Touch Activist Program
August 19 - December 16, 2025

Facilitated by Aaron Johnson + Team

The Touch Activist Program is creating a critical mass of practitioners and every day humans to offer conscious, caring, carnage-informed holding for Black bodies and People of the Global Majority.

The Touch Activist Program will benefit all People of the Global Majority (PGM), but focuses specifically on the Chronically UnderTouched Black body. We will do a deep evaluation of the Black Brute archetype and the shaping of America’s extractive sexual and violent touch story today.

Touch and holding include physical touch as well as energetic presence, song, movement, nature connection, and deep listening. The Touch Activist Program is for both formal practitioners in related areas of expertise, as well as anyone who wants to interrupt the Chronically UnderTouched trauma story and be a part of the collective healing of closeness.

The Touch Activist Program acknowledges that holding, cuddling and getting close to each other through touch is a life-saving act.

2025 Cohort Schedule

Interrupting the Chronically UnderTouched Trauma Story
Online Class Series 1
August 19 - September 9, 2025
Tuesdays, 5-7pm PST / 4 weeks

Anatomy of the Black Brute
Online Class Series 2
September 30 - October 21, 2025
Tuesdays, 5-7pm PST / 4 weeks

Montgomery Immersion
In-Person at The Legacy Sites in Montgomery, Alabama
November 6 - 9, 2025 (Thursday - Sunday)

Preparing the Body for Deep Holding
Online Class Series 3
November 25 - December 16, 2025
Tuesdays, 5-7pm PST / 4 weeks

The Full Program +
Montgomery Immersion

The Touch Activist Program is available as a Full Program — with Online Courses Only or Montgomery Immersion Only Packages available. All program packages come with one-on-one support calls built in.

For the culmination of the program, we will gather together for three full days in Montgomery, Alabama, November 6-9, learning and focusing on physical sessions, holding each other and the material in real time as we work with the historical and present day content of The Legacy Sites.

*The Montgomery Immersion is open to all who have participated in at least two TAP Online Class Series or have significant experience participating in Holistic Resistance or Grief to Action programs. Let us know in your application if you are interested.

New for 2025 Montgomery Immersion

Program Pricing

  • August 19 - December 16, 2025

    Includes In-Person Immersion Weekend at The Legacy Sites in Montgomery, AL; a three Month online Class Series Package; and three or more 1:1 calls with Aaron Johnson.

    Access: $3,980
    Break Even: $7,980
    Redistribution: $11,980

    Includes admission to the Legacy Sites; Access rate three 1:1 calls with Aaron; Break Even rate includes four 1:1 calls Redistribution rate includes 5 or more calls. Does not include travel or lodging for Immersion Weekend.

  • For the culmination of the program, we will gather together for three days in Montgomery, Alabama, learning and focusing on physical sessions, holding each other and the material in real time as we work with the historical and present day content of The Legacy Sites.

    Nov. 6-9, 2025
    Montgomery, Alabama
    Includes admission to the Legacy Sites; does not include travel or lodging.

    Immersion Only
    Access: $980
    Break Even: $2000
    Redistribution: $4000
    TAP Alumni: $480

  • Each Class Series is 4 weeks of online class with an intimate cohort. Classes run Tuesdays, 5-7pm PST.

    Classes are designed to be cumulative, and we encourage a single series drop-ins. Each series comes with a 1:1 call with Aaron Johnson.

    Class Series 1: Interrupting the Chronically UnderTouched Trauma Story — Aug/Sept 2025

    Class Series 2: Anatomy of the Black Brute — Sept/Oct 2025

    Class Series 3: Preparing the Body for Deep Holding — Nov/Dec 2025

    Singe Class Series
    Includes one 4-week Class Series and a 1:1 call with Aaron Johnson.

    Access: $1,250
    Break Even: $2,650
    Redistribution: $4,000

    Class Series Package
    Includes all Class Series and three 1:1 sessions with Aaron Johnson.

    Access: $2,980
    Break Even: $5,980
    Redistribution: $8,000

  • We have 3 partial work trade positions for reduced tuition, estimated at 40-50 hours of work, each. These positions are designed for Full Program participants and will support our time together and the future of the program.

    APPLY FOR PARTIAL WORK TRADE WITH YOUR PROGRAM APPLICATION.

    Zoom Tech
    Holds down the online zoom classes on Tuesday evenings for all 3 Class Series. Sets up breakout rooms as needed. Meets with the team briefly before the class to understand media sharing needs for that day. Experience with breakout rooms, screen sharing, and sound sharing desired. This might be you if you have consistent internet access or if you do well with multi-tasking to focus. Tuition for this position is $600.

    Videographer + Video Archivist
    Reviews class footage and captures memorable quotes and video clips. Uses these clips to, in collaboration with the program team, create a video about the program. Basic video editing skills and editing software desired. External hard drive provided. iPhone provided for Montgomery Immersion to support documentation there. This may be you if you have some video editing experience and enjoy reviewing and slowing down with the content. Tuition for this position is $600.

    Funds Shifter (Grant Writer)
    Researches and, in collaboration with the team, applies for grants and funding for the first People of the Global Majority (PGM) Touch Activist Cohort. This may be you if you have grant writing experience or are a passionate internet scourer. Tuition for this position is $600.

Payment plans are available. Please complete final payment by the 15th of the third month of your program. Or, reach out to us for an alternate arrangement.

A word from past participants

  • “Held in a supportive group, my capacity to bear witness to historical and present-day carnage became much wider and deeper than if I attempted this alone.”

    Danny Huffsmith, Cohort Participant

  • “I was deeply moved by the depth of our container, the invitation to bear witness and be in a grief ceremony while taking care not to 'out grieve the griever'. Carrying these sacred intentions personally and collectively, meeting in the deep South as a mostly white group, Aaron's guidance and instruction helped us interrupt usual patterns of gathering.”

    Siri Gunnarson, Cohort Participant

  • “This program was unique in its ability to communicate difficult material while maintaining an awareness of the capacities of different nervous systems. We were given tools to help us hold, process, and integrate what we learned. This made it possible for a depth and quality of understanding that I haven't seen in other antiracism programs.”

    Danny Huffsmith, Cohort Participant

  • “The Scratch Holding practice deepens our individual understanding and movements while creating coherence and a depth of community care and resilience that did not feel casual. I am particularly moved by the physical sessions that continue to guide my work for the long arc.”

    Siri Gunnarson, Cohort Participant

  • “This program is not purely intellectual. It addresses the physical, biological patterns of trauma that keep us from being able to connect with each other and with ourselves, and provides the tools to gently heal from those patterns together in real time.”

    Danny Huffsmith, Cohort Participant

Would you like to support People of the Global Majority (PGM) to participate in this training at low to no cost?

We are fundraising for scholarships for a PGM Touch Activist Cohort, which, if funded, will run alongside next year’s cohort.