Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America's Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing

This is some intense and easily consumed deep reading material, compelling us to gaze uncomfortably at and into the unflattering challenges which continue to face the African-American collective "Community," and delves head-on into examining & explaining how the "HISTORICAL EXPERIENCE" of Black People in the United States, those who were the unfortunate descendants of the Trans-Atlantic African Slave Trade, has both simultaneously "Strengthened" and "Hindered" hindered life for this segment of the North American population across the Generations, to where many of its effects are still being felt even to this very Day. This is a powerful companion to Dr. Carol Anderson's excellent book on on the Societal struggles of Blacks in America - "WHITE RAGE: The Unspoken Truth Of Our Racial Divide"

Really good quick service 😃

This is a very good book. It gives a very insightful culturally appropriate view toward understanding a viewpoint from another persons perspective!

Very well done book that does not make Black People feel angry nor White People guilty but from a gentle and skillful psychological point of view the book will "have you considered the impact of this or that upon both races as the result of Slavery in America?" A folk-like homespun way of tell these truths that masks the clinical questions that all trained psychologist asked..."and how would (does) that make you feel for all of us who ever sat on a couch?" The book made me consider the psychological impact of daily slave life with a WOW again and again as I never thought of the situations the book made me consider. The shared dehumanization of both whites and blacks due to the slave experience which goes a long way towards explaining to me why we as a country cannot truly discuss slavery's impact today. I found it self-healing and very necessary for all, both black and white, but especially for the victims of the African Holocaust my terminology not hers. I thought Dr. Leary PhD, did an excellent job and a high school or even a 6 grader could read the material without difficulty.

We are living in a slave master's land (was the Indians..). Hundreds of years of slavery, mental torture and degradation and then "freed." No therapy. No understanding, not even patience. To listen to Dr DeGruy's youtube videos was so enlightening to me. Sorrow, but understanding and then JOY. I didn't understand the anger, towards myself or others. Now, I can see where so much pain has come from. I can show compassion and love towards myself and others. Whatever programming I had, has been deleted--destroyed. I look back with pride, hurt, and know that I, myself, can heal. What a blessing this woman has brought us! Thank you Dr. Joy DeGruy!

Mental health and history goes hand and hand

I purchased this book because I had many questions I wanted answered. Most of them were questions of "Why?". My biggest question was why we as black people have so many unhealthy habits in how we treat each other. As a young African American male who was raised by his mother in a predominantly white suburban area, I wanted to know why, when I encountered other black youth in more urban areas, they would tell me I "talk white." What is "talking white?" Basically, talking white means I was talking like I have an education. Why do so many members of the black community (those without an education) reject me for valuing education? Why is it that when one black person fidns a way out of the ghetto, it seems the whole neighborhood, church included, condems that person for leaving "his/her people" and wanting to live in the suburbs with the whites? Why don't we support one-another in this society that has always held us from achieving our full potential? I wanted to learn why we seem to have no clue of who we are, and so many of us, young and old, strive to "prove" we are "black enough." So talking a certain way makes us black? Or is it eating certain foods that makes us "black"? Listening to only certain kinds of music? We lack a firm sense of cultural identity. We take rebellious pride in being at the bottom, and equate success with "whiteness." We denounce the achievements of any black person and ostracize him from the community. We work to pressure our own to stay at the bottom. In this very interesting book, the author, Dr. Joy Degruy Leary, proposes a number of explanations for why the African American community has developed these and other unhealthy cultural habits. Leary examines this very real "crabs in the barrel" mentality, as well as many other self-destructive habits which plague the black community. Leary establishes a diagnoses, and calls it Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome. Leary presents a very strong argument that the behaviors are all symptoms that have been passed down through the generations of African American people from the dawn of the trans-atlantic slave trade to today. Leary uses her own observations to support her theory of Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome. This book is a very thoughtful read. The reason I give this work only four stars is because I truly feel that Leary's argument would have been much more affirmed and effective if she had included a visual timeline to help the reader to better understand the timeframes and chain of events in history discussed in the book. The argument also would have been more effective if the author spent more time on each point. At times it seems she's just getting started before summarizing all that was just said and moving on. Scholarly sources are cited and research is used, but the book does not explore any one study or statistic in great depth. It is a fast read.

African Americans have been brutalized beyond imagination. Then told that they were the ones that were less than human. It boggles the mind. The whites beat, burned, skinned, lynched, mutilated and murdered African Americans at will. And these same whites believe (to this day) that this is their god given right. Even worst was the emotional and intellectual scars left from the lies that were told. If I didn't see the consequence of this everyday, I would think someone was lying to me: Some kind of Cosmic joke. The white criminals are the heroes and the African victims are the villains. This cannot actually be real. But it is. Whites stripped the Africans of their names, religions, dignity, culture and their humanity. Then called them less than human. This slight of hand is beyond comprehension. The funniest part is when I hear Whites yell to blacks "go back to Africa." This is tantamount to kidnapping someone, tying them up, putting them in your basement then yelling at them to get out of your house. Insane. This has been going on for 400 years. Wow. And America thinks it the moral leader of the free world. I have to pinch myself. This has to be a dream.... or a nightmare. The book opened my eyes.

Excellent . Stripped down to the realities and truths of how and why we move the way we do.

Dr Joy Degruy has written Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome with great clarity, compassion, empathy, passion and truth. It does not seek to blame but to understand and help the decedents of slavery all over the world come to terms with their traumatic past. It then gives guidance to black parents, families and communities on how they can practically support their children deal with this trauma, heal and succeed in societies where ‘white privilege’ is a reality. It is a truly brilliant book and I wished I had read it sooner. A must read for every parent who have black children.

Splendid 👍 👍 👍

excellent moyen de comprendre accepter et dépasser l'histoire

Really makes one look deeper into the issues we see everyday. Very informative and Insightful perspective.