On October 14, 2008, Dr. Joy DeGruy delivered a powerful and stirring lecture on Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Enduring Legacy of Injury and Healing.  This lecture addressed the residual impacts of trauma on African Descendants in the Americas.  The Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome workshop just following the lecture, laid the groundwork for understanding how the past influences the present, and opened up the discussion of how we can use the strengths we have gained to heal.

The lecture was well attended by students and staff. Some attendees's comments:  

This was so excellent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

I would like to share my profound thanks on behalf of MCS staff for an exceptional educational experience that was a true gift to the campus community.

Personally speaking I added significantly to my knowledge base about the African American experience and its impact on the lived experience of contemporary members of the African American community.

Technically speaking, the presentation was powerful, moving, well developed and exceptionally well delivered. You brought a star to the campus and we are in your debt.

Strategically speaking, we must leverage this great learning experience by following up with some hands on skills for the campus community to work and understand our African American community members (students, faculty, and staff) so that we as higher educational professionals can better serve the needs of our African American community members. Black History Month may be a natural time for such offerings. I defer to your better judgment and wisdom.

MCS wishes to be of assistance and service in any programs that you feel will increase institutional competence and capacity in this area.

Once again it was my honor to be a member of the audience yesterday.
Please convey my gratitude to all members of the respected groups, and individuals who were instrumental in making this event such a success.

It was an extraordinary lecture about a deeply disturbing and little-told part of American history and culture.  Dr. DeGruy  was an incredible lecturer and impressive scholar. I stayed even though I knew a legislator was waiting for me because I really wanted to see what she said about healing. I hope she got there in the remainder of her presentation or workshop. I will definitely get her book.

Thanks for the invitation and thanks, too, to the Black Employee’s group for planning such a powerful presentation. It will certainly occupy my thoughts and compel me  to learn more.  l am sure this is the way the majority of the audience felt. 

My one regret  about this event (and wish for the future?) was that the college did not block out time for the whole campus to attend Dr. DeGruy's profound lecture and workshop.

It was one of the best presentations I've ever had the honor of attending. I was so viscerally and celebrally engaged both during and since with what's been left out of  U.S. history books, by how little I knew about Black slavery--in particular the consequences of dehumanization. I also loved how Dr. DeGruy focused, in her slides, more on the attendees at the lynchings than the victims. MY high school history book showed us pictures of "vigilantes" in KKK hoods (not so subtle message that they were the only ones commiting atrocities and enjoying it), but Dr. DeGruy opened the curtain to reveal "plain old white folks" in their Sunday best.
 
It was an intense, profound, and moving/emotional presentation, worth every minute of my two hours (which seemed to go by in an instant as I was rapt by Dr. DeGruy's eloquence, intelligence, and visuals). Wow! We need more of these kinds of campus-wide presentations.

I'm not usually one to add a repetitive voice to threads like this, but I really have to this time. This was an excellent lecture in so many ways -- depth, scholarship, presentation and, most importantly, impact. I was stunned by many of the details of the slaves' experience, and greatly enlightened by Dr. Degruy's discussion of slavery's enduring impact on current generations.

Thanks to everyone for bringing her to campus.

I agree with all the positive comments however I have feelings of frustration as well in regards to the time management of the event and how that impacts the potential when the goal is healing like Shanika mentions.

As a staff I picked the part of Dr DeGruy's day's of events that I could sandwich in between mandatory meetings so was not able to attend (and benefit) from the whole 2 hours of the slide show presentation because it went over the 1030-1130 advertised time.

So I have two thoughts to share:

1. I agree that the campus should schedule another opportunity like this and schedule the day like a professional development day so the campus can have pre-approved time set aside and attend all the important elements that were scheduled not just one hour of one presentation like I did. I don't feel that my exposure to one hour of Dr DeGruy really translates to healing because healing is more than just knowledge. Healing is a process that also needs understanding and integration which is more likely to happen if I could immerse myself and experience all the day's events and have a structured reflection activity as well (or eval form as provided).

2. Through the developmental lens, any opportunity for healing should include both elements of challenge and support. Like Dr DeGruy stressed it is vital to be challenged to face our internal dissonance but I would add it is also vital to get the support for the process of change to occur. This includes an environment that is organized to reflect such and this is where time management is key (whether opening up to the staff to attend the whole day or asking the presenter to keep within the time slot advertised) to communicate respect and seriousness for the topic and staff's other commitments and to provide the support for people to gain knowledge/process/heal. 

This is such an important topic for social justice for this campus and the world that my frustration is high but my compassion deep as to the need for healing and the mistakes we make along the way. And the very fact Dr DeGruy was on campus was an amazing step in the right direction. But improvements are vital! Thanks for listening!

Dr DeGruy had to rush through her amazing presentation--those of us who were able to attend understand that we missed half of what she could have said.  What we got was all the previous writers have indicated.  What we didn't get was the opportunity to hear the whole presentation.  As we know, the request had gone out for a day devoted to Blackness; I suspect (but do not know) that the Black employees group and the Black Student Union would have welcomed the complete presentation and wonder why that didn't happen.

This page was last revised on July 24, 2009