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By Cara Anthony, Kaiser Health News, June 18, 2020 Speak in short sentences. Be clear. Direct but not rude. Stay calm, even if you’re shaking inside. Never put your hands in your pockets. Make sure people can always see your hands. Try not to hunch your shoulders. Listen to their directions. Darnell Hill, a pastor and a mental health caseworker, offers black teenagers these emotional and physical coping strategies every time a black person is fatally shot by a police officer. That’s when...

Please join us for the ongoing community discussion of A Better Normal, our ongoing series in which we envision the future as trauma-informed. LGBTQ+ Identity and Race in the US: An Intersectional Discussion On Historical and Generational Trauma With Panelists Rev. Dr. D. Mark Wilson and Alexander Cho, Ph.D., Moderated by ACEs Connection staff members Jenna Quinn and Alison Cebulla Friday, June 19th, 2020 Noon to 1pm, PT (3pm to 4pm ET) >>Click here to register<< Please join us...

By Keisha N. Blain, June 12, 2020, The Conversation. Just after midnight on March 13, 2020, Breonna Taylor , an EMT in Louisville, Kentucky, was shot and killed by police officers who raided her home. The officers had entered her home without warning as part of a drug raid. The suspect they were seeking was not a resident of the home – and no drugs were ever found. But when they came through the door unexpectedly, and in plain clothes, police officers were met with gunfire from Taylor’s...

Like many of you, I have experienced the events of the past weeks with a profound sense of anguish. My heart goes out to the families of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor. My heart breaks at the incomprehensible number who have been harmed by racist violence and by the inaction that has allowed those harms to take place. As a doctor and a policymaker, I often hear the question “what it is about black and brown people” that makes us more vulnerable to the virus? That question...

By Reshad Hudson, June 8, 2020, WHNT. MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WIAT) — As protest play out across the state in hopes to end racial injustice, some Alabama lawmakers are sharing their own stories of injustice. State Representatives Jeremy Gray, Chris England and Anthony Daniels say their stories are like so many other Alabamians. “Just being a normal citizen, and then you have these encounters, which will whether you call it racism, whether you call it with law enforcement,” said Rep. Gray.

By Elizabeth Lee, June 10, 2020, voanews.com LOS ANGELES - Steve Adarkwa grew up in Ghana. What he saw on television shaped his image of America. “Beautiful streets (and) beautiful people. I'd never seen racism before because I was coming from a country where everything was African,” Adarkwa remembered. Living in the United States as a black man shattered the glamorized image portrayed on TV. “I actually saw the intensity of racism or racial divide in this country,” said Adarkwa. He said he...

Racial Trauma, Historical Trauma & Healing 44 Mental Health Resources for Black People Trying to Survive in This Country www.self.com ACEs Connection ACEs Science & Racism Resources Center 3 Realms of ACEs ACEs & African Americans Community on ACEs Connection ACEs teach us why racism is a health equity Issue: Dr. Flojaune Cofer (Part One) Racing ACEs Gathering & Reflections; If it's not racially just; it's not trauma-informed Adverse Community Experiences and Resilience: A...

Please join us for the ongoing community discussion of A Better Normal, our ongoing series in which we envision the future as trauma-informed. Protests and riots across the country--and even worldwide--are making it impossible to ignore the racial trauma of police brutality and historical trauma embedded within our society. Many of us are grappling with complex feelings of helplessness and righteous anger. In response to this pandemic of racism in America, "A Better Normal" will hold space...

Sometimes a random encounter turns out to be not so random at all. JacqueRae Hill, a flight attendant for Southwest Airlines, shared one such encounter on Facebook . She said that her heart has been heavy with everything going on, which is especially hard hard when your job is to put a smile on people's face. But something happened on a recent flight that lifted her spirits. She wrote: "As we are boarding my first flight of the day I smile and I greet people when they come on and a man was...

Evidence suggests that during the early phase of the coronavirus pandemic, blacks are suffering the greatest death rates compared to all other ethnic groups. Why? I can assure you that the coronavirus does not discriminate based upon skin color or ethnicity. Instead, it has a predilection for populations with the highest rates of chronic diseases, poor access to health care and too little information from trusted sources. For decades, the National Medical Association — which represents more...

I had a fascinating breakfast conversation with my 11-year-old daughter a few days back. The nigh before I had a fitful dream - one that was short on plot and imagery, but chock-full of emotion. In this case, the feeling was of a deep, immovable sorrow. When I awoke, it didn't take long to recognize that the article I'd been working on - this article - was definitely working on me, too. During breakfast I knew my daughter could tell I wasn’t on solid ground. She’s a sensitive soul, and I...

Message from Sandy Holman, Director of The Culture C.O-.O.P, www.cultureco-op.com : Please join The Culture C.O-.O.P. virtually, this Saturday, May 30th, from 2-4pm to preview our Cost Of Darkness Documentary done in collaboration with UC Davis Students, nationally and internationally renowned experts, courageous community activists, families, and communities nefariously impacted by entrenched, “dark skin,” racism, supremacy ideology, systemic oppression, injustice and insidious inequity,...