Building the beloved community through cultural humility
Society continues to be significantly impacted by four major pandemics, COVID-19, economic distress, political chaos, and racial injustice. Taken together these pandemics have the potential to negatively impact the mind, body, and spirit of those who are most vulnerable, especially African American clients (sometimes referred to as BIPOC, Black Indigenous People of Color). Racial trauma alone can have deleterious effects, especially for those who may be victims of other forms of trauma. African Americans can sometimes be re-traumatized by systems they must interact with and by those who provide services and resources in those systems. This workshop will introduce the integration of two powerful concepts, “Building the Beloved Community” and “Cultural Humility” as a strategy for preparing the environment for providing culturally responsive services and helping African American clients to heal from racism related trauma. Serviceproviders are often exposed to secondary trauma when working with African American clients who have experienced racial trauma.