We can often refer to social media platforms to identify current hot topics, and if we compare what is trending now, versus what was trending a year ago, the passion and sense of civic duty towards Black Lives Matter and supporting other oppressed groups has wavered. While the masses have simmered their protest, the everyday microaggressions, intolerance, gross generalizations and profiling has not. Racial trauma is not only real but pervasive. The impact of being stigmatized and judged due to race breaks down the fibers of any human spirit; it compromises a person’s felt sense of security in the world, and let’s be honest, all anyone truly wants is be okay, to be seen, and to be valued.
What compromises treating PTSD, which is often the result of situations that escalate due to race, is that it continues to happen. There is no respite. Putting out one fire to only experience another would leave anyone in chronic distress. What social media is consumed with are methods for “self-care,” which is incredibly important, however, the impact of racial trauma cannot be repaired with a bubble bath; this pain runs deep, so deep that it modifies brain function, one’s nervous system, and overall lifespan trajectory. While the hype may have subsided, the need to treat racial trauma has not. Whether it is finding therapeutic support, or being a part of the protest, find a way challenge yourself to draw this reality to the surface so that you don’t perpetuate anymore suffering for yourself or anyone in your circle.