Universally Speaking
Rahim Islam
Rahim Islam is a National Speaker and Writer, Convener of Philadelphia Community of Leaders, and President/CEO of Universal Companies, a community development and education management company headquartered in Philadelphia, PA. Follow Rahim Islam on FaceBook(Rahim Islam) & Twitter (@RahimIslamUC)
After five articles focusing on the state of the Black male, I hope you’ve developed a better understanding of the severe trauma experienced by the Black man as a result of the American institution of slavery and how the legacy of slavery defines how we behave and what we believe about ourselves.
We are only four to five generations removed from one of the worst and most painful period (nearly 300 years) in modern history.
Our ancestors were severely traumatized by the barbaric and purposeful treatment of the slave owners.
I contend that during this period and through the socialization process, we transferred from one generation to another the on-going pain and trauma associated with the enslavement of our ancestors.
The socialization process put into effect during the enslavement of our ancestors created then and continues to perpetuate innumerable social pathologies.
Many of these social pathologies produce outcomes that cripple our families and our community’s ability to achieve self-determination.
Of the many social characteristics our ancestors incorporated during this period, none is greater than institutional and structural poverty we inherited coupled with the destruction of the role of the Black man as a father, leader, provider, as a man.
I contend that all of these issues and many more are tied to our group hurt and pain as the result of trauma, which has many forms, inflicted against our people.
Our trauma is shrouded in secrecy, denial and often ignored.
Today, our Black men, while undiagnosed, suffer from extreme levels of low self-esteem, depression, and poverty.
This condition has significantly undermined the overall health of the Black community, specifically the Black man.
Today, not only has the Black man experienced the trauma of past generations, but his current state is riddled with ongoing challenges that impact his comprehensive and total health (mind, body and spirit).
An individual’s experience of trauma impacts every area of their functionality as a human – their physical, mental, behavioral, social, and spiritual.
With the type of distress inflicted on our ancestors, and which continues to be inflicted on the black community at large, what else could we have but what we see today?
We look at, and are devastated by the outcome, but it is an illusion to believe that we were born this way.
The Black man’s mind has been significantly altered and challenged by an onslaught of images of black inferiority and white supremacy.
Our culture, language, attitudes, insights, and behaviors all point to a centered position of black inferiority. It’s generally communicated and understood by both white and black that being black is a negative.
The vehicle (body) of the Black man is also challenged because of lack of quality health care, very poor diet (soul food), and generally lack of understanding of the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.
The Black man is more diseased than any other group in America.
Lastly, if you gauged the mental status of our people (psyche) you will find extreme levels of hopelessness.
This is even exhibited by some of our most successful members of society.
There are very few examples of successful Black people working in the poorest Black communities in America.
There is a general belief that the plight of the Black man is not fixable. All of these factors are traumatizing to us as individuals, but more importantly on us as a group.
The Black family continues to inherit a disproportionate degree of trauma as part of the legacy of enslavement of our ancestors (its real and its alive and strong).
However, I want to begin to define the current levels of trauma experience by Black men and boys daily and how it affects their total well-being by briefly focusing on two areas: environment and lifestyle.
If we start with the massive incarceration of our men and the pipeline from schools to the industrial prison complex, there is a common denominator associated with many of the victims (i.e. education levels and drug addiction).
Ever since I can remember, education has been a factor.
Either the amount and type of education has been deficient in the Black community or, as both Malcolm X and Carter G. Woodson have eluded, the quality of education is woefully lacking.
Where is the education that upholds the values and the greatness of the Black experience?
What does our education system really teach us about who we are?
Even the enslavement of our ancestors is treated like an event that occurred in the past, but has no relevance in today’s black America.
Malcolm X stated that anyone who takes their children to the oppressor to be educated is a fool because the oppressor will only teach their children that the oppression is the right approach because white is superior and black is inferior.
While everyone has talked about the inequities of education to nauseous levels, very few have connected this struggle to its traumatizing impact on millions of our children only to further damage a damaged people.
Numerous studies, show a correlation between trauma and drug addiction.
These studies indicate that men and women currently receiving treatment for substance abuse frequently report a history of trauma, often occurring during childhood.
Another study found that nearly 75% of all drug addicts experienced physical and sexual abuse, emotional neglect, and family dysfunction.
As I’ve tried to articulate, where you start matters, and our people have primarily inherited poverty and dysfunction that creates massive disparities for our children.
This is trauma. Recently, social scientists expanded “emotional neglect” to include father abandonment.
The impact of the father not being in the home and in the life of a child is traumatizing and continues to lay the foundation for the pathology of alcohol and drug addiction.
In fact one study showed that children who experience high levels of emotional neglect are seven times more like to become addicted than those that don’t.
With Black men representing approximately 5% of the nation’s population but representing nearly 55% of the prison population, this phenomenon has had a traumatizing impact on our community – not just the sheer numbers, which are overwhelming, but the psychological impact (trauma) as well.
Today, nearly 70-80% of our children live in homes with females as the head-of-household which, if the scientists are correct, will ensure that our group will continue to represent the majority of the prison population.
The massive incarceration of our black men is fueled by drug addiction and poor education, both considered representative of the environment. While these are compelling factors, for too many black men and boys this is just the tip of the iceberg because the environment is riddled with risk factors associated with trauma (i.e. poverty, violence, institutional racism, discrimination, gentrification, relocation, decimation of the family, portrayal in the media, etc.).
Yes all of these issues are traumatizing to both the Black community and its children.
As I’ve tried to explain in previous articles on this subject, one of the most crippling issues regarding the enslavement of our ancestors was the emasculation of the man. In my studies, I couldn’t find many examples of our women being lynched while there were tens of thousands of our men being lynched.
During the enslavement of our ancestors, the slave owners would purposefully hang our Black men to induce fear (trauma) into the Black community and show the black woman and the black child that her man was useless and that all power derived from the slave owner and if she played her cards right (did the right thing) she could possibly save her sons (she would have trained them to fear the slave owner as well).
And, let’s not overlook the media, a very powerful weapon that and continues to be used to traumatize the Black community.
I look at the Michael Brown murder as the 21st century lynching that is played out in the media everyday all day.
In fact, this story has dominated the news waves for more than three solid months only to find that the police officer who murdered in cold blood an unarmed black boy was not indicted for one single infraction.
I can’t believe that very few black people were shocked.
Many were hoping for a different outcome but in our heart we knew this would be the verdict.
What was the message that was being communicated in the media from the Ferguson fiasco?
I believe it was a deeper message than whether the white police officer was justified or not; this was about the value of black people.
This was about the low value of black men and boys.
This was about a demonstration of power and who has and who doesn’t have it.
Did it really take 100 days to tell the world that the white police officer was in the right? That was just the buildup.
The message to the Black community and specifically to our Black boys is that no matter how right you are and how wrong we are, you have no power and we will prevail. This is the highest level of trauma.
I promise to wrap this article up and discuss the destructive lifestyle that contributes to this vicious cycle and how it continues to target Black males and to traumatize our community.