Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America's Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing - Hardcover

Joy DeGruy Leary

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0963401122 ISBN 13: 9780963401120

Publisher: Uptone, 2005

Synopsis

While African Americans managed to emerge from chattel slavery and the oppressive decades that followed with great strength and resiliency, they did not emerge unscathed. Slavery produced centuries of physical, psychological and spiritual injury. Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America's Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing lays the groundwork for understanding how the past has influenced the present, and opens up the discussion of how we can use the strengths we have gained to heal.

About this title

Review

“At last, the book that all people who are truly interested in under- standing the lingering psychological and social impact of enslavement on Africans and Europeans has arrived. It is no exaggeration to say that Dr. DeGruy’s Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome will mark a milestone in the understanding of the relationship between racism and slavery. Read this book again and again and then give it to your friends, family and colleagues who want to understand how the ghost of slavery haunts us all.” (Dr. Ray Winbush, Institute for Urban Research, Morgan State University)

“Dr. Joy DeGruy is a priceless asset to us all. She has lifted the bandages from the 400 year-old abscess of slavery that remains un-healed. Many black and white Americans have been taught that slavery ended by legislative means in 1865 - so the issue is neatly side-stepped in school curricula, print and broadcast media. However, the hallmark of classroom teaching and responsible journalism must be proper context - for full understanding. The removal of the slave shackle is important, but what about the emotional damage suffered by the enslaved? Dr. DeGruy has raised this argument brilliantly, for years, lecturing far and wide. Her many appearances on my program, Like It Is, have evoked huge audience reactions from our viewers. Many have told me how coming to understand Dr. DeGruy’s message on Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome has helped them grapple with the multiplicity of problems today. I share those feelings of my viewers. Now Dr. DeGruy has set down her highly important message/thesis in print. And so, to quote this wondrous physician: ‘Let the healing begin.’” (Gil Noble, Producer and Host, Like It Is, WABC_TV)

“Dr. DeGruy’s mesmerizing, riveting book is vital reading for our time. The corrosive residue on unmitigated and unrelieved atrocities called chattel slavery scours out the very core of our national identity. Neither the descendants of chattel slavery nor its designers have been unscathed. One - doomed to mythologize its meaning, the other - to turn searing pain into self-loathing. We ignore our history at our own peril. With Dr. DeGruy’s potent words we can and will heal.” (Adeliade L. Sanford, Vice Chancellor, Board of Regents, State of New York)

“Dr. Joy DeGruy’s Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing is a masterwork. Her deep understanding, critical analysis, and determination to illuminate core truths are essential to addressing the long-lived devastation of slavery. Her book is the balm we need to heal ourselves and our relationships. It is a gift of wholeness.” (Susan Taylor, former Editorial Director of Essence magazine)

Edition details

• Publisher: Uptone
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0963401122
• ISBN 13: 9780963401120
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 235