Decolonizing Marketing Facilitator Spotlight: Getting to know Alisha Morris
Author: Gary Spinks
Alisha Morris spent 20+ years in the PR industry but quit after a late epiphany: she was part of a system creating world problems.
Her job, on the people operations side of public relations, was about hiring storytellers to “Control the Narrative” and use fear to get people to consume. Her proficiency at firing people to ‘cut the fat’ & improve operational efficiency.
Alisha, a US citizen now based in Canada, says: “I explain to people how much I didn’t understand what I was doing compared to who I am now.“
“I did not hire truth-tellers. I hired storytellers who told the story that our clients wanted the public to hear… I did not have any understanding around the concept that just because there is a law doesn’t mean it’s a good one.”
Now, Alisha Morris is a writer, creator, trauma educator, operations adviser, organisational consultant, and founder of the Traumatized & THRIVING. She guides mission-driven organisations to dismantle extractive practices and replace them with liberatory regenerative systems.
Today, she is the focus of our Spotlight series on co-facilitators for our forthcoming Decolonizing Marketing course.
Alisha describes 2016 and the election of Trump as President as the time she “woke up”. To her, a bi-racial Black woman, it “seemed that the majority of the US population was still racist,” and she experienced a mini breakdown.
The PR work gave her good money, lifestyle, promotions and an expense account – the American dream – and yet Alisha was “absolutely miserable”. One day she just fired all her clients with no future plan.
Instead, Alisha started creating content around trauma, anti-capitalism, decolonial, somatic healing strategies and community building.
The events and aftermath of October 7th (2023) involving Israel and Gaza ‘reactivated’ Alisha’s trauma. She says: “I was so impacted by the fact that everyone was able to just go back to work and not care.”
Speaking about the world in general, Alisha says systemic change for good is not only possible but in the hands of the people.
She says: “There’s mass psychosis going on. I say all the time, “Sick attracts sick.”
“… We have to figure this out. What type of mind control is going on that 7 billion people have no concept that they hold all the power? We hold all the power.”
Alisha argues that many of the world’s problems today are down to capitalism, which she equates with co-dependency, a form of addiction.
She says change will require:
- Repair to build trust and safety
- Courage to move from good intentions to values-aligned action that creates something different
- An ability to “sit in discomfort” whilst exploring the past, present and future
- Grassroots relationship building, and people and communities talking to one another
- Helping people understand what’s going on, in simple language.
Alisha says: “Decolonizing means challenging every single belief that you have… there are millions of people who are ready for change. I think they just need direction and understanding.”