Why Black People Are Few in Your Spiritual Retreats (And It's Not What You Think)

An Open Letter to the Spiritual Community

Dear fellow seekers,

I've had a conversation four times now that breaks my heart a little more each time. Four different spiritual centers—beautiful, well-intentioned spaces filled with genuine practitioners—have approached me with the same concern: "We just don't get many Black visitors. Can you help us understand why?"

Their hypotheses have been predictable, if well-meaning. "Maybe it's because they're too religious," one suggested, as if every Black person is a dogmatic Christian clutching pearls at the mention of chakras. "Perhaps they don't trust white-led spaces," offered another, acknowledging the very real wounds that division has carved into our communities.

Both explanations miss the mark entirely.

Let me tell you what I see as someone who moves between worlds—as a physician, a healer, and a Black woman who has spent countless hours in meditation circles, breathwork sessions, and spiritual gatherings. The issue isn't that we're too Christian (though many of us beautifully weave multiple spiritual traditions). It isn't that we inherently distrust white-led spaces (though historical trauma certainly informs our caution).

The issue is invisibility. Not the kind where we're ignored at the door or excluded from the breathing circle—most spiritual communities are genuinely welcoming in that way. No, this is a deeper invisibility, one woven into the very foundation of how we understand and teach spirituality in the West.

Picture this: You're sitting in a beautiful circle, surrounded by earnest seekers sharing ancient wisdom. The teacher draws from Greek philosophy, speaks reverently of Indian gurus, quotes Chinese medicine, and increasingly, honors the plant teachers of South America. The thread of human spiritual evolution is being woven before your eyes, connecting civilization to civilization, tradition to tradition.

And then—nothing. The entire continent of Africa, cradle of humanity itself, is simply... absent.

The Erasure We Don't See

This happens so consistently that even I, someone who has dedicated her life to reclaiming our spiritual heritage, sometimes catch myself accepting it as normal. We've been so thoroughly erased from the spiritual narrative that even we forget what was taken.

But here's what every spiritual seeker should know: The wisdom you're seeking? It began with us.

The concept of chakras that you're so lovingly exploring? Ancient Kemetic (Egyptian) tradition mapped the energy centers of the body thousands of years before the word "chakra" entered Western consciousness. The breathwork that's changing your life? Indigenous African traditions have used sacred breath to connect with the divine since time immemorial. That plant medicine you're curious about? Africa is home to thousands of healing plants and the sophisticated spiritual systems that honor them.

The mathematics that built the pyramids, the astronomy that mapped the stars, the medicine that healed bodies and souls—all of this emerged from African soil. Yet when we gather to explore the mystical, to seek ancient wisdom, to connect with our spiritual heritage, Africa is consistently, persistently absent.

The Message We Absorb

Do you know what it feels like to sit in these circles as a Black person? To hear tradition after tradition honored and explored, while yours is simply... forgotten? There's a message that sinks into your bones, whispered by the silence: You don't matter. You don't exist. Your ancestors contributed nothing to the spiritual evolution of humanity.

It's not intentional. I know that. The facilitators leading these circles aren't consciously excluding us. But the impact is the same. We absorb the message that our spiritual traditions are somehow less valuable, less authentic, less worthy of exploration than those from other cultures.

And then we wonder why Black people don't show up to these spaces.

The Response of a Creator

Here's the thing about people like me—when we see a void, we don't just complain about it. We fill it.

I'm creating what I wish existed: Black Soul Heal, a community and digital platform that centers African wisdom while welcoming all sincere seekers. Through my forthcoming book and online journey, we're building a space where African spirituality isn't an afterthought or a curious addition, but the foundation.

This isn't about separation. It's about restoration. It's about finally giving African spiritual traditions their rightful place in the conversation about human consciousness and healing.

An Invitation to Wholeness

If you've been running spiritual circles and wondering where your Black sisters and brothers are, I invite you to look deeper than demographics. Look at your curriculum. Look at the wisdom traditions you honor. Ask yourself: When you speak of ancient knowledge, which ancestors are you actually honoring?

If you're Black and you've felt that subtle exclusion in spiritual spaces—that sense that your heritage somehow doesn't belong in the conversation about consciousness and healing—I see you. I honor you. And I'm creating a space where your spiritual DNA is not just acknowledged but celebrated.

If you're an ally who recognizes that our spiritual understanding is incomplete without African wisdom, you're welcome to join us and learn. Together, we can transform these circles into spaces where the full spectrum of human spiritual evolution is honored.

The Healing We Need

The truth is, the healing of our spiritual communities—and our world—requires all of our wisdom traditions. When we exclude African spirituality, we're not just hurting Black people. We're impoverishing everyone. We're missing crucial pieces of the puzzle of human consciousness.

The same wound that makes Black people invisible in spiritual circles is the wound that keeps our communities divided, our healing incomplete, our understanding fractured. When we restore African wisdom to its rightful place in the spiritual conversation, we heal something fundamental in the collective soul.

This is my life's work: reteaching the world who we are, what we've contributed, and what we still have to offer. Not from a place of anger or separation, but from a place of love, restoration, and radical inclusion.

Because the ancestors are calling us home—all of us—to a more complete understanding of what it means to be human, to be spiritual, to be whole.

Click here to join me and thousands of others who are answering the call: https://www.drholda.com/app-landing-page

With love and in service,

Dr. Amy Holda Gueye-Weinstein

Dr. Amy Holda Gueye is a physician, healer, and founder of Black Soul Heal, a platform for ancestral healing and spiritual restoration. Her forthcoming book "Black Soul Heal: The Sacred Return to Ourselves" explores the intersection of African wisdom, modern science, and spiritual liberation.