"Decolonizing The Crone" and Reclaiming The Freedom of Aging

Omisade Burney-Scott, creator of “Decolonizing the Crone,” a multimedia project that collects the stories and experiences of women over fifty, speaks about her work with aging and menopause. “Decolonizing the Crone” includes events with intergenerational conversations, stories with advice for surviving menopause, and a podcast, “Black Girls’ Guide To Surviving Menopause.”

Excerpt from Burney-Scott’s conversation:

“On why she chose ‘Decolonizing the Crone’ as the title of this project:

There’s this pantheon that’s part of goddess-based tradition or Earth-based traditions: the maiden, the mother and the crone. So the crone is the third phase of a woman’s life. When you’re a maid, it’s all the preparation for your first cycle, right? When you’re a mother, people are talking about — either you’re going to have a baby, or you’re nurturing people in your community … And then the crone is that elder woman who has lived life. She’s experienced life … They’re also associated with moon phases. She’s the dark side of the moon, which seems like a scary place. But it’s also a place that holds magic [and] is still a place of exploration. And so I decided that I wanted to use Decolonizing the Crone because I wanted to disrupt and interrupt these notions around aging.”