Who is Bernadette?

Bernadette Pleasant is a Certified Grief Educator, End-of-Life Doula, somatic healer, and founder of The Emotional Institute. She is renowned for creating sacred spaces where Black and Brown communities can express their full emotional truth—from grief to rage, from silence to song.

Following the death of her mother, Bernadette entered a profound season of personal grief and awakening. Around that same time, she noticed a devastating truth: the suicide rate among Black men had surpassed all other groups. As a grandmother of Black boys, she thought, Not my babies. That moment changed everything.

Bernadette knew she had to act. Drawing on decades of grief work, emotional release, and ritual, she now brings her voice more boldly to the places where it’s most needed. Her podcast, Grief 101, offers practical, somatic, and soulful support to those ready to feel, heal, and be witnessed.