February 4, 2021 • 14 mins
We're back! It’s officially Black History Month 2021 in the US and Canada, and recently President Biden signed executive actions to help work towards racial equity in our nation. These recent "happenings", as well as, my recent exploration of the film series, Small Axe by Steve McQueen, got me thinking about racial justice issues and generational trauma and healing. So in this episode we'll discuss generational trauma and explore generational healing with journal prompts to help us on our journeys.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
TaReon Jael (00:00):
Welcome to the Wellness for Black Girls
podcast, a semimonthly podcastthat exists to help Black Women
bloom while moving to thedimensions of wellness.
I'm your host, TaReon Jael, aCertified Health Educator and
Medical Lab Scientist.
For more information, pleasevisit wellnessforblackgirls.com.
(00:24):
While I hope you enjoy listeningto and learning from the
podcast.
Please remember that it is notintended to be a substitute for
a relationship with the licensedhealthcare provider.
Hello, and welcome to episode15.
We're back.
I want to start out by giving ahuge shout out to the ladies and
(00:47):
gents that have been tuning inand supporting the show
regularly, even while we took abreak over the holidays.
I recently took a look at thestats for the podcast.
And I was pleasantly surprisedto see that the podcast has
steadily been receiving hundredsof downloads a week.
(01:07):
I was even more surprised to seethat the podcast family includes
listeners from all over theworld in places like Canada, the
UK, South Africa, Germany,France, the Netherlands,
Australia Bermuda, Mauritius,Namibia, Zimbabwe and Haiti.
(01:31):
And of course I have to shoutout to the listeners in my home
country, in the U.S.
iN cities like Atlanta, Denver,Chicago, Houston, Dallas,
Baltimore, Philly, Las Vegas,LA, and the Bay Area.
So thank you so much forlistening to and supporting the
(01:54):
podcast.
It fills my heart with so muchgratitude.
It's my hope that the thingsshared on this podcast have and
will continue to touch your lifein a positive way.
Before we dive into today'sepisode further.
I want to let you know that thepodcast will return to a
(02:15):
semimonthly schedule.
So be on the lookout for thenext episode on Thursday,
February 18th.
I also want to give a quickwarning.
We're going to be talking abouttrauma.
We're not going to get into anydetailed stories, but I will be
mentioning trauma in a generalsense.
(02:36):
So if you feel like this may bea topic that may bring up
difficult emotions for you, feelfree to skip this episode if
that feels right for you.
It's officially Black HistoryMonth 2021 in the U.S.
and Canada, and recentlyPresident Biden signed executive
(02:58):
actions to help work towardsracial equity in our nation.
I appreciate President Biden'swillingness to tackle racial
justice issues and not ignorethem.
I'm hopeful that his actionswill inspire others in positions
of power to join in the pursuitof achieving racial equity and
(03:22):
not just in this nation, but inother nations as well.
My husband and I recentlywatched Small Axe on Amazon
prime video.
It's a collection of five filmsby Steve McQueen that tells the
stories of London's West Indiancommunity.
It's set from the late 1960s tothe mid 1980s.
(03:46):
The overarching theme being theWest Indian communities' ability
to maintain their culture, prideand unity while fighting against
the rampant racism anddiscrimination they faced.
It's a phenomenal series with somany themes to uncover and
unpack, but the themes thatstood out to me were
(04:10):
generational trauma andgenerational healing.
So all of these things,President Biden's executive
actions, the start of BlackHistory Month and the Small Axe
film series got me thinkingabout racial justice issues and
(04:30):
especially generational traumaand healing.
Of course, I started doing alittle research to help me
better understand generationaltrauma and healing specifically.
So in this episode, I hope toshare what I've learned.
So let's start out by definingwhat generational trauma is.
(04:57):
Simply put it's trauma that'sexperienced by one person that
extends into the nextgeneration.
It's also referred to asintergenerational trauma or
transgenerational trauma.
Generational trauma is arelatively new field of study.
(05:17):
So there's a lot left to exploreabout its impact and how it
shows up in people.
To date Holocaust survivors andtheir descendants have been the
most widely studied as itrelates to generational trauma,
but it's possible for anyone tobe impacted by it.
And this is especially true forthose from historically
(05:41):
marginalized groups, thosewho've endured repeated and
ongoing abuse.
So how exactly does this form oftrauma happen?
There are two ways this can bepassed down.
The first is through learnedbehaviors, beliefs, and patterns
that parents pass on to theirchildren.
(06:03):
Dr.
Joy DeGruy, researcher andeducator, best known for her
studies on the African-Americanexperience starting with slavery
and the Post-Traumatic SlaveSyndrome, found that survival
behaviors slaves used back thenare often still taught to
generations today.
(06:25):
One example of this survivalbehavior includes when parents
of Black and Brown children makeit a point to sit down with
their kids to talk to them aboutpotential encounters with racism
and potential police encounters.
Dr.
Alfiee Breland-Noble, apsychologist who studies mental
(06:47):
health disorders and treatmentsfor African-Americans, says that
the dread many African-Americanparents face in talking with
their children about potentialpolice encounters is
"traumatizing for parents andfor kids." She goes on to say
that the scenario is part of alegacy of shared stress.
(07:12):
She defines shared stress as thefeeling that you have to manage
everything within your owncommunity, because you don't
know what you'll encounter insociety at large.
She says that there is a senseamong African-Americans and
other marginalized people thatour stressors are unique to us
(07:33):
and not necessarily shared bypeople outside our groups.
So we share stories of our livedexperiences to help set the
stage for how our loved onesencounter the world.
And as a side note, I'veincluded links for you to learn
more about Dr.
DeGruy and Dr.
Breland-Noble and their work.
(07:56):
Generational trauma can also bepassed down genetically due to
trauma's affect on our geneticprocesses.
Through the study ofepigenetics, it is known that
behaviors and environment cancause changes that affect the
way our genes work.
And these changes can be passeddown through generations.
(08:20):
The effects of generationaltrauma can show up in a person's
life in many different ways.
It can have emotionalmanifestations, like
hyper-vigilance, a sense of ashortened future, mistrust, high
anxiety, depression, panicattacks, nightmares and issues
(08:43):
with self-esteem andself-confidence.
The physical manifestations caninclude effects on the immune
system.
THe immune system may beoveractive, and this is when we
see auto-immune disorders ordisorders that occur when the
body attacks itself or theimmune system may be
(09:06):
underactive.
And in this case, we see aperson experience increased
infection and illness.
Generational trauma can alsoaffect the immune system of the
brain, which consists ofmicroglial cells.
Under normal conditions thesecells enhance the growth of the
(09:29):
nerve endings and get rid ofdamaged neurons and infection.
But when the cells are in hightrauma, reactive state, they go
haywire and eat away at thehealthy nerve endings.
This damage can lead to anxiety,depression, and dementia.
(09:52):
So what about healingindividually and as a community?
You may or may not have heardpeople say that"we" are the
generation that will be"thegeneration" that breaks
generational curses and does thegenerational healing work.
(10:14):
I believe that previousgenerations also did this
healing work in a way that wasrelevant and accessible during
their time.
They simply had differentpractices and language for it.
So what about generationalhealing, love, joy, expression,
(10:36):
creativity, and resilience?
Our ancestors survived throughexperiences that we can't even
begin to imagine, but they foundways to survive it.
They found ways to raise theirfamilies, to fight for freedom
and justice, to gather togetherfor times of celebration and to
(10:58):
make a way out of no way.
I refuse to believe that we onlyinherited trauma.
We inherited healing.
We inherited love, joyexpression, creativity,
resilience, and so much more.
So how do we continue thisgenerational healing work?
(11:22):
The first is through self care.
This step speaks specifically tothe epigenetics that I mentioned
before.
Unlike genetic changes,epigenetic changes are
reversible, because they do notchange our DNA sequence.
They simply change how our bodyreads a DNA sequence.
(11:44):
It's believed that epigeneticchanges can be reversed by
changing our behaviors.
We can do this through ourself-care practices, especially
practices that help us managestress.
We can also continue this workthrough community care.
This was also a common theme Inoticed throughout the Small Axe
(12:08):
film series I mentioned earlier.
There were many scenes that showthe West Indian community
supporting and looking out forone another.
This was and continues to be oneof the sources of strength for
our people throughout theAfrican Diaspora.
(12:28):
Generational trauma has impactedour community, so generational
healing has to happen at thecommunity level as well.
I want to dive into this topicmore in a future episode, so
please be sure to stay tuned forthat.
The biggest thing to understandabout generational trauma is
(12:51):
that it is real trauma, not acharacter flaw.
It simply means that we areaffected by the way, our
ancestors experienced, processedand adapted to trauma.
Through self care and communitycare we can practice and share
(13:11):
healing strategies that build usand our communities up.
I've created a few journalprompts to help us on our
generational healing journeys.
The first prompt says, thinkabout your ancestors and the
things they endured.
(13:33):
What thoughts or emotions comeup for you when you think about
this?
Now imagine your ancestorsfinding moments to celebrate and
rejoice together.
What thoughts any emotions comeup for you when you imagine
this?
(13:54):
If you could write a letter toone of your ancestors, what
would you say to them?
What steps can you take to helpcontinue the generational
healing?
And the final prompts.
If you could write a letter toone of your descendants, what
would you say to them?
(14:16):
I hope I was able to encourageyou today and provided you with
some helpful reflectionquestions.
Head towellnessforblackgirls.com and
click on episode number 15 forshow notes.
There you'll find links toreferences and resources
mentioned in the episode.
(14:36):
If you're not already go aheadand follow the podcast
@wellness4blackgirls and followme@tareonjael.
Welcome to the Wellness for Black Girls
podcast, a semimonthly podcastthat exists to help Black Women
bloom while moving to thedimensions of wellness.
I'm your host, TaReon Jael, aCertified Health Educator and
Medical Lab Scientist.
For more information, pleasevisit wellnessforblackgirls.com.
(00:24):
While I hope you enjoy listeningto and learning from the
podcast.
Please remember that it is notintended to be a substitute for
a relationship with the licensedhealthcare provider.
Hello, and welcome to episode15.
We're back.
I want to start out by giving ahuge shout out to the ladies and
(00:47):
gents that have been tuning inand supporting the show
regularly, even while we took abreak over the holidays.
I recently took a look at thestats for the podcast.
And I was pleasantly surprisedto see that the podcast has
steadily been receiving hundredsof downloads a week.
(01:07):
I was even more surprised to seethat the podcast family includes
listeners from all over theworld in places like Canada, the
UK, South Africa, Germany,France, the Netherlands,
Australia Bermuda, Mauritius,Namibia, Zimbabwe and Haiti.
(01:31):
And of course I have to shoutout to the listeners in my home
country, in the U.S.
iN cities like Atlanta, Denver,Chicago, Houston, Dallas,
Baltimore, Philly, Las Vegas,LA, and the Bay Area.
So thank you so much forlistening to and supporting the
(01:54):
podcast.
It fills my heart with so muchgratitude.
It's my hope that the thingsshared on this podcast have and
will continue to touch your lifein a positive way.
Before we dive into today'sepisode further.
I want to let you know that thepodcast will return to a
(02:15):
semimonthly schedule.
So be on the lookout for thenext episode on Thursday,
February 18th.
I also want to give a quickwarning.
We're going to be talking abouttrauma.
We're not going to get into anydetailed stories, but I will be
mentioning trauma in a generalsense.
(02:36):
So if you feel like this may bea topic that may bring up
difficult emotions for you, feelfree to skip this episode if
that feels right for you.
It's officially Black HistoryMonth 2021 in the U.S.
and Canada, and recentlyPresident Biden signed executive
(02:58):
actions to help work towardsracial equity in our nation.
I appreciate President Biden'swillingness to tackle racial
justice issues and not ignorethem.
I'm hopeful that his actionswill inspire others in positions
of power to join in the pursuitof achieving racial equity and
(03:22):
not just in this nation, but inother nations as well.
My husband and I recentlywatched Small Axe on Amazon
prime video.
It's a collection of five filmsby Steve McQueen that tells the
stories of London's West Indiancommunity.
It's set from the late 1960s tothe mid 1980s.
(03:46):
The overarching theme being theWest Indian communities' ability
to maintain their culture, prideand unity while fighting against
the rampant racism anddiscrimination they faced.
It's a phenomenal series with somany themes to uncover and
unpack, but the themes thatstood out to me were
(04:10):
generational trauma andgenerational healing.
So all of these things,President Biden's executive
actions, the start of BlackHistory Month and the Small Axe
film series got me thinkingabout racial justice issues and
(04:30):
especially generational traumaand healing.
Of course, I started doing alittle research to help me
better understand generationaltrauma and healing specifically.
So in this episode, I hope toshare what I've learned.
So let's start out by definingwhat generational trauma is.
(04:57):
Simply put it's trauma that'sexperienced by one person that
extends into the nextgeneration.
It's also referred to asintergenerational trauma or
transgenerational trauma.
Generational trauma is arelatively new field of study.
(05:17):
So there's a lot left to exploreabout its impact and how it
shows up in people.
To date Holocaust survivors andtheir descendants have been the
most widely studied as itrelates to generational trauma,
but it's possible for anyone tobe impacted by it.
And this is especially true forthose from historically
(05:41):
marginalized groups, thosewho've endured repeated and
ongoing abuse.
So how exactly does this form oftrauma happen?
There are two ways this can bepassed down.
The first is through learnedbehaviors, beliefs, and patterns
that parents pass on to theirchildren.
(06:03):
Dr.
Joy DeGruy, researcher andeducator, best known for her
studies on the African-Americanexperience starting with slavery
and the Post-Traumatic SlaveSyndrome, found that survival
behaviors slaves used back thenare often still taught to
generations today.
(06:25):
One example of this survivalbehavior includes when parents
of Black and Brown children makeit a point to sit down with
their kids to talk to them aboutpotential encounters with racism
and potential police encounters.
Dr.
Alfiee Breland-Noble, apsychologist who studies mental
(06:47):
health disorders and treatmentsfor African-Americans, says that
the dread many African-Americanparents face in talking with
their children about potentialpolice encounters is
"traumatizing for parents andfor kids." She goes on to say
that the scenario is part of alegacy of shared stress.
(07:12):
She defines shared stress as thefeeling that you have to manage
everything within your owncommunity, because you don't
know what you'll encounter insociety at large.
She says that there is a senseamong African-Americans and
other marginalized people thatour stressors are unique to us
(07:33):
and not necessarily shared bypeople outside our groups.
So we share stories of our livedexperiences to help set the
stage for how our loved onesencounter the world.
And as a side note, I'veincluded links for you to learn
more about Dr.
DeGruy and Dr.
Breland-Noble and their work.
(07:56):
Generational trauma can also bepassed down genetically due to
trauma's affect on our geneticprocesses.
Through the study ofepigenetics, it is known that
behaviors and environment cancause changes that affect the
way our genes work.
And these changes can be passeddown through generations.
(08:20):
The effects of generationaltrauma can show up in a person's
life in many different ways.
It can have emotionalmanifestations, like
hyper-vigilance, a sense of ashortened future, mistrust, high
anxiety, depression, panicattacks, nightmares and issues
(08:43):
with self-esteem andself-confidence.
The physical manifestations caninclude effects on the immune
system.
THe immune system may beoveractive, and this is when we
see auto-immune disorders ordisorders that occur when the
body attacks itself or theimmune system may be
(09:06):
underactive.
And in this case, we see aperson experience increased
infection and illness.
Generational trauma can alsoaffect the immune system of the
brain, which consists ofmicroglial cells.
Under normal conditions thesecells enhance the growth of the
(09:29):
nerve endings and get rid ofdamaged neurons and infection.
But when the cells are in hightrauma, reactive state, they go
haywire and eat away at thehealthy nerve endings.
This damage can lead to anxiety,depression, and dementia.
(09:52):
So what about healingindividually and as a community?
You may or may not have heardpeople say that"we" are the
generation that will be"thegeneration" that breaks
generational curses and does thegenerational healing work.
(10:14):
I believe that previousgenerations also did this
healing work in a way that wasrelevant and accessible during
their time.
They simply had differentpractices and language for it.
So what about generationalhealing, love, joy, expression,
(10:36):
creativity, and resilience?
Our ancestors survived throughexperiences that we can't even
begin to imagine, but they foundways to survive it.
They found ways to raise theirfamilies, to fight for freedom
and justice, to gather togetherfor times of celebration and to
(10:58):
make a way out of no way.
I refuse to believe that we onlyinherited trauma.
We inherited healing.
We inherited love, joyexpression, creativity,
resilience, and so much more.
So how do we continue thisgenerational healing work?
(11:22):
The first is through self care.
This step speaks specifically tothe epigenetics that I mentioned
before.
Unlike genetic changes,epigenetic changes are
reversible, because they do notchange our DNA sequence.
They simply change how our bodyreads a DNA sequence.
(11:44):
It's believed that epigeneticchanges can be reversed by
changing our behaviors.
We can do this through ourself-care practices, especially
practices that help us managestress.
We can also continue this workthrough community care.
This was also a common theme Inoticed throughout the Small Axe
(12:08):
film series I mentioned earlier.
There were many scenes that showthe West Indian community
supporting and looking out forone another.
This was and continues to be oneof the sources of strength for
our people throughout theAfrican Diaspora.
(12:28):
Generational trauma has impactedour community, so generational
healing has to happen at thecommunity level as well.
I want to dive into this topicmore in a future episode, so
please be sure to stay tuned forthat.
The biggest thing to understandabout generational trauma is
(12:51):
that it is real trauma, not acharacter flaw.
It simply means that we areaffected by the way, our
ancestors experienced, processedand adapted to trauma.
Through self care and communitycare we can practice and share
(13:11):
healing strategies that build usand our communities up.
I've created a few journalprompts to help us on our
generational healing journeys.
The first prompt says, thinkabout your ancestors and the
things they endured.
(13:33):
What thoughts or emotions comeup for you when you think about
this?
Now imagine your ancestorsfinding moments to celebrate and
rejoice together.
What thoughts any emotions comeup for you when you imagine
this?
(13:54):
If you could write a letter toone of your ancestors, what
would you say to them?
What steps can you take to helpcontinue the generational
healing?
And the final prompts.
If you could write a letter toone of your descendants, what
would you say to them?
(14:16):
I hope I was able to encourageyou today and provided you with
some helpful reflectionquestions.
Head towellnessforblackgirls.com and
click on episode number 15 forshow notes.
There you'll find links toreferences and resources
mentioned in the episode.
(14:36):
If you're not already go aheadand follow the podcast
@wellness4blackgirls and followme@tareonjael.
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