Written by: Melissa Enoch, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
I joined a “I Dream A World” event leading up to 2023 Dr Martin Luther King Day. I was asked to share from a mental health therapist position what Dr Martin Luther King Day meant to me from the perspective of “I Dream A World”.
My takeaway from this experience lead me to pen the poem “I Dream a World” from the Langston Hughes poem of the same name, at the end of this article.
Five score years ago in the years 1918, 1919, America suffered the fate of a pandemic that changed the climate of the world for those living during those times. The pandemic came as scourge against businesses, family, children, Economy and affected any normalcy as many would know.
Beginning 2020, COVID-19 created a similar concern and people of all ethnicities have reached out to seek mental health therapy as the result of it exposing inner wounds that many had been able to maintain and keep at bay. As the result of solitude, observance of many high-profile suicides from individuals living with “high functioning” depression and the adjustment to the changes occurring many have had to reassess their own lives. Individuals that have ordinarily been able to cope have been led to reach out to therapy to help them live life on life’s term.
However, focus of diversity, inclusion and exclusion has created an opportunity for individuals to be seen and heard; yet many African American females continue to struggle to find someone who looks and understands them presenting similar gender, ethnicity and possible values.
Search of the number of therapists in the United States, Zippia, an online employment recruitment company, who democratizes access to every aspect of the job search process presents that there are over 198,811 therapists employed in the United States, with 75.6% women, and 24.4% men, with an average age of 41 years old and the most common ethnicity is 76.4% White.
Trauma has been experienced by many ethnicities and has presented it own series of concerns generational, however for African American women, this trauma, beginning with slavery, progressing through denial of Rights and has continued to affect them not only physically, but also emotionally, mentally and spiritually and many have been told “just get over it”, encouraged to deny the full ramification of the trauma or have learned coping mechanisms based on coping through survival and not thriving.
One personal example, includes in 1920, my Grandmother, Priscilla Lea Moore, as the one of the oldest of many children was taken by her grandfather, Mitchell Lea to Palmer Memorial Institute to learn how to maintain farming and property as he was one of the few African American landowners in Alamance County. My grandmother was able to learn and then share this knowledge with her husband, own and tend to their own property, operate a small business and be able to provide for and encourage their children to do the same. However, despite this knowledge and resources, she also needed to maintain full time employment and which left her children having to take care of themselves.
Another example, as my mother grew up with her childhood experience, she was able to share the importance of owning your own property, which led to her and my father doing the same reducing the effects of generational trauma of instability, illiteracy and other deficiencies that plagued many other African American homes. However, because she also had to maintain full time employment to ensure the stability of the home led to me having to take care of myself from an early age, continuing the cycle of being ultra responsible and independent yet creating a concern for the effects of needing to survive versus thriving.
During the pandemic of the early 1900s, many families suffered plight including loss of homes, families, alcoholism, domestic violence as the result, created trauma, leading to social conditions, leading to adverse childhood experiences, leading to disrupted neurodevelopment, leading to social, emotional, and cognitive impairment, leading to disease, disability and social problems, leading to early death; i.e, Adverse Childhood Experiences.
One hundred years later, African American women face the similar fate as many suffered then. One hundred years later, African American women suffer the effects of generational embodiment and trauma. One hundred years, African American women, still struggle to close the 400-year gap created by the effects of slavery and are told that the effects are not real and that this gap has closed. One hundred years later the dream of a world where many believe racism and discrimination does not exist continues to plague the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual well-being of African American women.
I Dream A World, a poem written by Langston Hughes recites a world where MAN and no other man will scorn, love will bless the earth and peace will adorn its paths. The poem further posits that there will be a world where one would know freedom, there will be no greed and there will be equality no matter what the race. Lastly, there will be a world where all will share the bounties of the earth and every man will be free.
Yet, African American women remain haunted by the generational trauma that was created years ago, was exacerbated during the pandemic of 1918 and 1919, has permeated the fabric of American soil from then to the first settlements of the New World and has been recreated with the pandemic of 2020. African American women have born the brunt of the effects of Slavery, including the loss of their connections to their family roots; needing to be the caretakers for others while leaving their own children to fend for themselves; watching their men be ripped apart both physical through removing them from the homes and whipping them incessantly with actual whips to present day observing their grandfathers, fathers, husbands and sons being subjected to incarceration and killings.
This is not the time for us to continue to allow the denial and minimization of the continued effects of what should be historical trauma, but continues to become a daily fight to maintain the peace of mind that is needed to allow African American women to heal. The results of the past three years in isolation has allowed an opportunity to sit in solitude and reflect on the years past and to realize the overall effect trauma has had on the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual well-being of the African American women. During this time, African American women, including myself have had an opportunity to reflect on the continued social conditions that have plagued us for years including the lack of adequate medical care, the concern for the effects of poor mental health has had on our grandparents, parents, self and their children; how trauma and its definition has overlooked the depth of the trauma that has been felt throughout time. During this time, during this opportunity of reflection, African American women have become aware of the deficiencies created by this trauma and have begin to realize the need for more investigation leading to the acknowledgement of that focusing on their own mental health is a need that is required to subvert this continued generational trauma. Yet, as many African American seek to overcome these deficiencies, they will face yet another obstacle to overcome which will be finding someone who can not only empathize with what they have experienced, but also sympathize with their ongoing plight with genuine understanding, which will prove difficult with only 4.1% Therapists that are African American.
However, Dr Martin Luther King Jr quoted that “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of Challenge and Controversy.
I Dream a World where African American women can seek solace in learning that their lives matter.
I Dream a World where African American women can breathe a sigh of relief and know that they are being heard.
I Dream a World where African American women no longer have to be The Strong One.
I Dream a World where African American women no longer have to be their Own Trusted Adult.
I Dream a World where African American women can share their history of trauma, open and honest.
I Dream a World where African American women will no longer represent the societal ills of their community.
I Dream a World where African American women can heal from their generational trauma through being supported.
I Dream A World where African American women can heal from the social conditions that have jeopardize them and their families for more than 400 years.
I Dream a World where African American women are less likely to have more than 4 or more Adverse Childhood Experiences and have a better outcome.
I Dream a World where African American women can become beacons of hope for their collective sisters.
I Dream a World where their bodies are no longer harmed by lack. I Dream a World where their minds are healed.
I Dream a World where their decisions are rational and full of positive outcomes.
I Dream a World where they will be genuinely appreciated for who they are and from what they have overcome.
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Melissa Enoch, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Melissa Enoch is Owner/CEO/Director of Trinity Counseling Services LLC, a private substance abuse and mental health facility located in Burlington and Charlotte, where she uses her twenty-eight years of experience to educate individuals about various mental health and substance use disorder topics. Melissa is also the founder of Women of Strength, a non-profit educational organization focused on women's networking and community awareness. In her spare time, Melissa is interested in making jewelry, shooting photography, and mentoring young professionals.
