Survival as a Language: What Trauma Teaches You Without Words | Keyimani Alford

In this powerful and deeply moving episode, we sit down with Keyimani Alford—educator, advocate, and author of Oakland Hills, Milwaukee Rivers: A Memoir of Survival, Identity, and Purpose—to explore the silent yet profound lessons of trauma. Keyimani shares his personal journey through hardship, displacement, and the search for identity, revealing how survival becomes its own unspoken language—etched into the body, the choices we make, and the way we navigate the world.

Together, we unpack how trauma shapes our behaviors long before we have the words to name it, and how healing begins when we learn to listen to our story—beyond language. Keyimani offers reflections on resilience, self-reclamation, and what it means to transform pain into purpose.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How trauma communicates through silence, habits, and instinct

• The role of environment in shaping identity and survival responses

• What it takes to rewrite your story after generational pain

• Why healing isn’t forgetting—but remembering with compassion

This episode is a tribute to every unspoken battle and quiet strength. Join us for a conversation that honors survival not just as endurance, but as a sacred message calling us back to wholeness.

Keyimani Alford website: drkeyspeaks.com

Buy Oakland Hills, Milwaukee Rivers on Amazon: https://shorturl.at/1gq4J