{"id":34256,"date":"2024-06-06T12:43:04","date_gmt":"2024-06-06T19:43:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=34256"},"modified":"2024-06-06T12:44:37","modified_gmt":"2024-06-06T19:44:37","slug":"the-reality-of-black-historical-trauma-makes-healing-a-form-of-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/06\/06\/the-reality-of-black-historical-trauma-makes-healing-a-form-of-justice\/","title":{"rendered":"THE REALITY OF BLACK HISTORICAL TRAUMA MAKES HEALING A FORM OF JUSTICE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

POSTED IN RATTLING THE BARS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trauma passed down through generations as a result of oppression is both a political and a medical question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BY MANSA MUSA<\/a><\/strong> JUNE 3, 2024 (therealnews.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stock photo via Getty Images<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"YouTube<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Stand with Independent Journalism: Help Us Expose the Truth and Fight Injustice<\/strong>.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The oppression of Black people is more than just a historical or political question. The accumulated harms of centuries of slavery, segregation, mass incarceration, and racism in all forms have a psychological and medical effect, in addition to political and economic ones. Trauma, after all, describes the physical injury of the brain as a result of harmful experiences. At the scale of communities and generations, such trauma can be passed down and reproduced for decades, and even centuries. In the first of a two-part conversation, traumatologist Dr. Da\u2019Mond Holt<\/a> explains the medical reality of Black historical trauma, and what kinds of interventions and solutions are required to promote healing as a form of justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Studio Production: David Hebden, Cameron Granadino
Post-Production: Cameron Granadino<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

TRANSCRIPT<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is part one of a two-part interview with Dr. Da\u2019Mond Holt. He\u2019s an author, researcher, clinician, and national trauma expert, certified traumatologist through the Traumatology Institute, and a certified mental health specialist, trauma crisis specialist through the American School Council Association, and is a licensed restorative practice justice trainer. In his book, Black Trauma: What Happens to Us, he says that trauma is real, but more importantly, Black trauma is real. Welcome to Rattling the Bars, Dr. Holt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Da\u2019Mond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you, sir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And for the sake of our audience, Dr. Holt is from Arizona, University of Arizona, and it\u2019s our honor and pleasure to have him come down this way to talk about trauma and all things relative to trauma. Dr. Holt, first let\u2019s pull back some of the things. So in your opening chapter, titled Black Trauma, you first explain what trauma is and then explain why you say Black trauma. Because as soon as somebody say trauma and then you say, \u201cOh, trauma, native American trauma, European trauma, certain certain trauma.\u201d Explain what trauma is, and then is there a disconnect between that and Black trauma?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah. So again, thank you for having me on your show. Trauma is very, very important, and it\u2019s most important to be able to fix trauma, understand trauma, you need to be able to properly define what trauma is. And right now we are in a society where people are using the word trauma or, \u201cI\u2019ve been traumatized,\u201d or, \u201cI have PTSD,\u201d and these are buzzwords to a lot of people, but they really don\u2019t understand what that means. So to define it from our perspective as a traumatologist and trauma expert is, according to American Psychological Association, trauma is a traumatic experience that\u2019s based on something mentally, emotionally, physically, or sexually. But to make it more important, more in detail, it\u2019s based on wounds and injuries. The root word of trauma means an injury. So when we say trauma or someone\u2019s been traumatized, from a neurological or a psychological perspective that means the brain has been traumatized, or the brain has been wounded or injured because of life\u2019s circumstances, as far as, the brain can be injured because of a life-threatening situation or a life-devastating situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Join thousands of others who rely on our journalism to navigate complex issues, uncover hidden truths, and challenge the status quo with our free newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox three times a week<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It actually brings injury and wounds to different regions of the brain, and that impacts brain functioning. And so when these injuries and wounds have been impacted because \u2026 The brain has been impacted by wounds and injuries because of trauma, when it\u2019s untreated, it is symptoms like having an infection. And this is where we began to have symptoms like mental illness, like depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, paranoia, all those things. It\u2019s because it has come from an injury that has been untreated. So if you continue to have injuries that\u2019s untreated, it becomes maladaptive and you begin to have these symptoms. Two, why Black trauma?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black trauma is really a, what we would consider in the traumatology world, it\u2019s historical trauma. Historical trauma is a trauma that is associated with minority groups. African-Americans are certainly as part of the minority group and a disenfranchised and marginalized community. And we have our own specific traumas. Every ethnic, pretty much, ethnic type of population in our country have a historical trauma. Jewish people have a historical trauma because of the Holocaust. Latinos and Latinx and Hispanics have their traumas because of border issues and things of that nature. Native Americans have their type of trauma because white America came and Europeans came and took their country and took their land and language and whitewashed, exactly, right? So that would be our native type of trauma. But there is something called Black trauma as well. And it goes back 400 years ago, going back to the 1600s all the way in slavery when Africans came into the Americas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And all of the concerns that happened to them, far as lynchings, far as tortures, far as amputations, far as rapes that took place, all that was traumatizing. And what makes it dangerous is we didn\u2019t heal from that 400 years ago. Every decade in every century, that trauma of our Black people matriculated all the way through generations up to today. So all of that stuff that our ancestors went through, we are still being impacted in our brain and in our bodies. So the question is, though, if I had the technology of reading CAT scans and MRIs 400 years ago, what would the brains of slaves look like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right. Okay, you set it up in terms of identifying that each ethnic group has trauma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And you set it up and you identify those things that would be relative to why they would be traumatic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, most definitely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right. But initially you said that trauma equals injury, that when you say the brain, when you say trauma, I\u2019m traumatic, I\u2019m suffering from trauma, I\u2019m suffering from some kind of injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay. How is it that when you say Black trauma, what is the injury that Black people are suffering from, to say we will keep it in that context, as opposed, to simplify, we\u2019re injured?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes. Yes, we\u2019ve been injured and I speak into to that space. So trauma, the root, trauma means an injury or wound. And when you\u2019ve been traumatized, it does impact the brain. Sometimes it even rewires the brain where the person is really not the person who they used to be. In the African-American community, we know for a fact that trauma impacts different regions of the brain. It impacts your thalamus, which is very important because that\u2019s what uses sensory perception to sense the room for danger. We know it impacts your amygdala, which is your fear center. We know it impacts your frontal lobe and the prefrontal cortex area where you make decisions, choices, and all of that. People that have been through a lot of trauma, that most definitely impacts that. We know it impacts your hippocampus When it comes to your episodic memory, your emotional memory, short-term, long-term memory, all of that comes from your hippocampus region of your brain. Your hypothalmus-pituitary-adrenal axis that releases all of the cortisol in the body along with the HPA, that all is impacted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So we know that trauma does that, certainly African-American, Black Americans, regions of the brain have been impacted in those areas. And those things are very, very important. This is the reason why, because of our traumas and because of our wounds and scars that we did not heal from, we pass it on to the next generation. So perhaps what I\u2019m struggling with, maybe my great-great-grandfather went through it and my great-great-grandfather went through it. And my great-grandfather, my grandfather, my father, has all now been passed on to me through generational trauma and also something we call epigenetics, where we pass it on through our genes and how our genes express in our DNA. So it\u2019s very important. These are the things that we are going through. And then also cultural. In a Black family, Black communities, we don\u2019t talk about things. We don\u2019t go to the doctor, we don\u2019t see counselors, we don\u2019t go to therapists, we don\u2019t like talking about what we issue. So we have a lot of family secrets in Black families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of that is like a pressure cooker brewing, just waiting for that opportunity for an explosion. And so when we don\u2019t heal from our traumas and we allow these things to happen and exacerbate the outcomes for African-Americans without the right love, without the right treatment, without the support network and building those type of support networks, can be very maladaptive for our community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay. So how do we process this trauma? Because, okay, you outlined some of the things that goes on into, when you say epigenology, it impacts our DNA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, it does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay, I want to try to get a perspective on relating it to what we see today, in terms of, okay, is this the result of this, what we see today with our kids? Or is this the result of when we see in the Black community where a little kid, I\u2019ll give you an example, like a child, her little friend get killed, four-year-old friend get killed. And her four-year-old friend get killed, and the parents, the innocent Black community parents tell the kid that she gone with Jesus. But at the same time, when the parents talking to their adult friends and saying the no-good father created the problem, and the kid\u2019s sitting there listening to this. How do we process it? How do we get to a space where as far as the normalcy, everything, you can go anywhere in the world in the Black community and you can fit in. If you\u2019re Black, it is no problem making an adjustment to fit in. Is that the normalcy that\u2019s come from the trauma, or what?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, a lot of times \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you can understand my point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I understand your point. So really ask for more application of how people can really understand what does it look like, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So one, you have different types of trauma. You have acute traumas, that\u2019s kind of like a one-hit wonder that happened one time but have long-term effects. Then there\u2019s something called complex trauma where it\u2019s more long-term, like a person living in poverty or have been abused for several years and never told anybody. Or you have complex trauma, where you have people who have been through four different traumatic experience and they\u2019re living with those four different traumatic experiences every single day, from someone having a parent that have a mental illness or having a parent that\u2019s on drugs or substance abuse and addictions, or a family member has been incarcerated, or someone who\u2019s been sexually abused. All those things, that\u2019s what we call complex trauma. And so it can be from abandonment, it can be from rejection, it can be from all kinds of different, from going from foster care to foster care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We see it in the classrooms. A lot of kids, most of the schools are failing right now because of trauma, because of the frontal lobe can\u2019t process information that the teacher is teaching. Because if you haven\u2019t eaten in three days, you\u2019re not paying attention to algebra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right, right, right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So that\u2019s how I\u2019m breaking it down to where people can get it. So when people\u2019s like, \u201cWell, why was I struggling?\u201d And a lot of these kids don\u2019t have learning disorders like we\u2019re just pushing out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right, right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot of kids have early childhood trauma that impacts the brain, the process to learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if you don\u2019t understand that that\u2019s early childhood trauma, it\u2019s easy to misdiagnose kids and over-medicate kids from symptoms that they really don\u2019t have because the root cause is really trauma. So I always say even as practitioners, clinicians, therapists, school psychologists, speech pathologists, we need to slow down on a diagnosis and really understand what type of traumas that these kids are having. Because a lot of times we are overly medicating kids, and we are certainly misdiagnosing too many kids when we don\u2019t understand trauma is a factor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay, then in your book you speak of coming face to face with adverse child experiences. This is a good way to move into that. Walk us through that, walk us through what that looked like and try to contextualize to what need to be done. Because you just spoke on if I\u2019m in school and I\u2019m smart, but I can\u2019t get it. And they diagnosed me as having a learning disability. And so I have a learning disability, they put me in a low class and then I\u2019m in a low class, now I\u2019ve got these complexes about being here. Because I know I know the material, but I can\u2019t process it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, your brain can\u2019t process as long as you\u2019re in a fight or flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you\u2019re in survival mode and you\u2019re in a fight or flight. And God created our bodies to be like that, because if you are in danger and a bear is chasing you, you don\u2019t need to know algebra, how to get out the equation, right? Is that kind of making sense?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So it\u2019s hard to process that curriculum when the frontal lobe is offline because the survival mode of the brain is taking over to survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what happens is, when you are in survival mode all the time because you\u2019re in the hood, let\u2019s go, let\u2019s make it real practical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Come on, come on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019re in the hood, you\u2019ve seen your homie get blasted, that\u2019s a traumatic experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019re in the hood and you\u2019re trying to study your homework and you hear gunshots throughout the night, that has you hyper vigilant. When you\u2019re in the hood and you see your mom get beat up by a lover, domestic violence, all of that impacts the brain. And that child goes to school with those traumatic experiences. And we be wondering why kids can\u2019t learn. Kids are not learning because they\u2019re dumb and stupid and ignorant. No, that\u2019s not the case. It\u2019s because the frontal lobe has been hijacked because of all of the trauma, because they\u2019re in survival mode. So when we want kids to be learning, we have to get them out of that fight or flight. So to your question, ACEs, adverse childhood experiences is what it means, it\u2019s an assessment on how practitioners and doctors such as myself assess and evaluate the ramifications of early childhood traumas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it\u2019s a 10-questionnaire and you check one for each box of the question that pertains to you and your trauma. If you\u2019re over four more in your score, then you\u2019re more likely to get into substance abuse, get into addictions, for young kids to be having risky behavior far as being promiscuous and having too many \u2026 All kinds of different stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right, right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So we see all of that because of the early childhood traumas, and that is what impacts us. And then another thing we need to see, a lot of people, early childhood trauma we see through technology is, the brains are smaller. You have smaller brains, you have compromised neurodevelopment, which is going to probably be some signs that this person\u2019s going to have issues far as with AD, ADD, ADHD, can\u2019t pay attention, have issues with readiness, language delays, all of that is coming from trauma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So this is the reason why as a traumatologist, I want to be advocating that we need to bring healing. Today\u2019s data, 80% to 90% of Americans have experienced at least one traumatic experience. Can you imagine that? That\u2019s a very high number. 80% to 90% of Americans have experienced at least one traumatic experience in their life. So trauma is extremely high, and our bodies are not designed for that. So let me throw in something that is probably not in your questionnaire. So not only am a traumatologist, but I\u2019m an integrative medicine provider. So that also means I treat the body. And so what do I see in the body outside of the brain, is that when people have a lot of trauma, a lot of chronic stress, it creates something called chronic and cellular inflammation, which makes us sick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So people, say you start having earlier development of rheumatoid arthritis and you start having early development of back pain and chronic pain, swollen feet, all of these different things. And you\u2019d be saying, \u201cWhat\u2019s going on in my brain from all of that trauma and stress could really give me swollen feet, where I can barely walk or I can barely stand up straight because of back pain and chronic pain?\u201d Yes, because that turns into chronic inflammation. If you don\u2019t address chronic inflammation, it turns into autoimmune disease. If you don\u2019t deal with the autoimmune disease, then it turns into myelobolic disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Come on now, you\u2019re telling me that pork, you\u2019re telling me that swine ain\u2019t giving me hypertension, that the pork ain\u2019t the reason why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It can, yeah, most definitely, too much of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fact that I looked up, they\u2019ve been lynching everybody in my neighborhood and I\u2019m scared of that. But let me push back on this right here, because I\u2019ve got serious issues with this. Okay, so you say that, and it\u2019s not in reflection to what you\u2019re saying, this is a reflection of how society does things. Okay, so I codify behavior. I say, \u201cOkay, I\u2019m going to give you a list of 10 things. If you get scored high on these things, you\u2019re all right. If you score low on these things, something\u2019s wrong with you.\u201d Now, what if a person \u2026 Okay, I\u2019m in this space and you tell me you\u2019re doing this assessment on me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I say, \u201cOkay, I\u2019m intentionally manipulating the score.\u201d All right, so how do you gel with that in terms of saying, \u201cWell, you\u2019re going to treat me when I already know that.\u201d I said, \u201cI\u2019m in here for the purpose of manipulating this mechanism.\u201d So how you \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So you make a great point. So I\u2019m just going to flat out and be very bold and raw and say everything has to do with readiness. You can have the best doctor, you have a team of doctors. If the patient is not ready, nothing is happening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So if you\u2019re manipulating, that\u2019s a sign of readiness. That\u2019s a sign you\u2019re in denial and you\u2019re not ready. So one of the things before I take on a patient or a client is that person have to have a level of readiness. If a person is not ready, it doesn\u2019t matter how \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay, not to cut you off, how do you get that? Because this is where I\u2019m saying I\u2019m drawing the line in the sand saying the problem lies in the system saying I identify and I can get money for it. I\u2019m identifying, I can get a grant for it. I\u2019m identified, I can do a paper on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I\u2019m saying I\u2019m drawing the line in this. Okay, you\u2019re saying that in your practice that you have a mechanism to identify or get them to be comfortable or developing into getting ready?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can help them to show where they are, but the readiness comes from the patient. It can never come from me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Actually, we\u2019re not even \u2026 We are healers in certain ways, but the real healing comes from the inside of the person. So the person have to really have a level of readiness, no matter who that practitioner, clinician, or that doctor is, is that the patient have to really want it and they have to be committed to putting in that work. I cannot do that for them. So that\u2019s another thing also in my field of work, is getting people who pretend and they\u2019re just ready to put in that work, then they\u2019re not showing up to appointments. You know what I\u2019m saying? They\u2019re not following up, they\u2019re not taking any medicine, they\u2019re not doing the treatment. You\u2019re not ready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So that\u2019s another thing we have to really put emphasis on when we\u2019re talking about people healing, is that a lot of that has to do with them on the inside of really being ready, coming out of denial, stop blaming because your father wasn\u2019t there. I\u2019m not saying your father wasn\u2019t there, I\u2019m just saying your daddy can\u2019t continue to be the excuse why you\u2019re not being the best version of yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right, right, right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is that kind of making sense?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That makes good sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So readiness is a big issue in this work. Not just as a patient, but also as a community, that we have to support our Black men. Black men far as being able to have a space and talk about our Black masculinity, talk about our anger issues and talk about getting in touch with our feelings. Because you know how we were raised, I know I was in the hood, you showed emotion, you\u2019re getting beat up, you\u2019re getting punked, you\u2019re getting bullied, you were soft. You cry, cry in front of us and see what happened, right? And so what happens is we got molded with that mindset that wasn\u2019t healthy. And now we are 30, 40, 50, 60 years old and we don\u2019t know how to build attachments with our own children with our emotions because we were taught and trained from our environment to cut that stuff off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s trauma as well. So one of the things I say in one of my books is, hurting people hurt people. Stop bleeding on people that didn\u2019t cut us. If you don\u2019t heal from your trauma, you\u2019re going to continue to bleed on others. You\u2019re going to bleed on your marriage, bleed on your children, bleed on your friendships, bleed even in your church. I don\u2019t even think we talk enough also about the Black church\u2019s trauma as well and how we need to prepare to be able to bring healing and facilitate healing even in the body of Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay, let\u2019s go here then, all right, because you\u2019re saying, okay, we are going to accept the perspective that readiness is on the individual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I\u2019m not putting the onus on you to say to make me ready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m saying \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But how I can assess it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do I assess it, that\u2019s good. Assessment. That\u2019s assessment, right? So I\u2019ve got to evaluate and assess you and come with a rubric and a score to be able to say, \u201cOkay, based on what I\u2019m saying is, based on what I\u2019m looking at, you\u2019re not ready yet.\u201d Or, \u201cBased on what I\u2019m seeing, let\u2019s make your first appointment.\u201d That\u2019s pretty much how it\u2019s going to go. Or you\u2019re in the middle range. Let\u2019s take care of some things first and let\u2019s revisit and have these conversations to see, can we get you ready for that next appointment. So readiness is going to be huge in regards to helping people heal. And that can never be all on your doctor, that can never be all on your therapist. That\u2019s not even fair for us. But we do have the skill sets to help you navigate through your issues and through your challenges to help you get to the next level. I think we also underestimate the power of life coaches as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only do you need a doctor and a therapist, because we help you with your deficits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With you bleeding, we need to sew you up so you can stop hemorrhaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right, right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once we get you stabilized and get you to stop bleeding and hemorrhaging, I also think life coaches is very important too. Because now life coaches start giving you, pushing you in that right direction far as purpose, far as strategies and goals and targets. That\u2019s where that coach come in. So you need coaching, you need counseling from the therapist, the psychological world. You need care from your doctors in the medicine world. But you also need coaching. It\u2019s the three Cs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I ain\u2019t put that in the book so I\u2019m going off the cuff, so you\u2019re getting some free stuff today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay, yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that\u2019s how I look at it. It\u2019s a community, it\u2019s overlayered, it\u2019s a holistic approach. You need care, you need counseling, and you need coaching to really steer this thing in regards to helping people heal from their trauma. And you need everything, you need all of that, your doctor, your therapist, your priest, your rabbi, your pastor to bring that spiritual component as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So basically it takes a village.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It takes a village.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All right, so as we close out, you say Black Trauma: What Happens To Us? So Black trauma, how do we change what\u2019s happened to us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah. How do we change? I think we may even have to, and I\u2019m probably going to make a bold statement as a traumatologist and say I think at some point I think we are going to have to go back and revisit post-traumatic stress disorder. Because the word post suggests that it was the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I think that we may have to be looking at our trauma as constantly being present. A lot of people\u2019s trauma is a present situation. And if it\u2019s a present situation, how in the world could it ever be post?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right? So that\u2019s one of the things that we may have to start considering, a new term of PPTTSD, which is present and post-traumatic stress disorder, in the future in regards to a future thing. But let\u2019s get to the resilience piece since we\u2019re closing. The good thing is, you can heal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Come on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s the powerful thing, and that\u2019s really the opportunity to shout, is because no matter what has happened to you, you can heal. I always say that trauma may be your history, but it doesn\u2019t have to determine your destiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Come on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And you can heal. There\u2019s something called neuroplasticity that we talk about in the neurology and psychological world. It\u2019s that the brain can be rewired to learn and adapt to new things. So no matter what has happened to the brain, the brain can regenerate and create healing for the individual with the right steps in place and the right methodologies in place. Their outcomes of life can be very, very promising. This is now what we call trauma resilience. So I am the architect of a new model in our schools called trauma resilient schools, where we actually help people come into these schools to heal in the classrooms. And that\u2019s where we\u2019ve got to be. We\u2019ve got to shift from just surviving to thriving. So yes, I am record saying that trauma informed may be a good start for people who have never been introduced to trauma training, but trauma informed is not enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So everybody\u2019s still going around talking about trauma informed training. That\u2019s nice. But after COVID it is not enough. You\u2019ve got to have something more. So in my trainings I do four trainings. You get your first training called trauma informed. Then trauma two is trauma sensitive. Trauma three is trauma responsiveness, and then trauma four is trauma resilience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

SEE THE LATEST EPISODES…<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RATTLING THE BARS<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Rattling the Bars<\/em> puts the voices of the people most harmed by our system of mass incarceration at the center of our reporting on the fight to end it. The show was founded by the late Black Panther and political prisoner Marshall “Eddie” Conway, and is now hosted by Charles Hopkins, better known as Mansa Musa, who himself spent 48 years behind bars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So there\u2019s four steps that get you to that place of resilience. And pretty much defining resilience really means it\u2019s a person who can bounce back from a setback, people who don\u2019t allow difficulties to be the big issue why they can\u2019t achieve. In other words, in short, surviving to thriving. And so I just wanted to tell all your listeners today that I don\u2019t care what traumas or experiences that they\u2019ve been through, Dr. Holt is saying you can heal. If you\u2019re committed, if you\u2019re ready and you\u2019re tired of living the life you have, and sometimes you\u2019ve got to get sick and tired of being sick and tired. Sometimes that light don\u2019t come on until you\u2019re really being sick and tired of being sick and tired. But if you are able and ready and committed to put in that work, I\u2019m telling you right now, you can heal and live the best version of your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There you have it, the real news, rattling the bars. Dr. Holt, he ain\u2019t laying hands on you, he\u2019s laying a plan on you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, I like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We want to make sure that you understand that when we talk about trauma and he\u2019s talking about Black trauma, we\u2019re talking about healing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of the day, we\u2019ve been able to identify two things. One, we suffer from an injury, and two, we can heal from that injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So just like any medicine, when you go somewhere to get sewed up, they put a band-aid on it, they tell you take the prescription, this is the prescription that Dr. Holt is telling you to take. Take the prescription of focusing on your problem and then healing from your problem. Dr. Holt, we appreciate you very much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. DaMond Holt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you for having us. It\u2019s been a pleasure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And we want to remind all our listeners that the real news of Rattling the Bars, you\u2019ve got to continue to support the real news of Rattling the Bars. We\u2019re in this space primarily to bring people like Dr. Holt in, to give it to you raw, to give it to you the way it is and the way it should be. And you can question whether or not he has any validity. I\u2019m quite sure he can represent his point of view wholeheartedly. But at the end of the day, we ask that you continue to support us, continue to support Rattling the Bars, and there you have it, the real news of Rattling the Bars. Because guess what? We actually are the real news.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MANSA MUSA<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mansa Musa, also known as Charles Hopkins, is a 70-year-old social activist and former Black Panther. He was released from prison on December 5, 2019, after serving 48 years, nine months, 5 days, 16 hours, 10 minutes. He co-hosts the TRNN original show Rattling the Bars<\/em>.More by Mansa Musa<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source: https:\/\/therealnews.com\/the-reality-of-black-historical-trauma-makes-healing-a-form-of-justice?utm_medium=email&utm_source=The+Real+News+Network&utm_campaign=4e0f28da04-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_06_05_02_13_Inequality&utm_term=0_-4e0f28da04-[LIST_EMAIL_ID]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

POSTED IN RATTLING THE BARS Trauma passed down through generations as a result of oppression is both a political and a medical question. BY MANSA MUSA JUNE 3, 2024 (therealnews.com) Stock photo via Getty Images Stand with Independent Journalism: Help Us Expose the Truth and Fight Injustice. The oppression of Black… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34256"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34256"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34258,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34256\/revisions\/34258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}