My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies

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laughs] So what I want you to help explore — you don’t have to just talk about the vagus nerve, but I feel like this is another piece of knowledge about ourselves.

white-body supremacy infiltrates every aspect of American culture, affecting all Americans, regardless of the color of their skin, and has become part of our bodies, changing our brains and body chemistry. Artist Resmaa Menakem launches new book, gallery exhibit and album to inspire action on racial justice". The author talks about the tendency to disengage, instead of the healthier response of staying with the body despite the discomfort.The historical roots of trauma are traced, as well as how white bodies instilled this trauma in the bodies of many Africans as well as indigenous populations .

Instead, individually and collectively, we need to address our trauma, and heal our bodies and hearts. It felt particularly strange to me that he was able to trace the history of white people's violence, but when it came to policing, he made it seem as though policing in the U. A powerful section is geared to law enforcement, asking them to make an inventory and explore sensations at the end of a workday. This article overviews My Grandmother’s Hands and complements an earlier review by Paula Hendrick (Hendrick 2020) It includes a review of what I consider the main subjects of the book, and the body-based practices, which I consider the heart of the book .

Some of the things that we go to that are “supposed to” help and “supposed to” heal, really are re-wounding and are violent. And to slam people in the room, given the histories that our bodies have experienced, and just slam people in the room willy-nilly and then say, “Let’s talk about race,” means that you are not giving the respect to the issue of race that it deserves. Safely discharge the energy that remains (exercise, dance, physical labor, whatever safe activity your body desires). The urge to rely on them for the way out is part of the systemic white fragility that has been a crutch for white bodies for many generations. Tippett: So I want to back up a little bit and talk about your particular way into this, with the focus on the trauma that is actually in all of us.