Brenda L. Henry, PhD, MPH
Founder and Principal
Weekly Reflections
Each week, this section will contain a new question and quote for you to reflect on to help deepen and support your practice of acting from love, for yourself and others.
August 13, 2025
We are the system. Until we change, then we will always have sexism, racism, and classism.
​
~Dorothy Pitman Hughes~
How do systems of oppression show up in what we say and what we do?
What changes can we make to our own behaviors that would help undo systems of oppression?
August 6, 2025
Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.
​
~James Clear~
How have your actions defined you?
What actions do you need to take to be the person you wish to become?
July 30, 2025
There is no greater disability in society, than the inability to see a person as more.
​
~Robert M. Hensel~
What did you learn about people with disabilities growing up?
What would need to change in society so that people are centered, not their disabilities?
July 23, 2025
I will feel, be, and do as much as I want proudly for the rest of my life. To be vulnerable and emotional as a Black woman is to live in power, which I take back every day, not apologizing for who I am or the space I take up as I move throughout the world.
​
~Keah Brown~
What does your power look like when you allow yourself be vulnerable and emotional?
What does it mean to you to claim your space in this world?
July 16, 2025
If you are uncertain about your own ability-you will be uncertain about everything.
Get comfortable being uncomfortable and let no one tell you your ability.
​
~Andrea Dalzell~
How do your uncertainties about your abilities keep you from reaching your full potential?
What can you do to get comfortable with being uncomfortable?
July 9, 2025
Just because a man lacks the use of his eyes doesn’t mean he lacks vision.
​
~Stevie Wonder~
What assumptions have you made about people with disabilities?
What would be possible if society did not assume people with disabilities have less to contribute?
July 2, 2025
Make your limitations your opportunity.
​
~Ali Stroker~
How do your limitations affect your every day life?
How have you turned your limitations into opportunities?
June 25, 2025
If homosexuality is a disease, let’s all call in queer to work: ‘Hello. Can’t work today, still queer.’
​
~Robin Tyler~
What did you learn about homosexuality growing up?
What would our world look like if LGBTQIA+ people were treated in accordance of their full humanity?
June 19, 2025
There’s no right or wrong way to be gay. No right or wrong way to come out. It’s your journey, do it the way you wanna do it.
​
~Tan France~
What messages did you receive growing up about right and wrong?
What would your journey look like if you grounded in what is true for you?
June 11, 2025
I'm no longer accepting the things I cannot change...I'm changing the things I cannot accept.
​
~Angela Davis~
What are you currently accepting because you believe it cannot be changed?
What would become possible if it changed?
June 4, 2025
These years in silence and reflection made me stronger and reminded me that acceptance has to come from within and that this kind of truth gives me the power to conquer emotions i didn't even know existed.
​
~Ricky Martin~
How does silence and reflection make you stronger?
What emotions have you had to conquer?
May 28, 2025
To live an ethical life is to be held accountable for history.
​
~Cathy Park Hong~
How do you live an ethical life?
What does accountability look like for your history?
May 21, 2025
The power of visibility can never be underestimated.
​
~Margaret Cho~
What does it feel like to be visible?
What steps do you do to make sure others are visible?
May 14, 2025
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.
​
~Mahatma Gandhi~
What do you do to live your life to its fullest?
What do you still have a yearning to learn?
May 7, 2025
When we relinquish the punishing need for perfection - or rather, let go of the fear of not being perfect - we find freedom, joy and all the other good stuff we want in life.
​
~Reshma Saujani~
What are your earliest memories of trying to strive for perfection?
What freedoms would you experience if you relinquished perfection as a standard?
April 30, 2025
When we plant trees, we plant the seeds of peace and seeds of hope.
​
~Wangari Muta Maathai~
What can planting trees teach you about peace and hope? What other actions can also help to seed hope and peace in yourself and others?
April 23, 2025
The truth is: the natural world is changing. And we are totally dependent on that world. It provides our food, water and air. It is the most precious thing we have and we need to defend it.
​
~David Attenborough~
What changes do you see happening within the natural world that directly impacts our food, water, and air? What actions can you take to help defend our natural world?
April 16, 2025
Experiment, play and find what you are good at and strive for excellence - and then bring those skills and your passion to the protection of our naturual world. Our planet needs many more nature defenders.
​
~Malaika Vaz~
When was the last time you experimented or played to find what you're good at?
How can you use your skills and passions to help protect our natural world?
April 9, 2025
Call on your young people-student leaders, activists, science enthusiasts, video gamers, young sports stars & bring them into planning actions & policies. Listen to their views & ideas- Because- Nothing for us, without us, is for us.
​​
~Nkosilathi Nyathi~
What are the different ways that we can engage young people to inform action and policy?
What can we start doing now to engage young people?
April 2, 2025
You must take action.
You must do the impossible. Because giving up can never ever be an option.
​
~Greta Thunberg~
What actions can you take to make the impossible possible?
What do you do that helps you resist giving up?
March 26, 2025
I knew then and I know now, when it comes to justice, there is no easy way to get it.
​
~Claudette Colvin~
What do you think it will take to build a just and equitable world?
What labor are you willing to take on to achieve it?
March 19, 2025
Dangerous is the woman who can give herself what she used to seek from others. Limitless is the woman who dares to name herself.
​
~Dr. Jessica J Williams~
How did you learn to give yourself what you used to seek from others?
What do you think it would take to name yourself and become limitless?
March 12, 2025
When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.
​
~Malala Yousafzai~
When have you seen women speak out when others stayed silent?
What change would happen if more women spoke out?
March 5, 2025
Where there is woman there is magic.
​
~Ntozoke Shange~
What magic have you seen a woman perform?
What other magic would women be able to perform in a fully liberated society?
February 26, 2025
It’s easy to do anything in victory. It’s in defeat that a man reveals himself.
​
~Bob Moses~
What have you done in victory that has been difficult to do in defeat? What reflections do you have about who you are when you are in defeat?
February 19, 2025
There are three things I was born with in this world, and there are three things I will have until the day I die-hope, determination, and song.
​
~Miriam Makeba~
What do hope, determination and song look like for you? What traits do you have - born and bred - that you hope to have until the day you die and why?
February 12, 2025
We need more light about each other. Light creates understanding, understanding creates love, love creates patience, and patience creates unity.
​
~Malcolm X~
How would we benefit from more light?
How can we begin to create space for light to come through?
February 5, 2025
Never to forget where we came from and always praise the bridges that carried us over.
​
~Fannie Lou Hamer~
What helps you remember where you came from?
What and who do you praise for helping you get where you are today?
January 29, 2025
When you love yourself, you’ll understand the treatment you deserve.
​
~Imani Barbarin~
How do you practice self-love?
How do you help others understand how you want to be treated?
January 22, 2025
How you love yourself is how you teach others to love you.
​
~Rupi Kaur~
What does loving yourself mean to you?
How can you start modeling for others how they can love you?
January 15, 2025
You deserve the world even if it means giving it to yourself.
​
~r h SIN~
What are the things that only you can give yourself?
What can you give yourself this year that you haven't
already given yourself?
January 8, 2025
Of all the ways we’ve learned to occupy ourselves, art requires a distinct mystical courage. A sacred arrogance that says not only do I have a right to be here, but I believe my existence will add to the fabric of the universe. I will make. I will craft into existence. This is unbridled
power. Undeterred agency in a world that suppresses ours.
​
~Cole Arthur Riley~
​
What gifts do you have that are uniquely yours? What would you create with your gifts?
January 1, 2025
You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.
​
~Buddha~
How have you traditionally shown yourself love and affection? How will you show yourself love and affection throughout the year?
December 25, 2024
Our joy is in having loved and been loved well. Our joy is in the ties that bind us to one another.
​
~Austin Channing Brown~
What does being loved well look like for you?
What ties bring you joy and why?
December 18, 2024
Faith is stepping out on nothing and landing on something.
​
~Cornel West~
What leaps of faith have you taken?
How have they helped you move forward?
December 11, 2024
We love because it's the only true adventure.
​
~Nikki Giovanni~
What does love as an adventure look like for you?
What would love look like if you approached it as an adventure?
December 4, 2024
All that you touch, you change. All that you change,
changes you.
​
~Octavia Butler~
What adjustments would you make to your actions if you realized the changes they cause in yourself and others? What would our world look like if our actions were guided by this realization?
November 27, 2024
Playing Indian is an American tradition. It rests on the idea that Indigenous people are not present.
​
~Audra Simpson~
What American traditions have you engaged in that, in retrospect, should be reconsidered? How would you adjust these traditions so that they honor and respect people and culture?
November 20, 2024
Since the beginning, Native Peoples lived a life of being in harmony with all that surrounds us.
​
~Dennis Banks~
What can we learn from Indigenous ways of living in harmony with everything that surrounds us? What would our world look like if we adapted those ways of living?
November 13, 2024
There are those of us who are content to assimilate or whatever, but there are those of us who want to maintain the culture our ancestors died for…We have the right to be who we are.
​
~Madonna Thunder Hawk~
How have you assimilated to try and fit in? How can you fit in while still maintaining your culture and identity?
November 6, 2024
Life will go on as long as there is someone to sing, to dance, to tell stories and to listen.
​
~Oren Lyons~
What traditions have been passed down to you that hold a special place in your heart?
How do you keep those traditions alive?
October 30, 2024
Strong alliances can thrive even where disagreements exist, but they cannot thrive where free and open communication is shut down.
​
~Sharice Davids~
When have you found yourself in a situation where open communication was not allowed? How do you make sure your voice is heard and that others feel comfortable communicating?
October 23, 2024
Your silence will not protect you.
​
~Audre Lorde~
When have you thought staying silent would protect you? What would you do differently if given the chance?
October 16, 2024
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
​
~Albert Einstein~
When have you tried to solve a problem with the same approaches that gave rise to it? What did you have to shift in order to solve it?
October 9, 2024
To make a great dream come true, the first requirement is a great capacity to dream; the second is persistence.
​
~Cesar Chavez~
Where have your dreams taken you? What dreams have you been able to realize with persistence?
October 2, 2024
Enamórate de tÃ. De la vida. Y luego de quien tu quieras.
(Fall in love with yourself. With life. And then with whoever you want.)
​
~Frida Kahlo~
When did you first think about loving yourself, your life, and who you love? What are some small ways that you could show yourself and your life more love?
September 25, 2024
We started our lives as perfect reflections of love, but learned to reflect love in imperfect ways.
​
Don Miguel Ruiz
and
Barbara Emrys
How have you reflected love in imperfect ways? What healing practices would help you reconnect with your perfect reflection of love?
September 18, 2024
Not settling for less is one of the most direct ways for you to embody the principle of self-love.
​
~yung pueblo~
When was the last time you felt that you settled for less? What things can you do for yourself to help you enbody the principles of self-love?
September 11, 2024
No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.
​
~Nelson Mandela~
What did you learn about people who did not look like you, worship like you, and love like you growing up? What would we need to change so that everyone is to taught love?
September 4, 2024
When I dare to be powerful - to use my strength in service of my vision - then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.
​
~Audre Lorde~
What fears have you overcome to pursue your vision? What allowed you to overcome your fear?
August 28, 2024
You never know how strong you are, until being strong is your only choice.
​
~Bob Marley~
What challenges have you had that required you to be strong? What have you learned about your own strength?
August 21, 2024
Truth comes when your mind and heart are purged of all sense of striving and you are no longer trying to become somebody; it is there when the mind is very quiet, listening timelessly to everything.
​
~Bruce Lee~
What allows you to quiet your mind and just listen?
What truths have you uncovered?
August 14, 2024
The number of times I have fallen down is the number of times I have gotten up.
​
~Jenni Rivera~
​
What has led you to fall?
What has motivated you to get back up?
August 7, 2024
For we are leaders of inclusiveness and community, of love, equity, and justice.
​
~Judy Heumann~
What do you lead with? What can we do to encourage others to fight for inclusiveness, community, equity, justice and love?
July 31, 2024
Healing and social change are not, in fact, unrelated. To pry them apart is to exacerbate the issue. They are inexplicably linked, braided together, interdependent processes of transformation.
​
~Prentis Hemphill~
What would change if you approached healing as a practice? What are the moments in which healing happens for you?
July 24, 2024
I am a drop in the ocean, but I'm also the ocean. I'm a drop in America, but I'm also America. Every pain, every confusion, every good and every bad and ugly of America is in me. And as I transform myself and heal and take care of myself, I'm very
conscious that I'm healing and transforming and taking care of America.
​
~Larry Ward~
What steps have you taken in your journey to transform and heal? What effect has your transformation had on those around you?
July 17, 2024
I call for solidarity among all who love justice, all who love life, to create a revolution that will empower every single human being to govern his or her life, to govern the society and to be fully productive of life quality for self and for all.
​
​~Justin Dart~
What would it take for you to stand in solidarity with others? What would a revolution where every action comes from love look like?
July 10, 2024
It’s time we closely examine and adjust our collective view of ‘Love.’ Justice is one of Love’s offspring.
​
~Bernice King~
What does your view of Love encompass? What other forms of action are offspring of Love?
July 3, 2024
Freedom is not given; it is taken by those who have the courage to demand it.
​
~Pedro Albizu Campos~
What freedoms have you had to fight for? When was the last time you displayed courage by standing up and demanding your freedom?
June 26, 2024
No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us.
​
~Marsha P. Johnson~
What does liberation for all of us look like to you? What steps can you take to help make liberation a reality?
June 20, 2024
We have to do it because we can no longer stay invisible. We have to be visible. We should not be ashamed of who we are. We have to show the world that we are numerous. There are many of us out there.
​
~ Sylvia Rivera ~
What parts of yourself have you been hiding? What would open up for you if you made yourself visible?
June 12, 2024
Love takes off the masks we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.
​
~ James Baldwin ~
What masks are you currently wearing?
How would you shed them with love?
May 29, 2024
You must learn to get in touch with the innermost essense of your being. This true essence is beyond the ego. It is fearless; it is free; it is immune to criticism; it does not fear any challenge. It is beneath no one, superior to no one, and full of magic, mystery, and enchantment.
​
~ Deepak Chopra ~
When was the last time you were in touch with your innermost essence? What did it feel like? What can you do to stay connected to your essence?
May 22, 2024
The body knows. When your heart sinks. When you feel sick to your gut. When something blossoms in your chest. When your brain gloriously pops. That's your body telling you the One True Thing. Listen to it.
​
~ Cheryl Strayed ~
When was the last time you listened to your body? What was it telling you? What can you do to listen to your body more often?
May 15, 2024
When you bring your whole being to the table, it increases your offering.
​
~ LaTosha Brown ~
What parts of your being have you not brought to the table? What would your offering look like if you brought your whole being?
May 8, 2024
I am sorry that the only way we have been taught to heal is to hurt.
​
~ Alok Vaid-Menon ~
What examples do you have of healing in the absence of hurt? What conditions need to exist to allow healing to happen in the absence of hurt?
May 1, 2024
Liberation is conceived by our imagination, carried in our hearts, and birthed through our revolutionary madness.
​
~ Alice Wong ~
What does a liberated world look like? What contributions can you make now to make that world a reality?
April 24, 2024
When you put love out in the world it travels, and it can touch people and reach people in ways that we never expected.
​
~ Laverne Cox ~
What love are you putting out in the world? How has the love that someone else put into the world without your knowing touched you?
April 17, 2024
Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.
​
~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ~
How have you leveraged power to advance justice? How have you leveraged justice to correct things that stand in the way of love?
April 10, 2024
Because love is an act of courage, not of fear, love is a commitment to others. No matter where the oppressed are found, the act of love is commitment to their cause - the cause of liberation.
​
~ Paolo Friere ~
How have you acted from a place of love for the oppressed? What can you start doing now to contribute to liberation?
April 3, 2024
Each of us will have to make choices that allow us to be the largest versions of ourselves.​
​
~ Julia Alvarez ~
What choices would allow you to be the largest version of yourself? What is keeping you from making those choices?
March 27, 2024
We do not think ourselves into new ways of living, we live ourselves into new ways of thinking.
​
~ Father Richard Rohr ~
What changes have you been thinking about that you have not acted on yet? What actions can you begin to take that are grounded in love?
March 21, 2024
As long as we are not living in our full humanity, we cannot create a world for humanity.
​
~ Tarana Burke ~
What aspects of your humanity are you not living into? What supports do you need to fully live into your humanity?
March 15, 2024
We all have the capacity to heal - and to create room for others to heal.
​
~ Resmaa Menakem ~
What healing work do you need to do in order to fully embody a love ethic? What supports do you need to engage in your healing work?
March 6, 2024
Your ability to love another person depends on your ability to love yourself.
​
~ Thich Nhat Hanh ~
What does love for yourself look like? What do daily acts of love for yourself entail?
February 28, 2024
To love and be loved is our birthright.
​
~ Valerie Kaur ~
Who influenced your understanding and expression of love?
February 21, 2024
We need to learn how to practice love such that care - for ourselves and others - is understood as political resistance and cultivating resilience.
~ adrienne maree brown ~
"How would we organize and move our communities if we shifted to focus on what we long for and love rather than what we are negatively reacting to?"
February 14, 2024
To truly love we must learn to mix various ingredients – care, affection, recognition, respect, commitment, and trust, as well as honest and open communication.
​
~ bell hooks ~
What would our world look like if we all acted from a place of love? What supports do you need to start creating that world now?
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