Interview: The Nap Ministry

Tricia Hersey

Founder, The Nap Ministry

Pronouns: She/Her

Tell us what inspired you to create The Nap Ministry.

I was inspired by the personal experience of being exhausted as a Black woman in America. I napped all the time while completing a stressful graduate program. It helped me survive. My research in school on cultural trauma, somatics, plantation life in the South, and womanism gave me the opportunity to experiment with these different theories while also practically resting. It was and is a project rooted in community care and community organizing. 

In an interview with Elemental, you’ve said that your work comes from Black liberationist theology, and is anti-capitalist and anti-white supremacist at its core. Can you expand on that a bit? 

Our main tenet is that rest is a form of resistance because it pushes back and disrupts white supremacy and capitalism. Both of these systems view human beings as something to be commodified, as a human machine and as a tool for its production and gain. They oppress. Both systems hold the structure of our entire culture and refuse to recognize the divinity in human life. Napping is a way to push back against this narrative and to reclaim the true power of resting for our own healing and community care. 

As for Black liberation theology, it was one of my research interests in seminary and one of the ideas from it that I use to center my work is the energy of 1960's Civil Rights activism and theology that sees God concerned with the poor and the weak in a white-dominated society, in which black has been defined as evil, black liberation theology makes the gospel/The Bible relevant to the life and struggles of African Americans. While The Nap Ministry is not religious and is a political and social justice movement, I am influenced by the history of the Black Church and other Black-led justice movements.

You’ve spoken about the racial sleep gap and its roots in slavery. Can you explain what that is and what napping has to do with racial justice and liberation? 

During slavery, enslaved Africans worked for 20 hours a day for centuries as machines and as capitalism’s first experiment. Sleep was one of the many things stolen from them. I believe that rest and naps allow descendants of those brutalized by slavery the opportunity to reclaim that Dreamspace. It becomes a form of resistance against a system that continues to see Black people as non-human and it is also a form of reparations. Rest offers us the ability to invent and tap into the ancestral realm to gain power and guidance today. Its liberation and racial justice without the gaze of white supremacy.

You’re known as The Nap Bishop. Where did that title come from?

As a performance artist and theater maker, it is a performance persona I created within the concept of a Nap Ministry. We use the power of performance art, poetry, site installation, and community organizing to illuminate the issue of sleep deprivation. The Nap Bishop title is just a part of the art. 

Many people feel like they’re just too busy with “the work” particularly during a challenging political moment such as now. Why should they pause and nap?

To gain insight, to invent, to hope and to make connections for solutions and ideas that could positively move this challenging political moment to transformation. Pausing and napping is productive and gives us the space to maintain and thrive in our movement work. 

How can someone attend one of your workshops, and how does someone integrate napping into their daily lives?

Stay connected to our Instagram page for locations and dates of our programming. We are based in Atlanta and have pop up Collective Napping Experiences monthly. We also have been traveling all over the country to install spaces for rest. Learning to rest and nap is a practice that will happen slowly as we all deprogram from our toxic brainwashing around rest. Rest when you can. Slow down daily. Unplug from technology. Daydream. Listen to your body and continue deconstructing away from the lie that your worth is tied to how much you produce.

What are you most curious about right now?

I am really curious about the power of sound and silence to heal us from a somatic level. Silence is truly a veil buster and can allow veils to be lifted so we can see what we really need in order to thrive. I am interested in less words and more quiet intuition. I love sound bath experiences and recommend them to everyone.  

What’s your relationship to failure?

I look forward to failure. It's been my greatest place of growth and has been a guide to help me reveal my calling and passions. As a culture, it can be hard for us to embrace failure and lament as part of the fullness of life. I think both can be revolutionary and powerful. 

If you could banish one thing in workplaces, what would it be?

Weekly meetings just for the sake of meeting. I think workplaces are inherently toxic because they have forgotten about the beauty and necessity for flexibility, intuition and non-group thought thinking. Meetings usually go way too long and are called too often. 

How do you wind down your workday?

I love music, reality TV, and salt baths. I love resting that looks like reclining on a couch, stretching on a yoga mat, and deep breathing. I enjoy the art of doing nothing. 

Tell us about the last really good book you read.

Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine. It's poetry and it can be hard for me to get through full books in one sitting. I enjoy the idea of reading a poem a day for grounding and insight. 

What’s your favorite Instagram account?

I love the account @blvckvrchives. It is truly one of the best things on the internet right now. It’s a beautiful representation of real history. The project is so detailed and the photos are breathtaking. 

One of your favorite nonprofits that everyone should give to: Free Street Theater

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