You Were Never a Minority: Healing the Shadow of Worth
A soft rebellion. A remembering. A return to inherent worth.
Author’s Note: This piece began in the backseat of an Uber.
A conversation unfolded — with a driver reflecting on what it means to embody melanin, the relentless chase of our generation, and the longing for a sense of worth that can’t be bought or earned. That exchange stayed with me.
But this piece didn’t begin there. Its roots twist deeper.
It’s an accumulation of dialogues in graduate school classrooms, where culture and consciousness were placed side by side; of therapeutic reflections on why my own culture equates worth with success; of long walks after lectures in analytical psychology, wondering how the language of the shadow might help us understand race, oppression, and healing in new ways.
This is a reflection, a remembering, a soft rebellion.
Thank you for reading.
We’ve been told, again and again,
that people of melanin are a minority.
But that narrative is not just sociological — it’s psychological.
There’s a function in the collective psyche
that splits the world into binaries:
one must be superior,
and the other, by default, inferior.
This is the shadow we still live under.
It runs through our systems, our culture, our media —
and until we have the courage to face that shadow within ourselves,
we will remain incapable of building a truly equitable society.
Because equity must begin in the individual soul.
The great epidemic of our time is unworthiness.
In response, we chase —
accomplishments, fame, money, accolades —
hoping they will fill a void.
But the void persists.
Because ultimately, the psyche is not interested in accumulation.
The psyche wants experience.
It wants embodiment.
It wants truth.
The system we live in thrives on our disconnection from that truth.
It’s designed to keep us consuming —
media, products, distractions —
all to avoid the hollowness we carry inside.
But I believe activism begins within.
Until we tend to our inner landscapes,
we cannot authentically contribute to the healing of outer systems.
And this is where the invitation lies:
Sit in your shadow.
It’s not here to destroy you.
It’s here to offer you gifts
you’ve been taught to fear.
Our ancestors — indigenous, enslaved, colonized —
carried profound richness.
Even under displacement, diaspora, and oppression,
they cultivated spiritual depth, resilience, and generational wisdom.
Their survival was not just physical —
it was spiritual.
And you, here and now,
are living proof.
We were never meant to be “minorities.”
That term was placed upon us —
a projection of another’s need to feel superior.
But superiority is always a mask
for unhealed inferiority.
We are not inferior.
We are not superior.
We are enough.
That is the medicine.
That is the healing.
That is the revolution.
Let’s stop chasing the illusion of being more.
Let’s start remembering
we have always been enough —
without the accolades,
without the status,
without the performance.
You were born worthy.
That is your birthright.
So breathe.
Let go of the chase.
Let the shame rise,
and let the sun melt it.
We’re all in this human condition together.
Welcome.
Welcome back to your birthright.
Welcome home.
Sakthi Ramesh, AMFT #155011
Associate Marriage and Family Therapist
Supervised by Helene Mickey Wilson, Ph.D., LMFT #49203
Through The Art of Guiding Healers
Currently offering sessions in Newport Beach and Telehealth for those seeking deeper, individualized support.
👉🏽 Contact Me to connect or inquire further.