Tag: Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome
Book Excerpt Of The Week: “Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome” By: Dr. Joy Leary
“One of the beliefs that Black people have been taught about themselves is that as a group they could and should not trust one another. Sowing the seeds of distrust was an important tool employed by slave owners as a way of preventing slave uprisings. In some cases this worked so well that some slaves would even alert the slave master to potentially troublesome slaves. If slaves shared a general distrust of one another, they were less prone to unite against a common enemy, namely the slave owners.
However, there was a time when Black people would learn once again to trust an rely upon one another. This was during segregation, when Jim Crow laws legally separated Blacks from Whites, creating virtually two completely separate societies. Under Jim Crow legislation, the law allowed for segregation so long as the conditions for Blacks were equal to that of whites. Despite the fact that the conditions were rarely, if ever at all equal, Blacks managed to build a strong fortress of protection around themselves. The scars of slavery still lingered, but with the reconstruction of family and community the process of healing had begun. In some places, Black segregated towns excelled economically and socially even beyond the towns of their White neighbors.” -From, “Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome” By: Dr. Joy Leary
Book Excerpt Of The Week: “Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome” By: Dr. Joy Leary
“Rather than crush self-esteem, we must do everything in our power to build it. Rather than be torn down by the anger that is present within us, we must be able to create and maintain a state of inner well being. Rather than allowing our children to be socialized by a racist society, we must consciously and deliberately educate and socialize them to understand their inherent nobility.” -From, “Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome” By: Dr. Joy Leary
Dick Gregory Speaks At Mosque #7 (2013)
Dick Gregory discusses: The effect carrying lead bullets has on police officers, college football games & professional athletics, why Magic Johnson stopped playing basketball, the “love” of athletes and entertainers, the Million Man March, the assassination of Malcolm X, Trayvon Martin, and the purpose of the Rodney King riots.
Book Excerpt Of The Week- Part 3, “Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome” By: Dr. Joy Leary
“Beliefs are powerful! They strongly influence how we think, feel, and behave. And their influence can be negative or positive. If a person has negative beliefs about their value and skills, they will often self sabotage their efforts or cease trying at all. If a person has a positive belief about their ability and worth, they are more likely to achieve the results they are after.
When we believe ourselves to be unworthy or incapable these beliefs have little basis in fact, yet they can still be powerful influences. What we need most in these instances is evidence to the contrary. If we can see that we are, in fact, valuable, that we are, in fact able, we will change our beliefs about ourselves accordingly.” -From, “Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome” By: Dr. Joy Leary
Book Excerpt Of The Week- Part 2, “Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome” By: Dr. Joy Leary
“Rather than crush self-esteem, we must do everything in our power to build it. Rather than be torn down by the anger that is present within us, we must be able to create and maintain a state of inner well being. Rather than allowing our children to be socialized by a racist society, we must consciously and deliberately educate and socialize them to understand their inherent nobility.” -From, “Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome” By: Dr. Joy Leary
Book Excerpt Of The Week- Part 1, “Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome” By: Dr. Joy Leary
“Some families take time to consider all that went well for them the previous day, to explore ways of making things even better, and plan what will go well the next day. Imagine every Black family doing this every day. It wouldn’t take long for you and your children to get in the habit of paying attention to the impact all of us have on others, and refining the impacts of our contributions. Everyday we would have evidence of the good that we do, and hence evidence of our value.
Where we are harboring beliefs that undermine our esteem, attending to the positive impacts we have will begin to destroy such limiting and fallacious beliefs. Creating value on a daily basis will provide strong, incontrovertible evidence of our efficacy and worth. False and negative beliefs about esteem and efficacy are some of the issues confronting many of us.
In the African American community there are many other false and negative beliefs that we leave unexamined. Beliefs about helplessness, beliefs about mainstream society, beliefs about victimization and many others that serve to put limits on what we can be, do, and have.
To address these falsehoods, we need to look at ourselves and a community as a whole from a strengths rather than from a deficit perspective. We need to identify, focus and articulate those positive characteristics in all of our interactions with our neighbors, co-workers, family and friends. And we need to especially share these encouraging observations with African American children whose views of themselves are still being shaped.” -From, “Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome” By: Dr. Joy Leary