‘got rest?’ Rest is not a luxury – it’s a necessity

By Alisha Reese, CMT

JA Health Editor

Today I’m highlighting the impactful work of Black Women DO Heal, Inc. (BWDH) and the organization’s recently launched, got rest? campaign. BWDH was founded in 2019 by Jackson native Cassandra “Coach Cassie J” James-Weathersby. It was born out of lived experience, deep knowing, and a refusal to accept that survival is the best we can do, James-Weathersby explained. The campaign is straightforward, with a strong foundation:

got rest?

Why?

Because for many Black women, rest has never been something we were taught to lean into as a practice, but something we earned only when our bodies or our minds gave way to stress and pressure. BWDH is gently – and unapologetically – changing that.

Rooted in Mississippi and growing across the Gulf South, BWDH has been creating spaces where Black and Brown women and community healers can finally exhale. “We come from a culture where toxic strength has been necessary. It kept us alive. Yet, like many Black women, I was a strong Black woman until I wasn’t. Through my healing and this work, I learned it was not enough to have support only when you crash. You need tools, space, grace, and support to help you prevent the preventable crashes. Here at BWDH, we have a motto: ‘Your strength was never meant to crush you,’” James-Weathersby shares.

Through healing circles, community healers training programs, storytelling, rest experiences, professional development, and community-based mental health support, BWDH has built something that feels less like a program and more like a homecoming. An authentic space where women don’t have to perform strength to be seen, heard, and valued. The got rest? campaign is an extension of that work. It is a culturally grounded public wellness campaign focused on self-care and wellness, led by BWDH, Inc., that reframes rest, particularly for Black women as:

Essential (not indulgent)

Collective (not individual failure)

Preventative (not reactive)

A public good (not a private luxury)

A public health issue

Meeting people right where they are, it interrupts just enough to ask: What would it look like if you didn’t have to earn your rest? Regina L. Lacking, Co-Executive Director, shares, “Black women are often expected to be everything for everyone while neglecting themselves in the process. At the heart of it all, we need rest. The got rest? campaign is our intentional effort to disrupt the normalization of burnout and create a culture where rest is recognized as essential to healing, wholeness, and recovering the recoverable!”

Through the dedication and commitment of BWDH, rest is not just encouraged – it is practiced. In rooms filled with breathwork, honest conversation, laughter, and sometimes tears, women are reminded that tending to themselves is not selfish – it is essential.

BWDH is proud to begin this initiative in Jackson, where its roots began. The organization is also excited about the support for this conversation around rest at the state level, with the approval of its proclamation, Rest Y’all Mississippi Collective Day of Rest, authorized by Fabian Nelson in the Mississippi House of Representatives on March 20.

That same week, BWDH planned an intentional gathering on a beautiful Thursday evening. I was met with a warm welcome while being reminded to rest and relax. It was an honor to be featured as a Community Healer alongside several other amazing participants for the got rest? campaign. There were six other attendees representing a variety of professions, personalities, and backgrounds. We laughed, shared healing moments, and affirmed our commitment to bring awareness to the community.

Because this work isn’t about fixing Black women.

It’s about reminding Black women they were never broken.

And in a world that often celebrates burnout as commitment and status, Black Women DO Heal is offering something different:

A pause.

A breath.

A return to self.

So the question remains….got rest?

As we move into May, Mental Health Awareness Month, let this be your reminder that rest, healing, and community care are not extras, they are essential. Choose yourself, extend grace, protect your peace, and make room for restoration in every part of your life.

To learn more about Black Women DO Heal, Community Healer’s Academy, upcoming Collective Day of Rest, Rest Summit 2027, and how you can be a part of the got rest? campaign: www.BlackWomenDOHeal.org; Black Women DO Heal, Inc., JXN Village, 135 Bounds Street, Suite 103-Z, Jackson, MS 39206; 504-407-5131 or 601-345-3151.