Black Women Carrying Grief

Your Grief

The Katie Geneva Cannon Center for Womanist Leadership invites Black women who are carrying grief — whether from the loss of a loved one, a relationship, a dream, a home, a sense of safety, a community, or anything else that has left a wound to complete this brief survey. Grief takes many forms. All of it is real, and all of it matters here. Your responses will help us understand what you are carrying, what has helped, and what kinds of community and sacred space would support your healing. This survey is confidential. Please share only what feels comfortable, and skip any questions that do not feel right.

A note before you begin: You do not have to name your loss to complete this survey. You are welcome to speak in whatever way feels safe. We are listening.

Question Title

* 1. Without needing to name specifics, what kinds of loss or grief are you carrying? (Select all that apply.)

The death of someone I love — a child, parent, partner, friend, or chosen family

Grief from violence — gun violence, police violence, or other traumatic loss

Grief from a broken relationship or family estrangement

Grief over lost opportunities, dreams, or a version of my life I hoped for

Economic grief — job loss, financial devastation, housing instability

Communal grief — loss within my church, neighborhood, or movement community

Grief from chronic illness — my own or a loved one’s

Grief from racial trauma and the ongoing weight of living in this world as a Black woman

Grief I cannot fully name — a heaviness I carry without a clear origin

Multiple losses layered on top of one another

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 2. How long have you been carrying this grief? How does it show up in your daily life? (You may answer as concretely or generally as you like.)

Question Title

* 3. How much space do you currently have in your life to grieve — to feel what you feel, name what you have lost, and be held in it?

No space at all

Very little

Some

Enough

Plenty

No space at all

Very little

Some

Enough

Plenty