Description
A NATIONAL BESTSELLER
“My Grandmother’s Hands will change the direction of the movement for racial justice.”— Robin DiAngelo, New York Times bestselling author of White Fragility
In this groundbreaking book, therapist Resmaa Menakem examines the damage caused by racism in America from the perspective of trauma and body-centered psychology.
The body is where our instincts reside and where we fight, flee, or freeze, and it endures the trauma inflicted by the ills that plague society. Menakem argues this destruction will continue until Americans learn to heal the generational anguish of white supremacy, which is deeply embedded in all our bodies. Our collective agony doesn’t just affect African Americans. White Americans suffer their own secondary trauma as well. So do blue Americans—our police.
My Grandmother’s Hands is a call to action for all of us to recognize that racism is not only about the head, but about the body, and introduces an alternative view of what we can do to grow beyond our entrenched racialized divide.
- Paves the way for a new, body-centered understanding of white supremacy—how it is literally in our blood and our nervous system.
- Offers a step-by-step healing process based on the latest neuroscience and somatic healing methods, in addition to incisive social commentary.
Resmaa Menakem, MSW, LICSW, is a therapist with decades of experience currently in private practice in Minneapolis, MN, specializing in trauma, body-centered psychotherapy, and violence prevention. He has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show and Dr. Phil as an expert on conflict and violence. Menakem has studied with bestselling authors Dr. David Schnarch (Passionate Marriage) and Dr. Bessel van der Kolk (The Body Keeps the Score). He also trained at Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute.
Needed for class- great
A very idealistic approach in dealing with the racial trauma that is very much alive in America. I like the way the author built the narrative based on his grandmother’s unspoken experiences in her life which was exemplified by the condition of her hands (and feet). The author made references to the trauma being in our bodies, which was different. The only issue I had with this book is where the author tried to equate the trauma that White folks experienced in Europe before coming to America with the plight of Black folk that is ongoing. How did White folks overcome their trauma? Prosperity! I believe that there is a correlation between our trauma as Black folk and reparations and why this country is so adamant about not giving us reparations…because it will help to offset our trauma, and they don’t want us healed. However, if they are inclined towards healing, then this book makes some practical suggestions (and exercises) to do so; for Whites, Blacks, and even the PO-lice.
Menakem argues that our bodies are implicated in our reactions to the otherness of others. The trauma that we have experienced personally and generationally is stored within us and reacts to the differences of others. The practices embedded in the book are meant to help us retrain our bodies to lower our hostility to each other. Such good stuff here!
This book is a wondeful read and an excellent dialogue to get the conversation started to bridge the gap of systemic racism. I highly recommend this book as a tool for black, white and law enforcement to come together to mend our racial divide and start the healing process and mending of fences. Well done, Brother Resmaa Menakem.
Well supported claims.