I Am Not My Trauma

- Season 1

(2021)

We explore the meaning of Black Trauma. The ramifications and effects it can have on the mental and physical health if not acknowledged by oneself. The lack of acknowledgment within the World community and the physical and mental signs of Black Trauma. We will uncover steps that can be utilized to heal and facilitate the change for the better.

London-based Pastor Ben Andoh shares his powerful story of overcoming racial abuse with us. He explains how he decided to react at that moment changed the course of his life and the profound impact it had on him.

Discrimination based on hair texture is a form of social injustice found worldwide. Atlanta-based, Nosh Is shares her story of overcoming the stigma, micro-aggression, and politics of wearing her natural hair as a black woman in the workplace. In July 2019, California passed the Crown Act to prohibit discrimination against workers and students based on their natural hair. Afro-textured hair has frequently been seen as being unprofessional, unattractive, and unclean.

"Two sides of the same coin" There are different ways of experiencing and dealing with racism. London-based, King Pr1ncess (@kingpr1ncess) shares her honest and real-life stories with us; she explains what life was like for her raised in the U.S. as a black female versus her life experiences now living in the U.K.

Racism is a common experience for black women in the maternal health system. Black women are four times more likely to die in childbirth. Atlanta-based, Tee Sanders shares her devastating story with us in the hopes of bringing awareness and comfort. With vulnerability comes strength and courage.

Racism is ingrained within institutions and systems and has therefore affected social work ideology and practice for generations. Social work as a profession aims to address the impact of social problems on the lives of individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. London-based, Sinéad Grant shares her story of what happens when structural racism gets in the way of intended processes and interventions that are meant to help end up causing harm. To create positive change knowledge is needed to understand relevant social issues.

"Death by a thousand cuts" While blatant forms of racism and discrimination have largely been "condemned" in our society, systematic oppression and racism can be manifested in less obvious forms. Micro-aggressions are everyday slights and indignities black people encounter all the time. Erinn shares her story of being subjected to racial micro-aggression and expresses how such forms can cause lasting pain.

"The Rose That Grew from Concrete" In this episode finale Atlanta/London-based, Victoria O. Oshodin shares her story of how systematic racism, institutional racism, microaggression, and physical racial abuse can affect, foster, and immobilize oneself. We uncover what lead to the creation of IANMT and how progress and retrenchment can promote racial equality.