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Joy DeGruy Leary
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Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America's Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing Paperback – September 11, 2017

by Joy a Degruy (Author)
4.9 4.9 out of 5 stars 3,847 ratings
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In the 16th century, the beginning of African enslavement in the Americas until the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment and emancipation in 1865, Africans were hunted like animals, captured, sold, tortured, and raped. They experienced the worst kind of physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual abuse. Given such history, isn't it likely that many of the enslaved were severely traumatized? And did the trauma and the effects of such horrific abuse end with the abolition of slavery?

Emancipation was followed by one hundred more years of institutionalized subjugation through the enactment of Black Codes and Jim Crow laws, peonage, convict leasing, domestic terrorism and lynching. Today the violations continue, and when combined with the crimes of the past, they result in yet unmeasured injury. What do repeated traumas, endured generation after generation by a people produce? What impact have these ordeals had on African Americans today?

Dr. Joy DeGruy, answers these questions and more. With over thirty years of practical experience as a professional in the mental health field, Dr. DeGruy encourages African Americans to view their attitudes, assumptions, and behaviors through the lens of history and so gain a greater understanding of how centuries of slavery and oppression have impacted people of African descent in America.

Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome helps to lay the necessary foundation to ensure the well-being and sustained health of future generations and provides a rare glimpse into the evolution of society's beliefs, feelings, attitudes and behavior concerning race in America.

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  1. Print length
    252 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Joy Degruy Publications Inc
  4. Publication date
    September 11, 2017
  5. Dimensions
    5.9 x 0.6 x 8.9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0985217278
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0985217273
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Dr. Joy DeGruy's Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America's Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing is a masterwork. Her deep understanding, critical analysis, and determination to illuminate core truths are essential to addressing the long-lived devastation of slavery. Her book is the balm we need to heal our selves and our relationships. It is a gi of wholeness."

--Susan Taylor, editorial director, Essence

"Dr. Joy DeGruy is a priceless asset to us all. She has li ed the bandages from the four hundred-year-old abscess of slavery that remains unhealed. Many black and white Americans have been taught that slavery ended
by legislative means in 1865--so the issue is neatly sidestepped in school curricula, print and broadcast media. However, the hallmark of classroom teaching and responsible journalism must be proper context--for full understanding. e removal of the slave shackle is important, but what about the emotional damage su ered by the enslaved?"

"Dr. DeGruy has raised this argument brilliantly, for years lecturing far and wide. Her many appearances on my program, Like It Is, have evoked huge audience reactions from our viewers. Many have told me how coming to understand Dr. DeGruy's message on Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome has helped them grapple with the multiplicity of problems today. I share those feelings of my viewers."

"Now Dr. DeGruy has set down her highly important message/thesis in print. And so, to quote this wondrous physician, Let the healing begin."

--Gil Noble, producer and host, Like It Is, WABC

"Dr. DeGruy's book is seminal research in the eld of di erential cross- cultural diagnosis for mental health. Cultural Competence is a requirement for mental health and behavioral science workers. is text is required reading for all learners and practitioners. It is a vast reservoir of the how, why what, when, and where for much of the enduring injury and psychic pain of African Americans. is text moves us beyond de cit modeling and pathology; it opens a window to innovative models for healing in our multi-ethnic, pluralistic and linguistically diverse society."

--Edwin J. Nichols, Ph.D, Clinical/industrial psychologist

"At last, the book that all people who are truly interested in understanding the lingering psychological and social impact of enslavement on Africans and Europeans has arrived. It is no exaggeration to say that Dr. DeGruy's Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome will mark a milestone in the understanding of the relationship between racism and slavery. Read this book again and again and then give it to your friends, family and colleagues who want to understand how the ghost of slavery haunts us all."

--Dr. Ray Winbush, Institute for Urban Research, Morgan State University

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Joy Degruy Publications Inc; Revised ed. edition (September 11, 2017)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 252 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0985217278
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0985217273
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.9 x 0.6 x 8.9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.9 4.9 out of 5 stars 3,847 ratings

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Joy DeGruy Leary

Joy DeGruy Leary

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Customer reviews

4.9 out of 5 stars
4.9 out of 5
3,847 global ratings
This read has been the most difficult read of my entire human existence ..... But Worth It!
5 Stars
This read has been the most difficult read of my entire human existence ..... But Worth It!
I completed the reading of "The Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome" by #DrJoyDegruy and reading the book is a necessity as I learned of my DNA connection to West Africa but one of the lowest points for me was about Mary Turner. For three days last week I could not sleep plus nightmare's, I heard stories from my Ancestors in North Carolina but now the stories are confirmed. This read has been the most difficult read of my entire human existence. Dr. Joy Degruy arrangement of the chapters was a therapeutic session. She broke you down and in the middle began the process of healing. I am forever grateful to Dr. Joy Degruy for assisting me with healing of my Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome✊🏿❤️ Frank Embree and Mary Turner your deaths will never be forgotten✊🏿
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Top reviews from the United States

Review Doc
5.0 out of 5 stars Understanding the Past to Move Forward Today
Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2023
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This is an excellent analysis of the long-term effect of slavery on the emotional and social well-being of African Americans and their relationship with each other. Throughout DeGruy's discussion is the reminder that healing is always possible and absolutely needed in order to build healthy selves, families and communities.
5 people found this helpful
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Cleopatra Allain
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read
Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2023
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I am enjoying this read. Very informational
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5.0 out of 5 stars Eye opening, Educational
Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2024
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I looo forward to reading this and working through it.
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Allen Webre
5.0 out of 5 stars Master Teacher
Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2024
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I keep loaning it out and nobody gives me my book back. That's how great this literary masterpiece is. Needless to say, i bought it again.
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Austin
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book
Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2024
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You’ve got to read this book!
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Tee
5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to read Easy to understand.
Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2023
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Very informative and Dr. Joy breaks it down. A must read for the Culture. I would recommend this to All my family and Friends to read.
5 people found this helpful
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4.0 out of 5 stars Why do black people . . .
Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2012
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I purchased this book because I had many questions I wanted answered. Most of them were questions of "Why?". My biggest question was why we as black people have so many unhealthy habits in how we treat each other.

As a young African American male who was raised by his mother in a predominantly white suburban area, I wanted to know why, when I encountered other black youth in more urban areas, they would tell me I "talk white." What is "talking white?" Basically, talking white means I was talking like I have an education. Why do so many members of the black community (those without an education) reject me for valuing education? Why is it that when one black person fidns a way out of the ghetto, it seems the whole neighborhood, church included, condems that person for leaving "his/her people" and wanting to live in the suburbs with the whites? Why don't we support one-another in this society that has always held us from achieving our full potential?

I wanted to learn why we seem to have no clue of who we are, and so many of us, young and old, strive to "prove" we are "black enough." So talking a certain way makes us black? Or is it eating certain foods that makes us "black"? Listening to only certain kinds of music? We lack a firm sense of cultural identity. We take rebellious pride in being at the bottom, and equate success with "whiteness." We denounce the achievements of any black person and ostracize him from the community. We work to pressure our own to stay at the bottom.

In this very interesting book, the author, Dr. Joy Degruy Leary, proposes a number of explanations for why the African American community has developed these and other unhealthy cultural habits. Leary examines this very real "crabs in the barrel" mentality, as well as many other self-destructive habits which plague the black community. Leary establishes a diagnoses, and calls it Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome. Leary presents a very strong argument that the behaviors are all symptoms that have been passed down through the generations of African American people from the dawn of the trans-atlantic slave trade to today. Leary uses her own observations to support her theory of Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome.

This book is a very thoughtful read. The reason I give this work only four stars is because I truly feel that Leary's argument would have been much more affirmed and effective if she had included a visual timeline to help the reader to better understand the timeframes and chain of events in history discussed in the book. The argument also would have been more effective if the author spent more time on each point. At times it seems she's just getting started before summarizing all that was just said and moving on. Scholarly sources are cited and research is used, but the book does not explore any one study or statistic in great depth. It is a fast read.
88 people found this helpful
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Tarrent-Arthur Henry
5.0 out of 5 stars So Many Gold Nuggets
Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2023
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Where do I begin? So many gold nuggets. I am using this book as the focus on the topic of mental health in the black community. Dr. Joy DeGruy, in her book, gets the conversation started and gives us a thorough breakdown and answers all the questions we need to know, to understand the subject of PTSS. I highly recommend this book to every living human being, it has the answers to the systemic racism crisis in America.
6 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Paul Leslie
5.0 out of 5 stars great reading
Reviewed in Canada on August 19, 2023
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Knowledge is power. Good reading material for those who are hungry for wisdom.
One person found this helpful
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Joy Willaims
5.0 out of 5 stars An accessible read for all, concise and very engaging
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 14, 2020
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Dr Joy Degruy has written Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome with great clarity, compassion, empathy, passion and truth. It does not seek to blame but to understand and help the decedents of slavery all over the world come to terms with their traumatic past.

It then gives guidance to black parents, families and communities on how they can practically support their children deal with this trauma, heal and succeed in societies where ‘white privilege’ is a reality.

It is a truly brilliant book and I wished I had read it sooner. A must read for every parent who have black children.
2 people found this helpful
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Lily OS
5.0 out of 5 stars A lire et relire ... surtout en des temps comme ceux que nous vivons
Reviewed in France on December 6, 2018
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excellent moyen de comprendre accepter et dépasser l'histoire
2 people found this helpful
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Rebecca Z.
5.0 out of 5 stars Eye-opening and needed for society
Reviewed in Germany on August 31, 2017
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Thanks to this book I can now understand and empathize more with African-American History and how it affects society today. Unfortunately the history of the US and slavery was only taught very poorly at school in Europe. In my opinion it affects everybody and we all should care when it comes to injustice so a country and the world can heal. Highly appreciated and recommended book!
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read for All Races!
Reviewed in Canada on June 6, 2021
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A must read for all races. This should be required high school readings. Dr. Joy Degruy articulates how America's past has formed their present. If America's scholars read and comprehend this publication, they may be ready to conduct their own Truth & Reconciliation Commission like Germany, South Africa and Canada have done.
One person found this helpful
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