Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda (CURB) is delighted to be partnering with Family Centre (TFC) and the InterAgency Committee (IAC) to bring a 2-day conference (flyer attached) to Bermuda featuring internationally known presenters Dr. Kenneth Hardy & Dr. Christiana Awosan (bios attached). Having recently heard them speak at the groundbreaking ACEs Conference put on by TFC in October 2018, CURB recognized the similarities between their work and the work being done in Bermuda’s Truth & Reconciliation Community Conversations (TRCC); and were convinced of the need to invite these dynamic and knowledgeable speakers back for a more in depth discussion around racial trauma, with the goal of making it more economically accessible to the public.

The TFC, IAC and CURB all work with the manifestations of trauma in our community on an individual, familial, communal and societal level. We seek to raise awareness and repair the harm of intergenerational and historical trauma caused by poverty, violence, abuse, and oppression. As such, this collaboration is a natural outcome of our joint focus on addressing root causes.

Understanding trauma – physiologically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually – may help explain a wide range of phenomenon, including feelings of insecurity, loss of cultural identity, racism or extreme nationalism, and violence in general. Not all trauma is induced by a single event. Trauma can be caused by living under abusive or unsafe conditions that are long-term and continuous. When a large number of people are affected we speak of societal or collective trauma. Historical Trauma can be transferred through generations and is the “cumulative emotional and psychological wounding over the life span and across generations emanating from massive group trauma”. The trans-generational transmission of these traumas can occur even when the next generation is not told the trauma story, or knows it only in broad outline. This includes Cultural Trauma when attempts are made to eradicate part or all of a culture or people. Intergenerational Trauma or Transgenerational Trauma is the transmission of historical oppression and its negative consequences across generations. There is evidence of the impact of intergenerational trauma on the health and well-being and on the health and social disparities facing Aboriginal peoples in Canada, Australia and other countries. Trauma is transferred from the first generation of trauma survivors to the second and further generations of offspring of the survivors via complex post-traumatic stress disorder mechanisms.

Trauma and suffering are neither forgotten nor excused, but better understood when addressed and integrated into a new self or group identity.

Thanks to the kind contributions from the business community (ABIC, ABIR, Australia-Japan Cable, Bank of Bermuda Foundation, Butterfield & Vallis, Goslings, Lindos and HSBC Bank Bermuda) we have been able to offer Day 1 entitled Understanding & Addressing Racial Trauma for special rate of $90 including lunch and refreshments.

Day 1 - Understanding & Addressing Racial Trauma will be a day-long experiential workshop providing a comprehensive overview of the anatomy of racial trauma and the debilitating hidden wounds associated with it. The session will also examine how toxic, internalized racially based messages stifle the individual and relational growth of persons of color (POC), assault emotional and psychological health and contribute to the disavowal of dimensions of one’s core racial self. Strategies for unmasking and counteracting racial trauma, and the host of self-defeating internalized messages associated with it, will be addressed. This will be a time of reflection, renewal and healing.

Event Details

Date: Thursday 13th June

Time: 9:30 am – 5:00 pm

Location: HSBC 6th Floor, Front Street

Cost: $90 (includes lunch and refreshments) by June 5th

Cost &95 after June 5th

Continuing professional development credit will be available.

Tickets are available at www.ptix.bm or email stephanie@tfc.bm

• Press release from Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda