crow - Blogs - TheBlackList Pub2024-03-29T07:29:13Zhttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/crow1968 protests at Columbia University called attention to ‘Gym Crow’ and got worldwide attentionhttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/1968-protests-at-columbia-university-called-attention-to-gym-crow2018-08-29T01:46:45.000Z2018-08-29T01:46:45.000ZNana Baakan Agyiriwahhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/NanaBaakanAgyiriwah<div><h1>1968 protests at Columbia University called attention to 'Gym Crow' and got worldwide attention</h1><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233695/original/file-20180827-75972-19v0afj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="File 20180827 75972 19v0afj.jpg?ixlib=rb 1.1" /><br />Black power militant H. Rap Brown and Stokely Carmichael (right) appeared at a sit-in protest at Columbia University in New York City on April 26, 1968. <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Associated-Press-Domestic-News-New-York-United-/1aea42ff04f2da11af9f0014c2589dfb/287/0">AP</a></span><p></p><p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/stefan-m-bradley-540901">Stefan M. Bradley</a>, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/loyola-marymount-university-2631">Loyola Marymount University</a></em></span></p><blockquote><p>“If they build the first story, blow it up. If they sneak back at night and build three stories, burn it down. And if they get nine stories built, it’s yours. Take it over, and maybe we’ll let them in on the weekends.”</p></blockquote><p>This is what <a href="https://snccdigital.org/inside-sncc/the-story-of-sncc/">Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee</a> and Black Panther Party affiliate <a href="https://snccdigital.org/people/h-rap-brown/">H. Rap Brown</a> told a crowd of Harlem residents at a community rally in February 1967.</p><p>They were there to protest Columbia University’s construction of a gymnasium in Morningside Park, the only land separating the Ivy League university from the historic black working-class neighborhood. The gym, along with the discovery that Columbia was affiliated with the <a href="https://www.ida.org/">Institute for Defense Analysis</a> – a national consortium of flagship universities and research organizations that provided strategy and weapons research to the U.S. Department of Defense – stirred students to protest for more decision-making power at their elite university.</p><p>When considering the key events of 1968, such as the <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/tet-offensive">Tet Offensive</a>, the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/01/01/1968s-chaos-the-assassinations-riots-and-protests-that-defined-our-world/?utm_term=.3eae1a9710a2">assassinations of national leaders</a>, demonstrations at the <a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/protests-at-democratic-national-convention-in-chicago">Democratic National Convention</a> and the <a href="http://time.com/3880999/black-power-salute-tommie-smith-and-john-carlos-at-the-1968-olympics/">Olympics</a>, as well international events concerning democracy, the Columbia uprisings merit attention.</p><h2>Issues converge on campus</h2><p>As I detail in my book – <a href="https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/69erx5xt9780252034527.html">“Harlem vs. Columbia University: Black Student Power in the Late 1960s”</a> – all the issues of the 1960s and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/New-Left">New Left</a> collided on the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia. Students contended with the war in Vietnam, institutional racism, the generational divide, sexism, environmentalism and urban renewal – all while trying to find dates and attend classes.</p><p>Everything came to a head on April 23, 1968 – just weeks after the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. That was when members of the Columbia chapter of Students for a Democratic Society hosted a <a href="http://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cs19680424-01&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------">rally</a> on campus to decry the war – and, what many considered the racist gym in Morningside Park. Members of the Students’ Afro-American Society, or SAS, and Columbia varsity athletes – known as jocks – were in attendance as well. SAS followers showed up to resume an earlier fight they had with the jocks who supported the construction of the gymnasium.</p><hr /><p><em><strong>Read more: <a href="http://theconversation.com/revolution-starts-on-campus-102243">Revolution Starts on Campus</a></strong></em></p><hr /><p>Some students had been working with Harlem community groups. They saw the gym as a symbol of the university’s “power” over a defenseless and poverty-stricken black neighborhood. They joined local politicians who opposed the gym for a myriad of reasons, including its concrete footprint in a green park and the inability of the community to have access to the entire structure once built.</p><h2>Troubled relations</h2><p>The situation was, of course, complex. Columbia had long been a contentious neighbor to Harlem and Morningside Heights. The campus gym was decrepit and prevented the university from competing with its Ivy peers effectively in terms of facilities and space. Regarding the park, Columbia had constructed softball fields that initially community members could use. By 1968, however, only campus affiliates could access the fields. Then, white faculty members had been mugged in the park.</p><p>The university, seeking to expand in the postwar period, purchased US$280 million of land, mortgages and residential buildings in Harlem and Morningside Heights. That resulted in the <a href="https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/69erx5xt9780252034527.html">eviction of nearly 10,000 residents</a> in a decade, 85 percent of whom were black or Puerto Rican.</p><p>Columbia acted in coordination with Morningside Heights, Inc., a confederacy of educational and religious institutions in the neighborhood that also sought to “renew” the area to serve their mostly white patrons. David Rockefeller, grandson of oil magnate John D. Rockefeller, acted as MHI’s first president. Columbia was the lead institution.</p><p>Despite being close to a black neighborhood, the university admitted few black students and employed a handful of black instructors. For instance, as I report in my book, in the 1964-1965 school year, there were only 35 black students out of 2,500 students enrolled in Columbia’s College of Arts and Sciences, and just one tenured black professor. By spring 1968, there were more than 150 black students enrolled.</p><p>On April 23, protesting students attempted to take over the administration building but were repelled by campus security. Then, they walked to the gym construction site where they tore down fencing and physically confronted police. From the park, they returned to campus where they finally succeeded in taking over a classroom building, Hamilton Hall. In doing so, they surrounded the dean of the college, Henry Coleman, who chose to stay in his office with his staff. To “protect” Coleman, <a href="http://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cs19680424-01.2.2&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------">several jocks stood guard</a> outside his door.</p><h2>Clashes with police</h2><p>What started as a racially integrated demonstration of students took a turn in the late night when H. Rap Brown and several community activists showed up at the invitation of the Students’ Afro-American Society. The student group, Brown and the community activists agreed that black people solely should occupy Hamilton Hall and that white activists should commandeer other buildings. The white demonstrators accommodated, leaving Hamilton and taking over four other buildings. That forced Columbia officials to contend with not just a student protest but a black action on campus at that height of Black Power Movement. Incidentally, the community activists removed and replaced the jocks as sentries of the dean’s office.</p><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233697/original/file-20180827-75996-1t09zhg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" /><br /><span class="caption">Participants of a student sit-in assist each other in climbing up into the offices of Columbia University President Grayson Kirk on April 24, 1968.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Associated-Press-Domestic-News-New-York-United-/e464d889dde6da11af9f0014c2589dfb/297/0">AP</a></span><p></p><p>To the ire of many white university administrators of the period, Stokely Carmichael of SNCC and the Black Panthers fame showed up to explain – <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1968/04/27/archives/facultys-effort-fails-to-resolve-columbia-dispute-protest-leader.html">through the press</a> – that the university deal either with the student activists on campus or militants coming from Harlem. This insinuated the tone of the demonstrations would change drastically. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated less than three weeks before. From offices in Morningside Heights, Columbia administrators had watched Harlem burn as residents mourned and reacted to the black leader’s death. The only thing that separated the elite white institution from angry black rebels was the park in which the university was building a gymnasium <a href="https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/69erx5xt9780252034527.html">against the will of many community members</a>.</p><p>In consultation with New York Mayor John Lindsay, Columbia administrators chose to end the demonstrations by calling 1,000 New York police officers to clear the five occupied campus buildings on April 30. <a href="http://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cs19680430-01&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------">Chaos and brutality prevailed</a>. As the NAACP and other Harlem community organizations stood watch, black students vacated Hamilton, which SAS had renamed Malcolm X Hall, and were arrested peacefully. In the building that national Students for a Democratic Society leader and <a href="http://michiganintheworld.history.lsa.umich.edu/antivietnamwar/exhibits/show/exhibit/origins-of-students-for-a-demo/port_huron_statement">Port Huron Statement</a> author Tom Hayden occupied, police and demonstrators collided physically. One of the most iconic documents of the postwar period, the 1962 Port Huron Statement outlined the need for young people to be in the vanguard of the movement to eradicate racism and grind the military-industrial complex to a halt; it centered the notion of participatory democracy, which called for greater inclusion of the citizenry in decision-making. In other buildings, students found themselves on the hurt end of police batons when they resisted arrest.</p><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233699/original/file-20180827-75978-mpc9p5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" /><br /><span class="caption">Police rush toward student protesters outside Columbia University’s Low Memorial Library on April 30, 1968.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Columbia-Protests-Anniversary/76748e36da3c4dac84fd27e87105c29f/9/0">AP</a></span><p></p><h2>Worldwide attention</h2><p>In opening the door to violence, the university turned what was a local matter into an <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/03/the-students-behind-the-1968-columbia-uprising">international story</a> and radicalized moderate students and neighborhood residents. Young radicals abroad learned of “Gym Crow” and university-sponsored defense research. In solidarity, they supported the Columbia student activists’ causes and chanted “two, three, many Columbias” – a refrain that gained popularity among American student protesters.</p><p>After the demonstrations in April, ensuing violent demonstrations in May, and a <a href="http://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cs19680501-01&e=23-04-1968-30-06-1968--en-20--1--txt-txIN-Strike------">six-week student strike</a>, the university did not build the gym in the park and <a href="http://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cs19680920-01.2.11&srpos=8&e=23-04-1968-30-12-1968--en-20--1--txt-txIN-IDA------">renounced its membership</a> in the Institute for Defense Analysis.</p><p>In my view, elements of the 1968 Columbia rebellion are inspiring and instructional for today’s students, protesters and community residents. As <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/10/atlanta-super-gentrification-eminent-domain">gentrification threatens</a> the homes of poor black people in urban areas today, activists should recall that 50 years earlier young people believed they could cut their university’s ties to war research and prevent a prestigious white American institution from expanding into black spaces at the same time. They succeeded.</p><p><em>Our new podcast “<a href="https://heatandlightpod.com">Heat and Light</a>” features Prof. Bradley and Columbia University’s Michael Kazin discussing this issue in depth.</em></p><p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/heat-and-light/id1424521855?mt=2"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233721/original/file-20180827-75984-1gfuvlr.png" alt="Listen on Apple Podcasts" width="134" height="34" /></a> <a href="https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9oZWF0YW5kbGlnaHRwb2QuY29tL2ZlZWQucnNz"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233720/original/file-20180827-75978-3mdxcf.png" alt="" width="134" height="34" /></a> <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=221807&refid=stpr"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233716/original/file-20180827-75981-pdp50i.png" alt="Stitcher" width="116" height="34" /></a> <a href="https://radiopublic.com/heat-and-light-WYDE55"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233717/original/file-20180827-75990-86y5tg.png" alt="Listen on RadioPublic" width="105" height="34" /></a> <a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/History-Podcasts/Heat-and-Light-p1149068/"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233723/original/file-20180827-75984-f0y2gb.png" alt="Listen on TuneIn" width="86" height="34" /></a></p><p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/stefan-m-bradley-540901">Stefan M. Bradley</a>, Chair, Department of African American Studies, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/loyola-marymount-university-2631">Loyola Marymount University</a></em></span></p><p>This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/1968-protests-at-columbia-university-called-attention-to-gym-crow-and-got-worldwide-attention-102093">original article</a>.</p></div>Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome, Dr. Joy DeGruy Learyhttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/post-traumatic-slave-syndrome-dr-joy-degruy-leary2016-04-08T23:30:00.000Z2016-04-08T23:30:00.000ZNana Baakan Agyiriwahhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/NanaBaakanAgyiriwah<div><p><b style="font-family:cambria;font-size:14pt;"><i>Nana's Commentary:</i></b></p><div dir="ltr" style="text-align:left;"><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--09cNPe6JDE/VwgCsHG64KI/AAAAAAACY9w/a9AvNgS0qdAY_y46U_ijOQpjtQqy79Rvg/s1600/tumblr_n6e2q8Xfzf1ram4lgo1_500.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--09cNPe6JDE/VwgCsHG64KI/AAAAAAACY9w/a9AvNgS0qdAY_y46U_ijOQpjtQqy79Rvg/s320/tumblr_n6e2q8Xfzf1ram4lgo1_500.jpg?width=150" width="150" class="align-left" alt="tumblr_n6e2q8Xfzf1ram4lgo1_500.jpg?width=150" /></a><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D5ab3I7brvI/VwgAZNpqH8I/AAAAAAACY9c/TcMLGry3s1om8AOJ-XPzt4NGFDx8HVa1Q/s1600/Black-Frederick-quote-about-Slaves-Narrative-life.jpg" style="clear:right;float:right;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:1em;"></a>I remember thinking to myself, back in 1990; "I wonder what has happened to Black Folks as a result of Slavery?" It was like an epiphany, as I can actually remember where I was sitting when it occurred to me.</div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">I had just entered the field of mental health having started off in Sociology. Somehow, life lead me to the field of Mental Health and particularly as a result of wanting to use Cultural Enrichment as a way for healing and benefiting Black folks who have so many odds stacked against them as it were.</div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">I couldn't help but notice the parallels, from denial to over achievement to resilience to secrecy and a host of other conditions, outcomes and variables that plague our community as well as offer some real life stories of survival even in the most hostile of environments. We still managed to work, have families, raise our children, get an education, despite the trauma we received.</div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"><div class="separator" style="clear:both;text-align:center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear:both;text-align:center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D5ab3I7brvI/VwgAZNpqH8I/AAAAAAACY9g/kExIhAXaLCwJvnOUVE2ZqHbIxql48IB7Q/s1600/Black-Frederick-quote-about-Slaves-Narrative-life.jpg" style="clear:left;float:left;margin-bottom:1em;margin-right:1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D5ab3I7brvI/VwgAZNpqH8I/AAAAAAACY9g/kExIhAXaLCwJvnOUVE2ZqHbIxql48IB7Q/s320/Black-Frederick-quote-about-Slaves-Narrative-life.jpg" width="320" alt="Black-Frederick-quote-about-Slaves-Narrative-life.jpg" /></a></div>However, it seemed that talking about PTSD in the clinical sense was didactic, linear and devoid of inference beyond the obvious. That is, a person caught in a war zone, a person who experienced a car accident, physical/emotional abuse or the death of a loved one. We knew that it would affect them in so many ways and we often called in "Adjustment Disorder". Then we moved on to figure out strategies for healing and getting these "individuals" to a healthier mindset and that feeling of "safety" again.</div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">As these thoughts swirled around in my mind and I began to seriously wonder if we may be suffering from trauma that was inflicted upon our foreparents and if in fact, the genetic memory has been imprinted on our DNA. It has been discovered that various events can be imprinted on our DNA so how about some shock?</div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">I remember attending seminars where it was presented that our bodies remember our trauma long after the traumatic event had passed. Being a dreamer and one who interpreted dreams, I knew that our subconscious, or that place where dreams lie, would also bring up disturbing and/or traumatic events in various dream images.</div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">It all began to make sense to me that surely, African people in the Americas, and perhaps the entire Diaspora; who were captured and imprisoned on slaved ships and brought to a foreign land, most certainly have suffered serious trauma along with transmitting that trauma to generations that followed. And as Dr. DeGruy Leary explains the trauma didn't stop after they were brought here, nor did it stop after they were released from chattel slavery, it continued, and continues to this day. Much of it is insidious and below the surface but it continues in the form of police brutality, poverty, poor educational systems, dilapidated neighborhoods, erroneous depiction of our youth in the media, etc., etc., etc.</div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"><div class="separator" style="clear:both;text-align:center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DYRrdPiGl0w/VwgCEoFHHjI/AAAAAAACY9o/SxNlJp6mu7Y2n5r3Nyksh_snzd88lVCPg/s1600/DrJoyDeGruyLeary.jpg" style="clear:left;float:left;margin-bottom:1em;margin-right:1em;"><img border="0" height="183" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DYRrdPiGl0w/VwgCEoFHHjI/AAAAAAACY9o/SxNlJp6mu7Y2n5r3Nyksh_snzd88lVCPg/s320/DrJoyDeGruyLeary.jpg" width="320" alt="DrJoyDeGruyLeary.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-size:14pt;">I always wanted to research it, or see what others have done in that line of research. I am so grateful to Dr. DeGruy Leary who has done the grunt work on this topic. I am sure it can be developed even beyond the book she wrote, and perhaps others will look into it. She also has a lot of courage to even broach this subject. In my ignorance it seemed to only make sense that the impact of our past would affect our future, but the cognitive dissonance will not allow many on both sides of the aisle to see it, accept it or do anything about it. So I must commend her bravery to even take the time, resources and brain work to put this thought together so eloquently.</span></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">She, along with Dr. Frances Kress-Welsing, in my estimation, have capture two of the most profound aspects of our history post Trans-Atlantic slave trade. When you couple White Supremacy with Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome you can pretty much sum up the African experience in the Americas and throughout the Diaspora where racism is an integral part of the society where its impact can be seen in politics, education, religion, entertainment, historical analysis, health care, economics and the general welfare.</div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">Below you will find a video playlist of some of Dr. DeGruy Leary's talks on Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome.</div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="560" height="315" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PLRwF36V2kd5zOMaODd08vPNucW1ibd0dW&wmode=opaque"></iframe></div><div style="text-align:center;"></div><div style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BsK6FcPgBS4/VwgCj_LvGLI/AAAAAAACY9s/u8-PccST-lMBXMSpO7Y0xHTekZ3yLCsrw/s200/post%2Btraumatic%2Bslave%2Bsyndrome-joy%2Bdegruy.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BsK6FcPgBS4/VwgCj_LvGLI/AAAAAAACY9s/u8-PccST-lMBXMSpO7Y0xHTekZ3yLCsrw/s200/post%2Btraumatic%2Bslave%2Bsyndrome-joy%2Bdegruy.jpg?width=134" width="134" class="align-left" alt="post%2Btraumatic%2Bslave%2Bsyndrome-joy%2Bdegruy.jpg?width=134" /></a></div></div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-style:italic;font-weight:bold;margin:0in;"><div style="color:#333333;font-size:12pt;text-align:center;"></div><a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Post_Traumatic_Slave_Syndrome.html?id=dyHWMwEACAAJ&source=kp_cover&hl=en" style="font-family:Cambria;"><span style="color:#000000;font-size:x-small;">https://books.google.com/books/about/Post_Traumatic_Slave_Syndrome.html?id=dyHWMwEACAAJ&source=kp_cover&hl=en</span></a><br /><div style="font-size:12pt;"></div><div style="font-size:12pt;">Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome</div></div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:12pt;margin:0in;">Pasted from <<a href="http://joydegruy.com/resources-2/post-traumatic-slave-syndrome/">http://joydegruy.com/resources-2/post-traumatic-slave-syndrome/</a>></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:12pt;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:12pt;font-style:italic;margin:0in;">Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome</div><div style="font-family:Cambria;margin:0in;"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-style:italic;font-weight:bold;">Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America's Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing (PTSS)</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;"> is a 2005 book resulting from years of historical and psychological research by Joy DeGruy (formerly Leary)</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_Traumatic_Slave_Syndrome#cite_note-DeGruy-1"><span style="font-size:8.4pt;">[1]</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-style:italic;">PTSS</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;"> describes a set of behaviors, beliefs and actions associated with or, related to multi-generational </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_trauma"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;">trauma</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;">experienced by </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_American"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;">African Americans</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;"> that include but are not limited to undiagnosed and untreated </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_Traumatic_Stress_Disorder"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;">Post Traumatic Stress Disorder</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;"> (PTSD) in enslaved Africans and their descendants.</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_Traumatic_Slave_Syndrome#cite_note-DeGruy-1"><span style="font-size:8.4pt;">[1]</span></a></div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:10.5pt;margin:0in;"><span style="font-style:italic;">PTSS</span> posits that centuries of slavery in the United States, followed by systemic and structural racism and oppression, including lynching, Jim Crow laws, and unwarranted mass incarceration, have resulted in multigenerational maladaptive behaviors, which originated as survival strategies. The syndrome continues because children whose parents suffer from PTSS are often indoctrinated into the same behaviors, long after the behaviors have lost their contextual effectiveness.</div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:10.5pt;margin:0in;">DeGruy states that PTSS is not a disorder that can simply be treated and remedied clinically but rather also requires profound social change in individuals, as well as in institutions that continue to reify inequality and injustice toward the descendants of enslaved Africans.</div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:10.5pt;margin:0in;"><span style="color:#252525;">DeGruy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication, a Master's Degree in Social Work, a Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology, and a Ph.D. in Social Work Research. She teaches social work at </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_State_University">Portland State University</a><span style="color:#252525;"> and gives lectures on PTSS nationally and internationally.</span></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:12pt;margin:0in;">Pasted from <<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_Traumatic_Slave_Syndrome">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_Traumatic_Slave_Syndrome</a>></div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:12pt;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:12pt;font-style:italic;font-weight:bold;margin:0in;">Do You Have Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome?</div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:12pt;margin:0in;">Pasted from <<a href="http://www.ebony.com/wellness-empowerment/do-you-have-post-traumatic-slave-syndrome#axzz45G8KwTBb">http://www.ebony.com/wellness-empowerment/do-you-have-post-traumatic-slave-syndrome#axzz45G8KwTBb</a>></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:12pt;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:12pt;font-weight:bold;margin:0in;">Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome</div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:12pt;margin:0in;">Dr. Joy DeGruy Leary talks about her provocative new book</div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:12pt;margin:0in;">Pasted from <<a href="http://inthesetimes.com/article/2523">http://inthesetimes.com/article/2523</a>></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:12pt;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:12pt;font-style:italic;font-weight:bold;margin:0in;">Dr. Joy DeGruy Leary- Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome (1/19)</div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:12pt;margin:0in;"><a href="https://youtu.be/8rQjVZX6jzc?list=PL753C887F42399DEC"><span style="color:#000000;">https://youtu.be/8rQjVZX6jzc?list=PL753C887F42399DEC</span></a></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:12pt;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:12pt;font-style:italic;font-weight:bold;margin:0in;">Watch: Dr. Joy DeGruy Gives Stunning Lecture on "Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome"</div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:12pt;margin:0in;">Pasted from <<a href="http://shine.forharriet.com/2014/04/watch-dr-joyce-degruy-gives-stunning.html#axzz45GEsdPyg">http://shine.forharriet.com/2014/04/watch-dr-joyce-degruy-gives-stunning.html#axzz45GEsdPyg</a>></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:12pt;font-weight:bold;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:12pt;font-style:italic;margin:0in;"><span style="color:#434343;">Thread: </span><a href="http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/afrikan-reflections/7620-post-traumatic-slave-syndrome-theory.html">Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome Theory</a></div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:12pt;margin:0in;">Pasted from <<a href="http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/afrikan-reflections/7620-post-traumatic-slave-syndrome-theory.html">http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/afrikan-reflections/7620-post-traumatic-slave-syndrome-theory.html</a>></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:12pt;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:12pt;font-style:italic;font-weight:bold;margin:0in;">Post-traumatic slavery syndrome</div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:12pt;margin:0in;">African-Americans are killing themselves at an unprecedented rate. In "Lay My Burden Down" Alvin Poussaint and Amy Alexander try to explain why.</div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:12pt;margin:0in;">Pasted from <<a href="http://www.salon.com/2000/10/24/suicide_9/">http://www.salon.com/2000/10/24/suicide_9/</a>></div></div></div>Activists Call 50th Anniversary of Civil Rights Act Enactment "Bittersweet" Occasionhttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/activists-call-50th-anniversary-of-civil-rights-act-enactment-22014-07-01T13:30:00.000Z2014-07-01T13:30:00.000ZTheBlackList-Publisherhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/TheBlackListPublisher<div><div><p class="ecxMsoNormal"><font face="Verdana"><span style="color:#ff0000;" class="font-size-5"><em><strong>Black Activists Call 50th Anniversary of Civil Rights Act Enactment "Bittersweet" Occasion, Since Many Fail to Recognize the Progress That Has Been Made.</strong></em></span><br /></font> <em style="font-family:Verdana;"><strong><a href="http://www.nationalcenter.org/PROJ21.gif" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.nationalcenter.org/PROJ21.gif?width=250" width="250" class="align-full" alt="PROJ21.gif?width=250" /></a><span class="font-size-5">"The Civil Rights Act changed American culture... racist sentiment became largely outdated and unacceptable ...black people... are now the masters of their own destiny."</span></strong></em></p>
<p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="color:#ff0000;" class="font-size-5"><font face="Verdana"><em><strong>"Today, black Americans and other minorities no longer face the daunting obstacles that existed prior to 50 years ago. The public square and corridors of commerce are overwhelmingly accessible by blacks and whites, men and women alike."</strong></em></font></span></p>
<p class="ecxMsoNormal"><em style="font-size:medium;font-family:Verdana;">Washington, DC -</em><span style="font-size:medium;font-family:Verdana;"> Five decades after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law, activists the </span><a href="http://trk.cp20.com/Tracking/t.c?6u9oc-e31bg-sbsv985&_v=2" target="_blank" style="font-size:medium;font-family:Verdana;">Project 21</a><span style="font-size:medium;font-family:Verdana;"> black leadership network are commenting on its impact and legacy. Many believe the overwhelmingly positive efforts of the Act are being downplayed by "race-obsessed" critics.</span></p>
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<p><font face="Verdana"><font color="#000000" size="3">"The 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act is a bittersweet occasion. As we assess what its passage means for American society and why it came about, we also must lament those who treat 21st Century USA like the Jim Crow America of yesteryear," said Project 21 Co-Chairman <a href="http://trk.cp20.com/Tracking/t.c?6u9oc-e31bh-sbsv986&_v=2" target="_blank">Horace Cooper</a> , a legal commentator who formerly taught law at George Mason University and was a leadership staff member for the U.S. House of Representatives. "Today, black Americans and other minorities no longer face the daunting obstacles that existed prior to 50 years ago. The public square and corridors of commerce are overwhelmingly accessible by blacks and whites, men and women alike. Sadly though, for too many of us, broken families and undue faith in government programs serve as a modern hindrance to black achievement and success."<br /><br /> President Lyndon Johnson signed the <a href="http://trk.cp20.com/Tracking/t.c?6u9oc-e31bi-sbsv987&_v=2" target="_blank">Civil Rights Act</a> into law on July 2, 1964. The new law created sweeping protections against discrimination based on race, gender, religion and national origin. It covers issues such as access to government facilities, public accommodations, voter registration and workplace discrimination, among other things.<br /><br /> While the Civil Rights Act brought about fundamental change in the way American law handles the topic of race and helped usher in a new era of equality, Project 21 members note there are members of the civil rights lobby and self-appointed black leadership who still insist the United States is inherently racist.<br /><br /> "On the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, we are sure to hear that little has changed for black Americans. The usual batch of self-proclaimed black leaders will jockey for the opportunity to do so. They are wrong," said Project 21's <a href="http://trk.cp20.com/Tracking/t.c?6u9oc-e31bj-sbsv988&_v=2" target="_blank">Joe R. Hicks</a> , a community activist in Los Angeles who was formerly the executive director of the Los Angeles City Human Relations Commission and the Greater Los Angeles chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference -- a civil rights group formed by Martin Luther King, Jr. "Simply put, the Civil Rights Act changed American culture. Within a matter of years, racist sentiment became largely outdated and unacceptable. Race-obsessed black leaders unrealistically demand a racial utopia, but they miss the fact that black people have achieved something far more important. They are now the masters of their own destiny."<br /><br /> "The passage of the Civil Rights Act was a signpost that America demonstrated she is more committed to the idea of equality under the law than any point since the Declaration of Independence. But, unfortunately, black leaders often fail to give our nation the credit it's due," added Project 21's Cooper. "It was quite a galvanizing act when the nation came together to ensure the commitment that all Americans would be equal under the law was secured. Unfortunately, instead of stepping out and embracing the reality of Dr. Martin Luther King's dream of a colorblind society open to all Americans of good will, too many continue to focus on injustices of the past."<br /><br /> "It's been five decades since the Civil Rights Act was signed. It's a time for us to reflect upon the sacrifices made so that equality and freedom can be shared with all men," said Project 21's<a href="http://trk.cp20.com/Tracking/t.c?6u9oc-e31bk-sbsv989&_v=2" target="_blank">Demetrius Minor</a>, a youth minister and former White House intern. "It's a mix of the heroism of individuals such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks, who gave us the boldness and courage to fulfill our dreams, and a bipartisan coalition in Congress who codified their crusade into law. While there is obviously more work necessary to further the cause of civil rights, it remains largely at the personal level and not with society as a whole. It is with a grateful heart that I salute the heritage of the past that made my successes in life possible today."<br /><br /> In 2014, Project 21 members have already been interviewed or cited by the media over 800 times -- including TVOne, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Fox News Channel, Westwood One, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, SiriusXM satellite radio and 50,000-watt talk radio stations such as WBZ-Boston and KDKA-Pittsburgh -- on issues that include civil rights, entitlement programs, the economy, race preferences, education and corporate social responsibility. Project 21 has participated in cases before the U.S. Supreme Court regarding race preferences and voting rights and defended voter ID laws at the United Nations. Its volunteer members come from all walks of life and are not salaried political professionals. <br /><br /></font></font> <em><strong><font face="Verdana"><font color="#000000" size="3">Project 21, a leading voice of black conservatives for over two decades, is sponsored by the <a href="http://trk.cp20.com/Tracking/t.c?6u9oc-e31bl-sbsv980&_v=2" target="_blank">National Center for Public Policy Research</a>, a conservative, free-market, non-profit think-tank established in 1982. <a href="http://trk.cp20.com/Tracking/t.c?6u9oc-e31bm-sbsv981&_v=2" name="Contributions" target="_blank" id="Contributions">Contributions</a></font></font><font face="Verdana"><font color="#000000" size="3"> to the National Center are tax-deductible and greatly appreciated</font></font> <font face="Verdana"><font color="#000000" size="3">.</font></font></strong></em></p>
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<p></p></div>50 Years After Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" Speech—Amerikkka Is Still A Goddamn Nightmare! 3 Points and a Challenge in Response to Obama's Speech!https://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/50-years-after-martin-luther-king-s-i-have-a-dream-speech2013-08-30T16:16:02.000Z2013-08-30T16:16:02.000ZCarl Dixhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/CarlDix<div><p><span><strong>1)</strong></span> Barack Obama stepped to the mic and spoke of the importance of non-violence … for oppressed people. When any representative of the U.S. ruling class preaches non-violence, they mean non-violence for those who might get in the way of their empire. Obama was referring to people who had suffered under Jim Crow segregation and lynch-mob terror. This from the commander-in-chief of the global Amerikkkan empire, who has presided over more than 280 drone missile strikes, maintains a torture chamber prison at Guantánamo Bay and presides over a criminal injustice system that is carrying out a slow genocide aimed at Blacks and Latinos. There might as well have been blood dripping from his jaws as he spoke.</p><p><span><strong>2)</strong></span> Obama said: "If we're honest with ourselves, we'll admit that during the course of 50 years, there were times when some of us, claiming to push for change, lost our way. The anguish of assassinations set off self-defeating riots." That's Bull Shit! People didn't lose their way in the '60s: In fact, they were beginning to find their way, coming to see that the horrors they were up against were built into the very fabric of this set-up and couldn't be reformed away. But they were met with vicious repression—leaders assassinated, activists dragged into court on trumped-up charges, and railroaded off to prison and more. In the face of all that, the movement of that period wasn't able to develop the understanding needed to do what was needed: make revolution and end the horrors Amerikkka enforced on humanity then and continues to enforce today.</p><p><span><strong>3)</strong></span> Many, many people are asking big questions about the unjust nature of this system, and this has forced Obama to speak to some of the problems Black people face today. But he doesn't get into the depths of these problems or what to do about them, except to say rely on him to work on them. For example, he didn't say a fucking word about the more than two million people warehoused in prison. He did say that the unemployment rate for African-Americans has consistently been about twice that of whites and that the wealth gap between Blacks and whites has GROWN over the past decades. But he talked about this like it had nothing to do with the system he presides over.</p><p><span><strong>THE CHALLENGE</strong></span>—There is a way to uproot all these horrors. It'll take Revolution—Nothing Less! I speak to this in depth in a recent talk: "<a href="http://www.vimeo.com/73295340" target="_blank">We Don't Need a New Civil Rights Movement—We Need Revolution!</a>" Watch that talk at <a href="http://www.revcom.us/revolution/current-en.html">revcom.us</a>. And dig into <a href="http://www.revcom.us/movement-for-revolution/BAE/film.html"><em>BA Speaks: REVOLUTION—NOTHING LESS!</em></a></p></div>