Personal Narrative, Collective Pain: Healing Community Trauma with Prose & Poetry

Personal Narrative, Collective Pain: Healing Trauma with Prose & Poetry, is a book which serves as a framework for the healing of trauma in the African community with use of personal narrative, prose & poetry. This book provides a detailed outline of curriculum for a 6 week creative writing workshop series designed to help African women heal from chronic trauma exposure. Trauma is defined as a deeply distressing or disturbing experience. In Personal Narrative, Collective Pain, we focus on identifying & healing trauma by developing the narrative voice of those left voiceless as a result of a traumatic experience. Readers will learn how to use personal and collective narrative to heal and uplift their community from impacts of traumatic experiences. The ultimate goal of this book is to BUILD RESILIENCE in our community by creating a support system for Black women, who are constantly processing the pressures of raising a black family in an unjust racist society.

Oya Kali is a public health practitioner who specializes in community mental health. Oya Kali has dedicated her life to the creation of 'safe' community spaces for Africans globally to process their collective trauma as oppressed people. In, Personal Narrative, Collective Pain, Oya Kali aims to provide a theoretical framework and practical guidelines for creation of social support systems in the African community. Oya Kali's life work is building resilience.