Tippett: Well, you can’t drop that on people, either, because they won’t be ready to — they’ll also brace. Instead, usually out of fear, they choose the dirty pain of silence and avoidance and, invariably, prolong the pain” (Menakem, p. Kalliopeia Foundation, dedicated to reconnecting ecology, culture, and spirituality; supporting organizations and initiatives that uphold a sacred relationship with life on Earth. So this is: “Because of white body supremacy, here is how white, Black, and police bodies” — because that’s how you talk about police bodies; and we’re not talking about that, but that’s a reason to read the book — “the white body sees itself as fragile and vulnerable, and it looks to police bodies for safety and protection. Sometimes individuals reenact the traumatizing situation without intent, setting themselves up to face the same kind of situation, offering the possibility of reacting in a different way.

And so the piece that I said about that is that this idea of being able to land this race question in a way where white people are uncomfortable is a fallacy. And it hits in the face, it hits in the pharynx, it hits in the chest, it hits in the gut — it wanders the whole body.Tippett: I’m Krista Tippett, and this is On Being, today with clinical therapist and trauma specialist Resmaa Menakem. And as you’re looking straight ahead, just notice what is actually landed and what is actually still kind of in the air. And so those types of things need to be handled and taken care of with the amount of legitimacy and the amount of care that they should have.

Though the highly-charged subject-matter might ordinarily be controversial in nature, this text is written in a non-confrontational style apt to disarm, engage and enlighten readers, regardless of color or political persuasion.It is a series of thought-provoking discussions with thought leaders in race and culture, artists, athletes, comedians on how our history has played a role in the current state of our world. My grandmother used to always shake her hand and complain of arthritis, and so she used to lay on the couch. Find a quiet place and experience this short, simple body practice offered in Resmaa’s conversation with Krista on the On Being episode, ‘Notice the Rage; Notice the Silence. Tippett: So some of the ways we’re trying to work forward, we’re actually making ourselves unsafe again?

The passing down of racial trauma from one generation to the next created a legacy of suffering in all Americans, regardless of color.

Somatic Abolitionism is a living embodied Anti-Racism practice and culture building that requires endurance, agility, resource cultivation, stamina, discernment, self and communal discipline cultivation, embodied racial literacy and humility. Unlocking the Genius of your Body: Why your logic isn’t adequate when it comes to the violence of race:, Psychology Today, December 2020. Tippett: Resmaa Menakem has a clinical practice in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and teaches and presents widely. And the reason why — especially when I’m working with bodies of culture, one of the first things I have them do is orient, just like, orient to the room. Menakem: Not just that they lived through trauma, but that the angst and the anguish was decontextualized.