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Dr. Keisha Ross, a licensed psychologist, spoke about the impact of slavery, past and present, at the First Annual Juneteenth Caribbean Heritage Walkathon hosted by Art 2063 on June 19, 2021 on the Cricket Field in Forest Park Forever in St. Louis.

Dr. Keisha Ross…

Good morning everyone, Happy Juneteenth and Caribbean Heritage Month. A very special good morning to our Mayor Ms. Tishaura Jones. Thank you for the Art 2063 organizational President Dr. James Tucker, Vice President Mrs. Beverly Tucker, staff members for the vision, organization, planning and manifestation of this First Juneteenth and Caribbean Heritage Event. And hopefully this will be a continued tradition and will have even more turnout as we move forward. 

So today I will talk about recognizing the impact of slavery both past and present. Some may ask, why are black people talking about slavery? To which there is a simple response. There is an enduring legacy of historical trauma as well as continued unresolved racial trauma. Historical trauma is emotional, psychological wounding over one’s lifetime and generation to generation, following loss of lives, land and vital aspects of culture. 

Black people stolen from the African continent endured torture, physical and sexual abuse and separation from their culture. The primary feature of historical trauma is that trauma is transferred to subsequent generations, through biological means, phycological, environmental and social means resulting in a cross-generational cycle of trauma. 

So what this means is there is no escape. Whether it’s through the stories we hear, whether it’s through physiology being on the levels of stress. Epigenetics in which genes and DNA is impacted and changed from being under oppression, there is a long term effect.  

Although there was an Emancipation Proclamation to end slavery, it did not reverse the effects of slavery.

From slavery to share cropping, lynching to police brutality, segregation to redlining and gentrification, systemic biases and structural racism are the current manifestations of slavery. So it’s not an old notion. Right? It may not be in the colonial sense of physical change but has a system and structure that maintains racism. 

Although there was an Emancipation Proclamation to end slavery, it did not reverse the effects of slavery. Therefore racial trauma continues. Racial trauma is the result of ongoing exposure to racial stressors, such as racism, racial bias, discrimination, violence against people of color and racist abuse in the media that creates in environment in which a person of color, black people, feel unsafe, simply because the color of thier skin. So this is the enduring legacy.

In the words of Marcus Darby, ‘A people without the knowledge of their history, origin or culture is like a tree without roots. So as people who lost their cultural makeup or spiritual belief, language, rites of passage, food and views of the world, this loss impacts identity and psychological functioning and well being. So if you don’t have a connection or understanding who we are it contributes to depression, anxiety, post traumatic stress disorder or post traumatic slave syndrome.

Also the chronic exposure of oppression contributes to the Wily Linx Syndrome which refers to the process implemented for slaves through the vision amongst themselves: the old vs the young, the light vs the dark, the straight hair vs the kinky hair. So within our community we have a lot of stuff going on. Right? We have color in them. We have a lot of isms. 

Black people stolen from the African continent endured torture, physical and sexual abuse and separation from their culture.

We see this continued division in our community which is a manifestation of internalized oppression in which levels of self hate projected by oppressors or masters onto slaves was internalized by slaves and that hate for oneself is acted out. Dr. Joy DeGruy’s post traumatic slave syndrome, PTSS theory explains the origin of many of the adaptive survival behaviors in the African American communities throughout the United States. 

This condition indicates that multi-generational oppression of Africans and their descendants resulting from centuries of child slavery. Child slavery is predicated on the idea that Africans were inherently, genetically inferior to whites. So many people say slavery isn’t new; slavery’s been happening since olden-times. But indentured servitude was different. Right. There was an opportunity for a person to work and gain their freedom. Through channel slavery that meant your future generations were born into slavery and had no knowledge of themselves, who they are or their culture. 

So now this centuries of oppression through channel slavery, followed by institutional racism continues to perpetuate injury. So we continue to suffer from racial trauma. Therefore we must work on healing from racial trauma. 

And we acknowledge and celebrate Juneteenth and we know that until everyone in our community is free in mind, body and spirit, none of us is free. 

Many of you may ask, who do we do this? Well what we know is healing is multifaceted. Right? There’s no  one way. It can be activated and achieve various avenues such as a higher level of cultural awareness and self knowledge, psychotherapy, emotional emancipation circles, through the association of black psychologists, healing safe spaces by community healers, study groups, advocacy and empowerment economic planning as well as discipline within ourselves and our ancient spiritual sciences. 

So Art 2063 is one of those non-profit organizations that help bridge that gap. This WalkaThon highlights and celebrates the cultural connection of Juneteenth making the emancipation of remaining slaves in America with connections to black people in the diaspora of the Caribbean.

This cultural bridge made by ART 2063 let’s us know that we are all connected. We are each other’s brothers and sisters. And we acknowledge and celebrate Juneteenth and we know that until everyone in our community is free in mind, body and spirit, none of us is free. 

Dr. Keisha Ross

St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones gave a sincere, heartwarming speech during the First Annual Juneteenth Caribbean Heritage Walkathon on June 19, 2021 on the Cricket Field in Forest Park Forever in St. Louis.

Mayor Jones:

Good morning everyone. I am so happy that the weather decided to cooperate. We were outside yesterday at another Juneteenth Celebration and I swear I melted in front of Sumner High School. So if you see a pool of chocolate in front of Sumner High School that belongs to me. 

I’m Tishaura Jones. I use the she-her pronouns and I am so blessed and honored to be the 47th Mayor of St. Louis and the first black female to lead St. Louis in its-over 250 year history.
I am really happy that we are celebrating Juneteenth and giving it the honor that it deserves.

As I was talking to Fox 2 earlier today about the significance of this holiday, I told them that I would hope this is the time for all of us to reflect and to learn the full history of this country, all of the good, the bad and the ugly…because we have to be honest with ourselves.

So many people have been ignored and flat out left behind by our government for far too long…

If we don’t know or understand our history, we are doomed to repeat it. And we also have to learn the history of St. Louis and it’s contribution to this country. And it hasn’t always been pretty either. So we are still fighting against some of these systemic policies that have ruled this city for generations. 

Please note that as Mayor it is my number one focus that we look at every policy, every dollar spent through a racial equity lens. So many people have been ignored and flat out left behind by our government for far too long, and it’s time we right those wrongs, not only within City Government but also within our City because we cannot expect our city to thrive when half of it’s left to fail.

So please know that as mayor, I will show up everyday and work hard for you except on Sundays; that’s my day of rest. As a daughter of this city, as a daughter of North St. Louis, it’s personal for me. 

And as a mother of the most adorable black son – he’s six feet tall now, he would hate it if he heard me calling him adorable but he is – it’s important that we change the environment for him to live, thrive and grow. Because when we were having a conversation about what the Mayor does, I told him that the mayor was also indirectly responsible for the police. He said, “Oh that means I will be safe.” A mother shouldn’t have to become mayor in order for him to feel safe with interactions with our law enforcement. So I use that as my North Star.

How do we change the environment for our children, (and all of our children) to feel safe with interactions with any of our public servants, not just law enforcement? 

Again thank you for having me be Honorary Chair for your First Annual WalkaThon. I am so honored and privileged to be here with you, and God Bless you and happy Juneteenth….