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The Rev. Nafisa Sharriff has been interested in spirituality since attending Catholic mass during childhood, but when her sister recommended a workshop from a prominent Arizona channeler in 1987 after their mother's death, she nearly walked out due to skepticism. Her inner voice stopped her.
"My spirit so loud and clearly said, 'You always give up on yourself,'" Sharriff said to the AmNews. "It was like I heard myself say that."
Sharriff returned to the workshop -- a decision that would lead her down a lifelong path of spiritual and holistic healing and impart the desire to share this healing with others. She founded her nonprofit organization, Entering the Holy of Holies (ETHOH), in 2004. The organization aims to help people confront and express their emotions in a healthy manner through spiritual and holistic wellness.
"You're going to dive deep into your heart, become clear about how you feel, and then have that emotional clarity or release to make some decisions about changing your life," said Sharriff.
ETHOH will hold a conference from Oct. 25-27 to celebrate its 20th anniversary. The three-day event will feature all-day African and funk dance classes, interactive holistic panels, and a vendor fair.
The conference will open on Oct. 25 with a tribute to Assemblywoman Inez E. Dickens at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. In 2014, when Dickens was still a councilwoman, she wrote a letter of recognition for ETHOH for its spiritual and cultural contributions. Dickens announced her retirement in January.
"This is a wonderful moment not just to honor her, as many people will be honoring her for 50 years of service, but also for us to do a rite of passage through African music and song to continue the journey for herself," Sharriff said.
The day will also feature a short documentary and photo gallery reflecting on 20 years of the organization.
Saturday will feature classes from members of the African dance community, such as Pat "the Funk Meister" Mabry, Maguette Camara, and Dr. Darian M. Parker of the Juilliard School. Sharriff will end the day with Sunnu classes.
The final day will feature holistic health panels led by Sharriff and other experts, such as Fordham professor Aminata Maraesa and Joyous Ocean founder Dionne Monsanto.
The organization has changed in many ways over the 20 years it has been active, going from Sharriff's living room to a rented space and from only in-person to including online workshops in 2020, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Our programs went from a handful of people because now people are home, too," Sharriff said.
The organization's name was inspired by Sharriff's travels to Egypt, where she meditated and immersed herself in ancient Egyptian spirituality and culture on the Nile River. The organization was officially incorporated in 2004 but began unofficially in 1995 when Sharriff started including meditation in her dance classes.
The format was significant because of the stigma surrounding mental health in Black communities, especially in the mid-1990s.
"People were just ready to heal," Sharriff said. "Especially in the Black and Brown communities, people weren't trying to go to therapists."
Mental health remains an issue for communities of color today. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health found in 2021 that around 39% of Black people with mental health concerns received treatment in comparison to 52% of non-Hispanic white people. The NSDUH also found that in 2020, suicide was the third leading cause of death for Black people between ages 15 and 24.
Sharriff said it is important to be mindful of mental and spiritual health in the face of modern economic and political stresses. "The more we anchor into our spirit and we develop this relationship with God within ourselves, with the universe, the more we honor it," she said. "That's key."
Dr. Aminata Maraesa, who will lead a yoga session at ETHOH's 20th-anniversary conference, began attending Sharriff's dance classics in 1996. She remembers appreciating the meditation practices that Sharriff would include in the sessions, due to how communal they felt.
"She encouraged us to break down the walls between human beings who are next to you, who might not otherwise have done that, and really created community," Maraesa told the AmNews.
Community is an aspect of ETHOH that many collaborators and students enjoy. Dionne Monsanto, a mental health advocate and speaker at the conference, said she expects the event to feel like a reunion. "I'm really excited to see people that I have not seen in years, to dance with people and other teachers I have not danced with in years," she said.
Dance professor Darian Parker encouraged others to attend the event. "She's all about uplifting and supporting people," Parker said of Sharriff. "It is really important work that Nafisa is doing in the world."
For tickets and additional information about the event, visit Entering the Holy of Holies' website at ethoh.org.