The Power Within

I attended an event recently and a young woman got up and spoke. Her comments where apt and to the point, as she related something that, I believe, is felt by many people in the Afrikan (Black) communities. Namely we still feel that no matter what we do or achieve, we are wrong, simply, by virtue of our racial/cultural background.

 This young woman, though highly intelligent, had not managed to complete a university course based on the fact that everything felt wrong to her. Now there are those out there, particularly from other communities, although not exclusively, who will believe that we are just making excuses for our own lack of drive, for want of a better word, or that we should just get over ourselves. However, it is clear from recent history (veterans of wars and conflicts globally) that trauma is longlasting and pervasive, it is transmitted from generation to generation and it can become debilitating if not treated. My position, therefore, is in agreement with Dr Joy Degruy Leary's concept of "Post Traumatic Slavery Syndrome". This concept states that the Afrikan population, particularly those born in the western hemisphere are still suffering from the impact of the enslavement, which even though physically abolished more than one hundred years ago, continues in many forms to this very day.