Daily Mental Practices

African and Native Americans alike bear the fundamental assumptions of their historical traumas.  The deliberate and systematic mass traumas inflicted by Whites on these populations included, but were not limited to, forced displacement, colonization, genocide, slavery, lynchings, Jim Crow laws, colorism, and mass incarceration. These endured traumas have resulted in psychological, physical, social, and economic disparities that has led to profound mental injury and loss across several generations (Mueller et al., p. 1171).

These conditions of adversity create the context for resilience — a process that allows individuals to interact and protect against perceived risks, social obstacles, and physical challenges to facilitate growth.  In spite of stressful circumstances communities without living wages or wealth, may continue to show resilience due to the transfer of intergenerational wellness that serves as a buffer against historical trauma.  Such “original instructions” speaks culturally to how one lives and interacts in the world, serving as historical tools of knowledge, resistance, strength, self‐determination, and healing (Mueller et al., p. 1172).  In establishing independent community institutions and mutual support networks African Americans have thrived, while making extensive use of these networks has resulted in extended families, friend groups, church memberships and social organizations that adhere to African American cultural values and communalist practices.

The necessary support of these networks, in addition to community leadership, promotes emotional well-being while buffering the impact of historical trauma on both medical and mental health.  For example, health promoting behaviors such as exercise and involvement in religious practices can offset maladaptive coping methods, being characterized as a power differential which contributes to developing certain cathartic coping strategies (Jones et al., p. 10).

In collaboration with The Association of Black Psychologists, Emotional Emancipation (EE) Circles were developed as Black support groups to mitigate the effects related to inferiority and the devaluing of Black lives.  EE Circles provide opportunities for individuals to tell empowering narratives rather than the disempowering portrayals stereotypically associated with African American heredity.  These activities can revitalize and realign a sense of self, build relationships with other Blacks, while practicing emotional well-being collectively and individually (Jones et al., p. 13).