Spiritual Abuse in the Black Community:Naming What We Were Never Allowed to Name

January is Spiritual Abuse Awareness Month! We will honoring Black Spiritual Abuse & Religious Trauma Survivors All Month!!!

For many Black survivors, spiritual abuse was never named as abuse. It was normalized as “just church,” framed as discipline, protection, love, or obedience — and questioning it was often seen as rebellion, ingratitude, or a lack of faith.

In Black communities, spirituality and survival have long been intertwined. Churches, families, and spiritual spaces were often places of refuge in the face of racism and oppression. But that history also made it difficult — and sometimes dangerous — to name harm when spiritual authority became controlling, silencing, or abusive.

This gathering creates space to do what many of us were never allowed to do: name our experiences without minimizing, spiritualizing, or justifying the harm.
Together, we will:

• Explore what spiritual abuse looks like specifically in the Black Church & Black communities
• Discuss why many Black survivors struggle to recognize abuse as abuse
• Name common tactics used to silence, control, or shame members
• Validate experiences that were dismissed, ignored, or normalized

This is a peer-supported, trauma-informed space where Black religious and spiritual abuse survivors are centered, believed, and respected. You do not need to have the “right” language or clarity — just your lived experience.
If you’ve ever felt confused, silenced, or invalidated about what you went through, this space is for you. Naming is not betrayal. Naming is the first step toward healing.
See you on January 8th for our first event of the month & year 2026!!!