A Somatic Therapy Approach to Anti-Racism

The title refers to the effect that being enslaved had on his grandmother; Menakem traces the violence of racism through the specific perspectives of people on either end of racial conflicts. Beyond just explaining how racism affects all of us in variable ways, he provides specific exercises for overcoming our past. The book contains some excellent and unique ideas about healing from trauma and responding to pain within the context of ongoing racial oppression, but it takes some liberties with explanations of neuroscience and might be better approached as philosophy. I’ve previously written about healing advice from <a href="https://medium.com/thrice-removed/mat%C3%A9-part-depth-psychology-but-part-questionable-quick-fix-3697691c91e6" rel="noopener">Gabor Maté </a>focusing on trauma as the cause of all our ills, <a href="https://medium.com/thrice-removed/viktor-frankls-man-s-search-for-meaning-b78be06c81ae" rel="noopener">Viktor Frankl</a> finding a purpose for himself in order to cope in a concentration camp and advocating for the courage to have an authentic experience of the self and world, <a href="https://medium.com/thrice-removed/a-somatic-therapy-approach-to-anti-racism-8d8bfd3dbe92">Read More</a>