June 2021

By The Associated Press, National Public Radio, June 18, 2021 Eleven U.S. mayors, from Los Angeles to tiny Tullahassee, Oklahoma, have pledged to pay reparations for slavery to a small group of Black residents in their cities, saying their aim is to set an example for the federal government on how a nationwide program could work. The mayors had no details on how much it would cost, who would pay for it or how people would be chosen. All of those details would be worked out with the help of...

By Jessica D'Onofrio. ABC 7, June 17, 2021 Mayor Lori Lightfoot formally declared racism to be a public health crisis in Chicago Thursday. Mayor Lightfoot made the announcement at the MLK Exhibit Center in North Lawndale. She's calling on all Chicagoans to work together to address racial inequities that have resulted from systemic racism. "We can no longer allow racism our residents to rob the residents of the opportunity to live and lead full, healthy and happy lives and we are working...

What turns a terrible experience into a traumatic experience? Often, it’s that the subject is—and remains—alone with their pain. That was one of the many insights to emerge from conversations following an online premiere screening earlier this month of “The Wisdom of Trauma,” a documentary by filmmakers Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo. The film spotlights the work of Dr. Gabor Maté, physician, addiction medicine specialist and trauma expert. He is the author of four best-selling four books,...

The Strong BRAIN Institute , founded through a 5-year gift from Ballad Health, is the preferred resource for promoting the awareness and empirical study of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs); for promoting the development and dissemination of evidence-based practices that prevent, reduce, or mitigate the negative effects of ACEs on health and health disparities; and for promoting a trauma-informed citizenry and workforce in the Appalachian Highlands region and beyond. Recently the Strong...

By Guest Author, 6/22/21, positiveexperience.org/blog This June, the HOPE team had the honor of meeting with Scarlett Lewis, Founder and CEO of the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement. Through a mission to live by her son Jesse’s message “ Nurturing, Healing, Love ,” the Choose Love Movement produced a comprehensive program on social and emotional learning for all ages! This program is now being implemented in schools and community organizations nationwide. Check out chooselovemovement.org for...

By Kristin Neff, Greater Good Magazine, June 14, 2021 How can we effectively bring about a more just world? Although it may not be obvious at first glance, self-compassion plays a key role in the quest to end sexism, racism, heterosexism, and other forms of oppression. By aiming compassion inward as well as outward, we can better confront the pain of injustice without being overwhelmed, and find the strength and energy to fight for what’s right. Self-compassion helps us cope by accepting our...

By Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker, June 18, 2021 R emote work turned out to be advantageous for people looking to leak information to reporters. Instructions that once might have been given in conversation now often had to be written down and beamed from one home office to another. Holding a large meeting on Zoom often required e-mailing supporting notes and materials—more documents to leak. Before the pandemic , if you thought that an anti-racism seminar at your workplace had gone...

By Joe Pinsker, The Atlantic, June 17, 2021 T he 89 people who work at Buffer, a company that makes social-media management tools, are used to having an unconventional employer. Everyone’s salary, including the CEO’s, is public. All employees work remotely; their only office closed down six years ago. And as a perk, Buffer pays for any books employees want to buy for themselves. So perhaps it is unsurprising that last year, when the pandemic obliterated countless workers’ work-life balance...

By Umme Hoque, Illustration: Derrick Dent, Prism, June 16, 2021 An open letter from AAPI high school students in Massachusetts begins with a simple statement: “We are high school students from Boston, Malden, and Quincy, members of the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC) Youth Center. We ask educators and superintendents to address the surge of anti-Asian racism that followed the COVID-19 outbreak.” Teens at BCNC Youth Center published the open letter in September 2020 as anti-Asian...

"The Science of ACEs and Toxic Stress, (Part 2)" July 14 Webinar 1.0 Continuing Medical Education / Maintenance of Certification Credit Available* Wednesday, July 14, 2021 12 - 1 p.m. Register Here Join us on July 14 at 12 p.m. for the second in a series of webinars that will explore the science of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and toxic stress. Al Race, Deputy Director and Chief Knowledge Officer from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University will lead a deep dive into...

We appreciate everyone who joined the June CTIPP CAN call and a special thank you to Donna Manuelito from the San Carlos Apache Unified Public School District, Ann Mahi and Jason Roberts from the Nanakuli-Waianae School Complex, Godwin Higa from the Cherokee Point Elementary School, Guy Stephens from the Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint, and Melissa McGinn from the Virginia Trauma-Informed Community Networks. The link to the call recording is here , which we encourage you to watch...

"Our survival depends on us finding ways to create joy for ourselves, ways to laugh together and sharing insights that can only come from truly knowing ourselves," says Alex Schmider, GLAAD's associate director of transgender representation. Read more about finding joy amid trauma during Pride month and beyond . What Juneteenth Means to Me Trauma-informed specialist Amanda Lynch writes about intergenerational trauma and intergenerational resilience as Juneteenth was declared a national...