Whispers of My Ancestors

By Alishia McCullough

rich and warm voices travel through the night 

reminding me that they are around me and within me 

they are fragments of my own voice 

highly esteemed narrators and oracles 

their songs echo in my thoughtless hum 

their thoughts reside within my subconscious 

they have passed down intergenerational trauma, mobility, and strength

their laughs are exuberant 

beginning at the belly and rumbling off my vertebrae 

imposter syndrome is their wisdom to where I belong 

guiding me closer to the origins of all humanity 

they are the yesterday and the here and now 

their eyes see answered prayers through the sunrise in my window

they are intelligent like the rice and gold they braided into their hair for survival

historians passing down the names through each generation so that we would not forget

they are the scribes who recorded ancestry in old tattered bibles 

that would stay in families for years to come 

they are blackness so strong that one drop was enough to connect us 

my ancestors are the beginning of every musical genre 

they are builders and inventors of the modern world 

the original creators of southern style food crafted from table straps 

they are the whispers in the trees 

the softness in the wind 

the courage in the fight 

the intricacies in the sand 

and the internal heartbeat that mummers 

“they tried to kill us, but we won” 

About Alishia McCullough, M.S., LCMHCA, NCC:

Alishia McCullough (she, her, hers) and is a millennial Licensed Clinical Mental Health Therapist and National Certified Counselor currently residing in Greensboro, North Carolina. She is also an independent published author of the book Blossoming. She spent the past few years providing therapy to college students dealing with issues of anxiety, depression, mood issues, relationship conflict, family concerns, eating disorders and body image concerns. Alishia provide individual, group, and couples therapy and is most passionate about offering therapeutic guidance towards healing and wellness primarily for black and brown folx experiencing mental health distress. She specializes in treating eating disorders and uphold the values of body justice and fat liberation within communities of color. Alisha is passionate about anti-racism, racial healing, and decolonization and is motivated to increase access and create spaces for black, indigenous, queer, people of color to come together and heal in ways that inspire holistic wellness and culturally inclusive informed healing.