Why Community Is Magic For Black Women

On paper, Dr. LaNail R. Plummer has the resume of a builder. She leads Onyx Therapy Group, which began in Washington, D.C. and now operates across D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Louisiana, with work in South Africa.

Onyx has been in business for more than 12 years and employs a team of more than 30 Black clinicians. LaNail’s expertise has appeared in outlets that include AFRO.com, Essence, Ebony,, TIME, and Forbes. She is currently preparing her forthcoming book, The Essential Guide for Counseling Black Women, to be published by Norton on January 27, 2026.

In conversation, she returns again and again to community, history and what she wants women to feel. Her focus was not on her wins. It was on what women can create together.

“I think independently we’re magical, but when we come together, it’s like a whole magic show, right?” she said. “It’s so important for women to spend time with women, to sit and listen to each other, to have dialogue, to be non-judgmental, to just build community.”

Her emphasis on togetherness is about connection, strategy and survival.

“We’re going to be fighting against a very racist and patriarchal regime and we need to unify for that fight,” she said. “Our ancestors have taught us how to survive and be resilient. Imagine us spending more time together and making it magic. How beautiful would that be?” 

LaNail’s upcoming book is designed to be an invitation to both feel and act, grounded in lineage.

“I would love the readers to feel empowered in their womanhood and in their femininity,” she said. “I want everybody to read the book because there’s so much of each chapter that is dedicated to women, so not just Black women, because remember it’s an intersectional book: it’s Blackness and it’s women.”

“All societies were not patriarchal,” LaNail said. “Many societies were matriarchal. We led and we can still lead. We were not just part of the nurturers, we were also the hunters and gatherers. How we make things, how our minds work, how our minds are different from men’s minds from a biological and chemical perspective, and how that allows us to create more things. We don’t always get the credit for the creation, but it doesn’t mean that we’re not behind the scenes doing the work.”

Her vision makes room for women who express or experience gender differently, while keeping the focus on the power that is shared and learnable.

“I would love for women to feel empowered in their womanhood and feel empowered as they tap into their femininity, even for our masculine-centered women, understanding how they can still tap into that and feel the magic that was given to us by our ancestors, our gods, and our god, our one god,” she said.

LaNail’s mission is as much about reclaiming history as it is about shaping the future. Through Onyx Therapy Group, her upcoming book, and her advocacy, she reminds us that women have always been leaders, creators, and visionaries, even when history has failed to give them credit. 

Her call is clear: honor the lessons of our ancestors, lean into community, and step fully into our power. For women everywhere, the invitation is to recognize that the magic is already within us, and even greater when we come together.