February is known as Black History month. As we embrace and honor the rich, and sometimes painful, history of African Americans, we are forced to recognize that one month of recognition is not nearly enough time to dive into the contributions, teachings, and leadership of past, present and future Black leaders.

Exploring Black History means recognizing the black community in our country has experienced racialized trauma. While we cannot assume that because you belong to this community you have experienced this type of trauma, it is important to broaden our understanding and support for the Black community. Enid Gaddis, Director of Equity and Inclusion from Arbor Circle, does a nice job of explaining how the Black community may have experienced this type of trauma and some steps you can take to support healing. You can learn more through these short video clips.

Racialized Trauma and Healing-Centered Engagement- Part One In the first segment of this YouTube video series, Enid Gaddis explains racialized trauma.

Racialized Trauma and Healing-Centered Engagement- Part Two In the second segment, Enid Gaddis provides suggestions for healing-centered engagement for educators to use to help students get the support that they need.

While considering how you can support healing and show love for others that have experienced racialized trauma, you will need to grapple with a couple of things:

• This work may make you feel uncomfortable. However, if your goal is to create a culture of inclusivity and acceptance, you must learn how to sit with this discomfort. Be brave and face those fears.
• Don’t make assumptions. Often as helpers we want to provide help in the way we would want to receive help. Ask others what they need and be ok with diving into that conversation.    
• Trauma is in the eye of the beholder. What you might think is traumatic, might not be for the other person and vice versa.  
• Honor the story of others. You may not fully understand their story, or even need to, to be able to honor them.  People want to be seen and heard.   
• Look for inequities. Explore your policies, procedures and personal behaviors.  How is inequity woven into these things and what can you do to change that?

Educators are charged to not only educate, but to change the lives of students in order to improve our communities. Working through trauma by creating a culture that promotes safety through acceptance, honor, and inclusion is a step in the right direction of helping students to see the bright potential they hold.  

As you continue to learn more about your students and how to heal trauma, I encourage you to consider attending a workshop on March 24th with Dr. Gholdy Muhammad. Join Gholdy and other educators from around Michigan as they clearly define culture, equity and culturally & historically responsive education. During this workshop educators will be introduced to the model of culturally and historically responsive education. They will learn a brief history of CHRE and the power of education among communities of color in the United States. This is your opportunity to dive deeper into culture, equity, and excellence in education. This course is filling up quickly so register today!

#Diversity #Equity #Inclusion #WellnessMatters #Trauma #WeLeadLearning #KentISDpd

This blog post was written by Rukshana Ilahi, Mental Wellness Consultant and Sommer Jabbar, Project Coordinator of Equity and Student Success at Kent ISD. It was edited by Amanda Walma, Professional Development Coordinator, Meghan Aupperlee, HTYPE Grant Project Coordinator, and Sara Sefcik, PD Hub Intern at Kent ISD.