Alumni Spotlight: Anthony Cruz Pantojas
A 2021 graduate of Still Harbor's Spiritual Direction Practicum, Anthony Cruz Pantojas (they/he/elle/él) is an innovative spiritual director and scholar who redefines spiritual accompaniment with a decolonial praxis.
Through curated transformative experiences blending art, spirituality, and community engagement, Anthony fosters a transcultural approach to spiritual exploration. Grounded in Afro-Caribbean humanist and freethought philosophies, Anthony promotes critical thinking, and self-discovery, inspiring individuals to question and reimagine their inner/outer worlds. Their scholarly contributions expand spiritual knowledge by integrating embodied perspectives and honoring marginalized epistemes/knowledges. With a liberatory praxis, Anthony empowers individuals and communities to unapologetically rethink and embody their spiritual or inner life.
Why do you think spiritual care work is important?
Spiritual work is inextricably linked with social justice and liberation. I subscribe to the teachings of Audre Lorde and Gloria Anzaldúa, where they situate spirituality as a particular epistemology, or a knowledge production that keys us into our desires, intentions, and implications in the world in which we live. It is important we heed spirituality as a rigorous field of study and exploration where the personal is political and that an ethics of collective flourishing is predicated upon intentional reflection and a responsive and sustainable praxis.
How can spiritual caregivers show a commitment to collective liberation?
A commitment to collective liberation entails strategic risk-taking even when progress is not immediately discernible. Moreover, liberation is going beyond models of passive empathy that merely reproduce struggles that disenfranchise bodies of culture. Liberation is also tied with accountability, of mapping where our connections and tendencies are, and spending time wading in the impasses of what we do not or cannot possibly know. Liberation is expansive.
You're giving the keynote at this year's Spiritual Direction Practicum graduation. What advice do you have for spiritual caregivers who also want to be public speakers?
Engaging in public work is incredibly gratifying. However, I have learned to position community funds of knowledge and create spaces where people feel heard. Consider the communities to whom you are accountable and intently listen to their needs. Carve out space to learn with and from them. Public speaking reflects a partnership in advocacy that does not reify expert or authoritarian status.
Applications for the 2023-2024 Spiritual Direction Practicum are now open! Learn more and apply today.