Marissa Hackett was born in 1979 in Los Angeles, California. At the time of her birth, her parents were involved with a group called the Foundation of Human Understanding, a right-wing cult led by Roy Masters. When Marissa was 11 years old, she moved with her family to Southern Oregon, where Roy moved the headquarters of the group and opened the only school Marissa attended in her childhood, Brighton Academy. As a black family, this experience created unique challenges for Marissa as she navigated life.
Today, Marissa lives in Seattle and identifies as a fierce progressive. She's a proud auntie, sister, daughter, niece, godmother, and friend. She shares a life with her partner and husband, Aaron. Marissa absolutely loves music and being in nature. She currently resides in Seattle, Washington where she is a grad student in Couples and Family Therapy at Antioch University.
In this emotional discussion, Marissa speaks publicly for the first time about growing up as a young black woman in a patriarchal right-wing cult in rural Oregon. She explains to Rachel the lasting impacts of her constant struggle to fit in and the difficulties in finding true community. They discuss why the current political landscape of right-wing rhetoric is so triggering for Marissa and how her time in the group actually helped to shape her own progressive politics.
Before You Go: Rachel points out the hypocrisy inherent in the restrictive rules that are often imposed on only one gender in high control religious groups.
Find Marissa's blog on Substack here:
https://marissahackett.substack.com/
You can purchase Rachel's webinar series LIVING IN FREEDOM here:
rachelbernsteintherapy.com/webinar.html
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