MENTACIDE: The Mental Effects of Slavery and Racism

“Join us Sunday, May 15 , for “Mentacide: The Mental Effects of Slavery and Racism” an online presentation discussing the psychological impact of slavery and racism on Black people in America.

A traumatic event can lead to mental health issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, alcohol and drug use, as well as negativly impacting the relationships with family, friends, and work associates. Any event that involves experiencing or witnessing actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence has the potential to be traumatic. Almost everyone who experiences trauma will be emotionally affected, and there are many different ways in which people will respond.

For Black America, the Holocaust of Enslavement was a traumatic experience. The 246 years of physical slavery and brutality; 100 years of segregation and psychological terrorism, and the on-going atrocities of racism and violence has impacted the mental health of African American people. The attitudes and behaviors of Black people has been damaged by the traumas of slavery and racism.

Dr. Joy DeGruy, author of Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing, argues that Black “infighting,” materialism, poor parenting, jealousy, colorism, defeatism, frustration, rage—these “dysfunctional,” these “negative” behaviors “as well as many others are in large part related to trans-generational adaptations associated with the past traumas of slavery and on-going oppression.”

In this presentation we will review:

• The effects and legacy of slavery and racism on the mental health of Black America
• The lingering effects of Post Traumatic Slavery Syndrome
• The psychology of racism past and present
• The words and works of great Black psychiatrists and psychologists such as: Dr. Francess Cress Welsing, Dr. Amos Wilson, Dr. Naim Akbar, and others”