My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies
by Resmaa Menakem (2017)
The body is where our instincts reside and where we fight, flee, or freeze. My Grandmother’s Hands is a call to action for Americans to recognize that racism is not about the head, but about the body. Author Resmaa Menakem introduces an alternative view of what we can do to grow beyond our entrenched racialized divide.
Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love, and Liberation.
Williams, A. K., Owens, R., & Syedullah, J. (2017).
Igniting a long-overdue dialogue about how the legacy of racial injustice and white supremacy plays out in society at large and Buddhist communities in particular, this urgent call to action outlines a new dharma that takes into account the ways that racism and privilege prevent our collective awakening.
Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism from the Inside Out
by Ruth King (2018)
"Racism is a heart disease," writes Ruth King, "and it's curable." Exploring a crucial topic seldom addressed in meditation instruction, this revered teacher takes to her pen to shine a compassionate, provocative, and practical light into a deeply neglected and world-changing domain profoundly relevant to all of us.
Wretched of the Earth
by Frantz Fanon (1961)
Frantz Fanon, French West Indian psychiatrist, analyzes in 1961 the effects of colonialism on mental health and dehumanization. He also discusses the cultural and political implications of colonialism and racism on society. Though the book revolves around Algerian history under French colonialism, Fanon’s Wretched of The Earth is a classic book about systemic trauma.
A Mind Spread Out on the Ground
by Alicia Elliott
Alicia Elliott discusses the treatment of Native Americans while offering insight on intergenerational trauma and drawing from her own life experiences. Weaving themes of mental illness, racial privilege, writing and representation , Elliott extends a meditation on trauma, oppression and historical legacy.
Articles
- Bryant-Davis, T., & Ocampo, C. (2005). The trauma of racism: Implications for counseling, research, and education. The Counseling Psychologist, 33(4), 574-578
- Franklin, A. J., Boyd-Franklin, N., & Kelly, S. (2006). Racism and invisibility: Race-related stress, emotional abuse and psychological trauma for people of color. Journal of Emotional Abuse, 6(2-3), 9-30.
Links
- A report from the McSilver Institute at NYU on Trauma and Racism (PDF)
- Generative Somatics (organization doing trauma work with a systemic analysis)
- Racism and PTSD
- Racism and mental health NY Times Magazine Article