humanitarian holistic healing methods.
Our Guiding Questions
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(1) How can non-Black allies unlearn internalized racism?
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(2) How can allies make progress without causing further harm to Black people?
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(3) How can individual allies bring their internal growth process into the spaces they inhabit, and begin to dismantle systematized racism?
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We hope you'll join us in finding some answers!
Meet Our Team
Angelina is a holistic clinical scientist & abolitionist educator who specializes in compassion-based psychotherapeutic and community interventions for attachment & intergenerational trauma.
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Using a self-directed combination of modern and indigenous healing methods, Angelina has learned how to thrive with severe mental illness and trauma. As a white Mexican who continually engages with her own racial healing, she aims to share and research her found healing path, in order to help others find their own paths to fulfillment, health, and collective freedom from white supremacy.
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Angelina founded North Node while completing her PhD in clinical psychology. To feed her soul, Angelina loves to read, do yoga, crochet, journal, make art, listen to music, play with animals/humans, have deep thoughts/talks, and be in nature.
Dr. Broderick Sawyer is a clinical psychologist, diversity consultant, workshop facilitator, meditation teacher, reverend, and activist. He has a specific focus on healing the stress of oppression using the psychology of compassion.
Dr. Sawyer obtained his masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Louisville, completing his internship at Stony Brook University Counseling and Psychological Services.
Dr. Sawyer offers diversity, mental health, and performance-based consultation to organizations and businesses, teaches mindfulness and compassion-based meditation, provides lectures, workshops, and a variety of customizable trainings. For more information, visit www.BroderickSawyer.com.
Land Acknowledgement
North Node is based in Boston, MA, and would like to acknowledge that we exist on the ancestral and unceded territory of the Massachusett, Pawtucket, and Naumkeag Peoples. We feel deeply the pain of generations of genocide and displacement that continue to this day. We align with the Land Back and reconciliation movements, and acknowledge that returning this land to its rightful owners is the ultimate goal of dismantling white supremacy.
Financial Accountability
North Node is a relatively new organization, that is working on gaining non-profit status. The majority of financial contribution or income received from North Node's offerings go toward maintaining the website, advertising, compensating BIPOC guest course instructors, and paying its two BIPOC staff members. Five percent of all North Node's income will be donated to the Movement for Black Lives.
Our Affiliates
