Book 1, Week 2
My Grandmother's Hands, by Resmaa Menakem
First 2 weeks in the books ;) for YSYV Book Club!
Perhaps you haven’t started reading yet, or maybe you’re already 10 chapters in!
As I continue to read, I can’t help but highlight something on nearly every page… Of the many lines marked today, let me share these two excerpts:
“Over time, the efforts to manage this dirty pain in white bodies, both individually and collectively, led to the ever-greater institutionalization of white-body supremacy- in science, history, economics, governance courts, policing, education, employment, housing, medicine, psychology, and just about everything else.”
“It is now up to us- to you and me and to everyone else who cares about human beings- to put a stop to this cycle of trauma. This means metabolizing the trauma in our bodies. It means accepting and moving through clean pain, individually and communally.”
Something I notice in this verbiage, is the repetition and reminder that it is not just us, as a single individual, who have an effect on the perpetuation of trauma… We are a collective force. Sometimes that force is used for great things, and other times that force can cause great pain.
But to begin this change for good, we must start being present with ourselves…
If this post interests you: Book club meets 1x/Month. Reading 1 book every two months.
Our First Meeting: 📅 May 29th, 7pm ET 🕑 1 Hour 📚 Chapters 1-10 📍 Zoom, Join Here Meeting ID: 849 1751 2119 Passcode: 118654
Where to buy the book: Amazon, Central Recovery Press, Audible, Spotify, Thrift books, Book shop, Audiobooks.com, Local and online libraries, and more! Find Black-Owned Bookstores here