Afrika Afeni Mills

Sowing the Seeds of Shalom: Racial Healing as Spiritual Formation [working title] is a spiritually grounded pathway toward racial healing that begins within. Instead of rushing toward reconciliation or justice work, this approach nurtures the inner transformation needed to sustain them. Rooted in the life and love of Jesus, Sowing the Seeds of Shalom invites us to explore the stories we've inherited, listen to our bodies, release what no longer serves us, and cultivate practices that lead to wholeness.

 

Through scripture, contemplative rhythms, and communal reflection, Sowing the Seeds of Shalom helps us grow the capacity to see ourselves and one another with compassion. It's an invitation to slow down, be honest, heal deeply, and join God in restoring what's been wounded. One seed at a time, we learn to embody shalom — the peace, belonging, and flourishing God desires for all creation.

 

Coming in 2026!

I have contracted with IVP to publish Sowing the Seeds of Shalom. 

Shalom Seeds is a gentle space where I explore racial healing as spiritual formation. Here, I share reflections, practices, stories, and sacred invitations that help us move toward God's wholeness — one seed at a time. It's a place for rest, courage, curiosity, and renewal as we learn to tend to our bodies, our histories, our relationships, and our communities with grace.

 

If you're longing for a slower, more grounded way of becoming — rooted in Jesus, shaped by love, and open to transformation — you're in the right soil.

The most powerful learning experiences provide learners with both windows and mirrors - a concept developed by Emily Style and Rudine Sims Bishop. When students can regard themselves in mirrors and discover what lies beyond the familiar through windows, they effectively make meaning of the world around them - the beauty, complexities, challenges, and possibilities. 

Racialization has negatively impacted the way we view one another, making it challenging to see ourselves clearly and to recognize and value the histories, perspectives, and experiences of people who are unlike us. It also hinders our ability to sustain a truly just democracy where we contribute to the well-being of all people in our human family. 

The Open Windows, Open Minds Workshop Series provides participants with the opportunity to engage in racial healing and identity development work and instructional shifts that will equip educators to provide students with learning experiences that will lay the foundation for authentic learning partnerships and building a truly inclusive and equitable society. 

The opening verse of the poem Tired by Langston Hughes says, "I am tired of waiting, aren't you, for the world to become good and beautiful and kind?" We don't have to wait any longer. Together we can build learning communities that flourish because students are becoming socially responsible critical thinkers and changemakers.  As you plan professional learning experiences for your staff, let me know how we can help. 

Your Partner in Opening Windows, and Opening Minds, 

Afrika Afeni Mills

Although there has been significant exploration of the need for and importance of culturally responsive, sustaining, equitable and inclusive teaching and learning within the past several years, the focus is often on creating these environments and experiences for Black and Brown students. While it is essential for teachers to become culturally responsive practitioners, we don't often explore how racialization has negatively impacted White students, and the importance and benefit of creating and sustaining learning environments where White students learn to shift from centering their own racial identity to recognizing and valuing the histories, perspectives, experiences, interests, identities, and contributions of traditionally marginalized people. 

Open Windows, Open Minds: Developing Antiracist, Pro-Human Students (2022) will build on Rudine Sims Bishop and Emily Style's concept of Windows and Mirrors to explore why learning to appreciate the experiences and perspectives of others is essential for White students, and offer an approach to teaching and learning that will equip White students as informed, empathetic, inclusive global citizens who genuinely value diversity and will actively engage in dismantling systemic inequities, as well as what White antibias, antiracist practitioners wish they had known when they were K-12 students.