Horseperson
Jamila Jackson Embodied Leadership Project by Alessandra Mele
Through this journey I met a woman, Lori Halliday, at a dance workshop and was really taken with her ability to listen. It felt so loving, pure, and connected, and it really struck me. I asked Lori where she had developed this kind of attention, and she gave me an answer I wasn’t expecting. “I have a herd of ten horses,” she said, and invited me to come out to her California
which can offer us all an opportunity to experience deep healing, connection, and love.
ranch. This is when I first became hooked on horses and started to realize their connection to the kinds of questions I was already exploring with dance.
Amber Wilmore-Hurley
Jamila Jackson is a storyteller, dancer, poet, and facilitator who explores the integration of African-rooted dance and wisdom with horsemanship. Through her own projects and the work of her organization, the Embodied Leadership Project, Jamila is bringing to light important similarities between the ceremony of community dance circles and the language of horses,
CH: Tell us a little about your background. How did your journey lead you to horses? Jamila: I’m originally from California; I was born in Oakland and raised in Berkeley. I didn’t grow up with horses, but I always had a strong passion for dance. I studied at Howard University and then at Hampshire College, and during that time I was on a journey researching ways that dance can teach us how to connect with ourselves and each other, and how to heal by understanding the stories that move through our bodies and being present with them. 44
Community Horse Spring/Summer 2021
CH: What did that connection look and feel like to you? Jamila: I had a powerful experience with one of Lori’s horses, Pepper. I was actually kind of scared of horses at that point; I’d only ridden a few times and they had been scary rides! I really felt their aliveness, and it was intense; I didn’t understand their language. One morning, Lori took me out to the pasture to sit with the herd. I sat there doing nothing, just observing the horses in the morning
