Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America's Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing

This is an excellent analysis of the long-term effect of slavery on the emotional and social well-being of African Americans and their relationship with each other. Throughout DeGruy's discussion is the reminder that healing is always possible and absolutely needed in order to build healthy selves, families and communities.

I am enjoying this read. Very informational

I keep loaning it out and nobody gives me my book back. That's how great this literary masterpiece is. Needless to say, i bought it again.

You’ve got to read this book!

Very informative and Dr. Joy breaks it down. A must read for the Culture. I would recommend this to All my family and Friends to read.

Where do I begin? So many gold nuggets. I am using this book as the focus on the topic of mental health in the black community. Dr. Joy DeGruy, in her book, gets the conversation started and gives us a thorough breakdown and answers all the questions we need to know, to understand the subject of PTSS. I highly recommend this book to every living human being, it has the answers to the systemic racism crisis in America.

I purchased this book because I had many questions I wanted answered. Most of them were questions of "Why?". My biggest question was why we as black people have so many unhealthy habits in how we treat each other.As a young African American male who was raised by his mother in a predominantly white suburban area, I wanted to know why, when I encountered other black youth in more urban areas, they would tell me I "talk white." What is "talking white?" Basically, talking white means I was talking like I have an education. Why do so many members of the black community (those without an education) reject me for valuing education? Why is it that when one black person fidns a way out of the ghetto, it seems the whole neighborhood, church included, condems that person for leaving "his/her people" and wanting to live in the suburbs with the whites? Why don't we support one-another in this society that has always held us from achieving our full potential?I wanted to learn why we seem to have no clue of who we are, and so many of us, young and old, strive to "prove" we are "black enough." So talking a certain way makes us black? Or is it eating certain foods that makes us "black"? Listening to only certain kinds of music? We lack a firm sense of cultural identity. We take rebellious pride in being at the bottom, and equate success with "whiteness." We denounce the achievements of any black person and ostracize him from the community. We work to pressure our own to stay at the bottom.In this very interesting book, the author, Dr. Joy Degruy Leary, proposes a number of explanations for why the African American community has developed these and other unhealthy cultural habits. Leary examines this very real "crabs in the barrel" mentality, as well as many other self-destructive habits which plague the black community. Leary establishes a diagnoses, and calls it Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome. Leary presents a very strong argument that the behaviors are all symptoms that have been passed down through the generations of African American people from the dawn of the trans-atlantic slave trade to today. Leary uses her own observations to support her theory of Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome.This book is a very thoughtful read. The reason I give this work only four stars is because I truly feel that Leary's argument would have been much more affirmed and effective if she had included a visual timeline to help the reader to better understand the timeframes and chain of events in history discussed in the book. The argument also would have been more effective if the author spent more time on each point. At times it seems she's just getting started before summarizing all that was just said and moving on. Scholarly sources are cited and research is used, but the book does not explore any one study or statistic in great depth. It is a fast read.

Let's get real: There's a reason why the African American community deals with issues that aren't a problem for other communities. There's a reason certain conversations continue to go on and on for us and I don't doubt others are waiting for us to "get a clue" already. The reason stems from our history. Certain behaviors, ways of being, ways of communicating etc, were passed down from generation to generation. Dr Joy declared from the start that this is her theory and she goes further to mention certain things of the past have been related to as fact, when in fact, they were just opinions and theories as well. If you're willing to be honest with yourself, this book will be an eye-opener for you. I can look at my own family and the relationships I have with other African Americans and tell how they're different from the relationships I have with people from other communities. Dr Joy may not have scientific facts to back up her opinion, but we're putting enough of our people in the grave to be able to see that something's off.

Knowledge is power. Good reading material for those who are hungry for wisdom.

Dr Joy Degruy has written Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome with great clarity, compassion, empathy, passion and truth. It does not seek to blame but to understand and help the decedents of slavery all over the world come to terms with their traumatic past.It then gives guidance to black parents, families and communities on how they can practically support their children deal with this trauma, heal and succeed in societies where ‘white privilege’ is a reality.It is a truly brilliant book and I wished I had read it sooner. A must read for every parent who have black children.

excellent moyen de comprendre accepter et dépasser l'histoire

Thanks to this book I can now understand and empathize more with African-American History and how it affects society today. Unfortunately the history of the US and slavery was only taught very poorly at school in Europe. In my opinion it affects everybody and we all should care when it comes to injustice so a country and the world can heal. Highly appreciated and recommended book!

A must read for all races. This should be required high school readings. Dr. Joy Degruy articulates how America's past has formed their present. If America's scholars read and comprehend this publication, they may be ready to conduct their own Truth & Reconciliation Commission like Germany, South Africa and Canada have done.