“Creating safe spaces has always been important to me,” says Kayana Sessoms—and that truth runs like a healing current through this Detroit is Different conversation with the founder of Hitha Healing House, a sacred space born from legacy, loss, and love. Kayana traces her roots through Mississippi, Arkansas, and Detroit’s west side, grounding her story in three generations of Black migration, creativity, and care. From being a “JoAnn Fabrics kid” turning her childhood home into a museum of imagination, to becoming a teenage peer mentor holding space for families in crisis, Kayana shares how affirmation, artistry, and community shaped her calling. She reflects on learning early that healing requires ritual—“ground yourself,” “protect your energy,” “listen in silence”—and how Eastern practices, mind management, and ancestral wisdom became tools for survival and service. Her journey stretches from Detroit to Sierra Leone, Atlanta to Osborne High School, always circling back to access, equity, and Black maternal wellness. The founding of Hitha Healing House after the loss of her father and the birth of her son becomes a powerful meditation on legacy Black culture—how we carry the past, heal in the present, and build futures rooted in care. This episode is a masterclass in why healing is culture, and why Detroit has always known how to do it.
