Censored: Post Traumatic Slavery Syndrome

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I haven't watched the video yet, but had the pleasure of hearing her lecture at Penn State earlier this year. Her words still resonate with me. I thought I knew "Black History". I have a masters on the history of an an enslaved community. I've taught AA History for years as a stand alone course and over a decade as part of US History. I walked away from her lecture feeling like a neophyte.

Recently, someone here on DCUM posted about metabolic issues and eating behaviors of the children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors. If we can recognize the legacy received by future generations of 10 years of horror, why can't we do the same for 400 years?

DeGruy talks about this in a lecture posted on YouTube. An historical trauma framework has been applied to a number of populations, including survivors of the Armenian Genocide, Native Americans, and, of course, the Holocaust. It's also referred to as Inter-generational Trauma. But, there is a general hesitance, noted by DeGruy in this lecture, to apply it to African Americans. You can see why, as evidenced by many of the responses of this thread. People are more comfortable sharing this perspective in historical contexts in which they play no part. It gets uncomfortable when the effects are shown all around you.

Good point

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I came across the most intense, raw and uncensored talk about black people's history and present in the US. I cannot describe how intense this is, you just have to listen to her. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH7tpAK8APY

Did you listen that? Heavy, right?

this woman's work is censored. There isn't a single book by her in all of the millions of titles in Fairfax, Arlington and Alexandria public libraries.

This is inexcusable, I think. How could the librarians miss her? Dr. Joy DeGruy, "is a nationally and internationally renowned researcher, educator, author and presenter. " (http://joydegruy.com/) Look at her list of clients, she's worked with everyone from Harvard to Nike, her client/conference list is what, 100+ lines long?. http://joydegruy.com/client-list-and-press/

How come not a single copy of her work is available to the public?

Here's the link again.
Dr. Joy DeGruy - Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH7tpAK8APY


For the record: I moved to the US Ukraine. In college, I studied and got an A in African American History. Uuugh, I see now just how sugar-coated our textbook was. And the present is no better.

Censored or banned has a very specific meaning--that a town has made the deliberate decision to not permit a certain book to be made available through the public library. Do you mean that Fairfax, Alexandria, and Arlington have taken the step of forbidding citizens access to this book? Or is it just that they don't have it in their catalogs? There are over 300,000 new titles published each year. MOST books are not in libraries--it does not mean they have been censored or banned.

FYI, saying "this work has been censored" is fighting words to a librarian. Most libraries around here cheerfully display shelves of books that people have tried to ban.

+1! Censorship of any kind is wrong. There should be some kind of appeals process. OTOH, overlooked is equally bad.

Is there any way that patrons can request for the book to be added to library shelves? Perhaps a petition is in order.

(In all fairness, that doesn't mean I myself will get around to reading it, but if you want people to sign a petition to add the book to local libraries, I'd be happy to sign it.)

All the time. Please go visit your library today! Your petition suggestion is so unnecessary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I came across the most intense, raw and uncensored talk about black people's history and present in the US. I cannot describe how intense this is, you just have to listen to her. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH7tpAK8APY

Did you listen that? Heavy, right?

this woman's work is censored. There isn't a single book by her in all of the millions of titles in Fairfax, Arlington and Alexandria public libraries.

This is inexcusable, I think. How could the librarians miss her? Dr. Joy DeGruy, "is a nationally and internationally renowned researcher, educator, author and presenter. " (http://joydegruy.com/) Look at her list of clients, she's worked with everyone from Harvard to Nike, her client/conference list is what, 100+ lines long?. http://joydegruy.com/client-list-and-press/

How come not a single copy of her work is available to the public?

Here's the link again.
Dr. Joy DeGruy - Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH7tpAK8APY


For the record: I moved to the US Ukraine. In college, I studied and got an A in African American History. Uuugh, I see now just how sugar-coated our textbook was. And the present is no better.

Ugh. Thank God our libraries have professionals curators.

[Anonymous]

OP Here.

1. I absolutely believe in Post Traumatic Slavery Syndrome.

As I said, I'm from Ukraine, born in 1987. Word War II ended n 1945. My grandparents, and all our generation's grandparents lived through the hell of World War II. It started when they were teenagers. Together, through stories, our grandparents passed down the collective nightmare that is war. Their stories are so ingrained in us two generations later, that an artist at "Ukraine' got talent" brought the entire audience to tears when she told the story of war through sand. I am two generations removed, and it hurts to watch that. If you see the video, many in the audience are crying. I showed the video to my American boyfriend, and he didn't think much of it. Because that's not his past.

Kseniya Simonova's Sand Drawing, Ukraine's Got Talent
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5bdMyOWLHg


1. I know that "censored" is a strong word. I am sure that many librarians pride themselves on giving people free access to amazing ideas and knowledge.

But I worked for Fairfax library for 5 years, 4 of those years I put books back on the shelf. I can tell you that certain subjects get almost zero attention. There may be 40 home decorating books for every one book about life in prison. Also, in Fairfax was only one book how to use plants for birth control, except one title about its history.

After I left the library job, I learned the other side of the saying, "history is written by the victors." We are taught ass backwards about so much - history, economics, science.

Think about it, even people on the TOUR of the Statue of Liberty don't see her standing on the chains or hear a word about it. Why is this?

[Anonymous]

Correction - the above link to the World War II clip is wrong. Someone changed the soundtrack.

Here's the original:

Amazing Sand Art on Ukraine's Got talent - Kseniya Simonova
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOMgDbcA84A

[Anonymous]

LOL

[Anonymous]

She's telling the Truth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I haven't watched the video yet, but had the pleasure of hearing her lecture at Penn State earlier this year. Her words still resonate with me. I thought I knew "Black History". I have a masters on the history of an an enslaved community. I've taught AA History for years as a stand alone course and over a decade as part of US History. I walked away from her lecture feeling like a neophyte.

Recently, someone here on DCUM posted about metabolic issues and eating behaviors of the children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors. If we can recognize the legacy received by future generations of 10 years of horror, why can't we do the same for 400 years?

Can someone post a link to this? I would love to read.

[Anonymous]

Quit blaming librarians! I just checked and her book is available at both Arlington County and Alexandria libraries. Go search by author.

[Anonymous]

Here are the links

http://www.alexandria.lib.va.us/client/en_US/home/search/detailnonmodal/ent:$002f$002fSD_ILS$002f0$002fSD_ILS:316366/one?qu=Degruy

http://libcat.arlingtonva.us/iii/encore/search?lang=eng&target=Degruy&btnG.x=0&btnG.y=0&btnG=Search&site=Library_Pages&output=xml_no_dtd&proxystylesheet=library&client=library&collection=1


There, this thread should end. There's no conspiracy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Way to plant a post for free advertising, OP.

PTSD is triggered when you are actually in a life threatening situation--like war, rape, or an actual slave. Unfortunately, there are still slaves in the world.

You don't get PTSD from history. Call things by what they are--"minor cardiac event" is a heart attack, "Operation Iraqi Freedom" was invading a country based on trumped up evidence. It's not to say that someone isn't the victim of historical oppression, current institutional racism, or actual prejudice, but equating it PTSD is insulting actual survivors of trauma.

So yes, I get that she's trying to be provocative calling it "Post Traumatic Slavery Syndrome," but she's further creating a culture of victimhood: https://hereandnow.wbur.org/2015/09/28/microaggressions-cultural-shift

Nope. It's a real thing and has been extensively studied. There's loads of fascinating work surrounding historical trauma and Native American health. Look it up, it's worth the read.

Also, you're wrong about PTSD as well. Review definitions there to better equip yourself for understanding what contributes to PTSD.

I already have: http://www.dsm5.org/Documents/PTSD%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf

And knowing you had ancestors that were slaves over 100 years ago or hearing how your grandparents survived the holocaust don't meet either of these criteria:

"learns that the traumatic event occurred to a close family member or close friend (with the actual
or threatened death being either violent or accidental)"

or

"experiences first-hand repeated or extreme exposure to aversive details of the traumatic event..."

So no, PTSS isn't "real."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I haven't watched the video yet, but had the pleasure of hearing her lecture at Penn State earlier this year. Her words still resonate with me. I thought I knew "Black History". I have a masters on the history of an an enslaved community. I've taught AA History for years as a stand alone course and over a decade as part of US History. I walked away from her lecture feeling like a neophyte.

Recently, someone here on DCUM posted about metabolic issues and eating behaviors of the children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors. If we can recognize the legacy received by future generations of 10 years of horror, why can't we do the same for 400 years?

DeGruy talks about this in a lecture posted on YouTube. An historical trauma framework has been applied to a number of populations, including survivors of the Armenian Genocide, Native Americans, and, of course, the Holocaust. It's also referred to as Inter-generational Trauma. But, there is a general hesitance, noted by DeGruy in this lecture, to apply it to African Americans. You can see why, as evidenced by many of the responses of this thread. People are more comfortable sharing this perspective in historical contexts in which they play no part. It gets uncomfortable when the effects are shown all around you.

Good point

What does that actually mean in real life? That people are uncomfortable when the 'effects of slavery', i.e. bad behavior, are shown around us?

[Anonymous]

Whose "bad behavior" are you referring to?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whose "bad behavior" are you referring to?

I'm trying to figure out what the line means on the whole.

[Anonymous]

I understand that there are epigenetic effects experienced as much as two generations removed from the one who experienced extreme trauma, which can include changes in handling cortisol, increasing the risk for hypertension and metabolic syndrome. African Americans have an increased risk of hypertension and diabetes.

After that, though, what is the professor's main assertion?