Healing the Wounds of Slave Trade and Slavery: Approaches and Practices
Author: Katherine Marshall
April 30, 2021
How should we understand healing wounds in the context of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and slavery? And what might count towards healing? This report, published by the Guerrand-Hermès Foundation for Peace (GHFP), argues that "healing" is very much dependent on the notions of wounding and being wounded. In the light of the wounds and legacies of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and slavery, it is important that wounding is conceived from multiple levels, as material, economic, socio-psychological, and spiritual harm, as opposed to merely physical damage. Furthermore, the traumatic experiences and continued suffering endured by people of African descent indicate that these are more than historic, and they are the result of continuing widespread institutionalized racism. Senior Fellow Katherine Marshall contributed to this report as part of a collaboration between GHFP and the Berkley Center.
