Capt. Black Cap. Aquamayne. “Unc” About That Action. The Chair.

These were nicknames given to some of the participants in the viral brawl that took place along the riverfront in Montgomery, Ala. The Alabama Sweet Tea Uprising unified Black people who came to the aid of a Black co-captain of the Harriott II riverboat after he was attacked by multiple white boaters who refused to move their pontoon, which was illegally parked at the dock. Montgomery Police have since charged three white men and one white woman with third-degree assault.

But the untold story behind that day are the Black women who honored their enslaved ancestors about two hours before the brawl occurred at the same riverfront on Aug. 5. Dressed in white, pink and yellow, the women saged the air and prayed while sprinkling brightly-colored rose petals into the Alabama River, where enslavement ships once roamed. This commemoration was part of a closing ceremony for the inaugural Feminine Flow Experience, a women’s health and wellness conference founded by Montgomery therapist Candyce Anderson.

As funny memes and videos flooded social media following the brawl, Anderson went to Instagram to add context to the situation. In a city that was once the capital of the Confederacy, Montgomery is cloaked with ancestral energy. This is the city where the enslaved were paraded in shackles down Commerce Street before they were sold at the city’s enslavement markets. This is the city of Anarcha, Betsy, Lucy and other enslaved women whose bodies were experimented on without consent or anesthesia in the name of gynecology. This is the city where a boycott initially planned by Black women not only desegregated public transportation, but set the foundation for nonviolent mass protests during the Civil Rights Movement.

This is the city where Black women who purged themselves of their traumas during the Feminine Flow Experience marched along Commerce Street back towards the river with smiles on their faces, roses in their arms and Beyoncé’s “Find Your Way Back” bumping in the background. Anderson stressed the importance of using joy to pay homage to the ancestors and how it prepares liberators for the fight for social change.

“We draw on the strength and resilience they displayed during difficult times,” Anderson said. “We would not be alive had they given up and given in to oppression.”

Anderson’s healing ceremony adds another level of historical context to a brawl that captured the attention of a nation. Not only did the melee on the riverfront happen during Black August, an annual commemoration of Black resistance that started in the prison abolition movement, it also highlights the role radical healers play in the fight toward racial freedom. This isn’t the first time a ceremony where Black people connecting with the ancestors led to an eruption of liberative energy — far from it.

On the night of Aug. 14, 1791, shortly before the enslaved initiated a series of uprisings during the Haitian Revolution, enslaved rebels held a ceremony centering African spiritual traditions in a forest called Bois Caïman. While accounts of what happened vary, multiple witnesses place Dutty Boukman, an enslaved Jamaican man who led the revolution, at the center of the ceremony as a Vodou priest. During the ceremony, it is believed Boukman said a prayer to empower and inspire his fellow enslaved revolutionaries. His words became known as “Boukman’s Prayer.”

Ancestral healing ceremonies illustrate how racial revolution doesn’t just occur on the front lines of freedom. Anderson said healers model to liberators the vulnerability, self care and community care needed to sustain the movement.

“The inner revolution is connected to the outer revolution,” she said. “Space is made for suffering so joy can also flourish. Healers remind activists of humanity and prevent burnout. Care for the spirit nurtures empathy, even for opponents.”

Anderson became a therapist to heal communities harmed by oppression. She created the Feminine Flow Experience after noticing a pattern of her Black women clients begging for a space to just be and breathe. Anderson said she envisioned creating a soft, luxurious space for melanated women. The river is one of many places where Anderson honors her ancestors and prays. So, the vision clearly showed the women walking toward the water.

Anderson kept this in mind as she created the Feminine Flow Experience, which was held the day of and the day before the brawl in Montgomery. Many nutritionists, yoga instructors, breathwork practitioners and other healers stepped into the space to give Black women the tools to support their emotional, physical and mental wellbeing.

Anderson pointed out multiple reasons why these tools are needed. During the conference, she referenced the words of Zora Neale Hurston who said that Black women were the mules of the world – And Anderson has seen the consequences. Heart disease is the leading cause of death of Black women, who are also three times more likely to die during childbirth and experience fibroids. All of this is happening on top of the regular racial and gender microaggression Black women endure.

This is why mental health and social justice must intersect, Anderson said.

“Overall, social justice for black women’s mental health means building an equitable society, dismantling barriers to wellness, and embracing the richness of their identities. Advocacy, access, trauma healing, community strength and holistic care are key intersections. Specifically, strength and resilience in the face of injustice are part of black women’s identities.”

Anderson has been flooded with texts, emails and messages ever since a video showing the ceremony started circulating on social media. Those who are interested in joining the next Feminine Flow Experience can check out her website. She’s doing an Instagram live about what the brawl taught her about Black women Monday, Aug. 21, at 6 p.m. central.

Whether online, on the streets or in sessions, Anderson is following the footsteps of her favorite revolutionaries: Author and playwright James Baldwin, social justice leader Tamika Mallory and maternal health advocate Angelina Spicer.

“I am constantly reminded that revolution happens on multiple layers and across genres that produce holistic impact,” Anderson said.