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Healing Racial Trauma: The Road to Resilience
by
"People of color have endured traumatic histories and almost daily assaults on our dignity. We have prayed about racism, been in denial, or acted out in anger, but we have not known how to individually or collectively pursue healing from the racial trauma." As a child, Sheila Wise Rowe was bused across town to a majority white school, and she experienced the racist lie tha
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Paperback, 192 pages
Published
January 7th 2020
by IVP Books
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Sheila approaches the subject of healing racial trauma with the expertise of a counselor, the art of a storyteller, and all of the faith and power of a woman of God.
I really cannot recommend it enough to everyone. Fellow non POCs, you will learn how to know and love your POC family, friends, church body, and neighbors in a new depth. You will see injustice in many more settings. You will cry out in new ways and know more clearly what true racial justice looks like in the church and the world.
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I really cannot recommend it enough to everyone. Fellow non POCs, you will learn how to know and love your POC family, friends, church body, and neighbors in a new depth. You will see injustice in many more settings. You will cry out in new ways and know more clearly what true racial justice looks like in the church and the world.
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I appreciated the questions and reflection at the end of each chapter but what was most helpful for me was discussing the questions at the end of the book, within a small group of trusted friends. Most of the healing, the ugliness, the truthfulness of what I've buried for years, etc. were exposed mostly during the moments when discussing with friends. I highly recommend this book for personal healing but especially would recommend reading this in a community or small group if possible. It was a
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Summary: Trauma is real; some of that trauma is based on racism or white supremacy; the hard work of healing is essential, not just for individuals but also for communities and future generations.
I have recently joined a Be The Bridge group. Part of the method of the group is to acknowledge history and lament that history. I was asked to do a short presentation on lament. Because I had meant to anyway, I started re-reading Soong-Chan Rah's Prophetic Lament. The opening of Prophetic Lament was h
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Fantastic, insightful, guy-wrenching...really enjoyed this book. So many things my church has been talking about for healing were also mentioned here: Gratitude journals, listening prayer, scripture meditation. This is a Biblical counseling book on how to heal from racial trauma. I learned more about how reading history and understanding the role my white ancestors played in racial trauma for people of color in this country has affected me. I have trauma just realizing the ugly things that have
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This book is right on the edge of being a 4 star book. I hope why that is true becomes clear below.
Sheila Wise Rowe has been working around healing, specifically healing from issues of trauma for decades. From that wisdom and experience she invites us to explore the specific ways that racial trauma impacts us as individuals in society and offers practical ways to begin that healing journey.
The ambition of this book was actually 5 stars to me. As someone who has spent many hours in counseling a ...more
Sheila Wise Rowe has been working around healing, specifically healing from issues of trauma for decades. From that wisdom and experience she invites us to explore the specific ways that racial trauma impacts us as individuals in society and offers practical ways to begin that healing journey.
The ambition of this book was actually 5 stars to me. As someone who has spent many hours in counseling a ...more

In the weeks leading up to both the pandemic shutdown and the news of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd’s killings I was part of a team of leaders at our church helping a group of multi-ethnic men and women comes to terms with the ways their lives have been wounded by others. My church context has been dominated by white folks for my whole life as has the work I’ve done helping women seek healing for areas of shame, guilt, wounding, and abuse. I knew I needed more help understandin
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As someone with significant religious trauma and not realizing how religious this book was until I started reading, I will grant that my opinion of this book may be swayed by that bias. However I appreciated the author's research, frank discussion of racism and trauma, and integration of her own and other personal narratives. For someone in a Christian context, I can see this being very helpful on the road to antiracism and racial trauma healing.
My largest criticism rests in the chapter on free ...more
My largest criticism rests in the chapter on free ...more

In the year 2020, the sands are shifting underneath us. Something has to give, but how can we respond differently as we experience a collective call to change our posture towards racism? In Healing Racial Trauma, Sheila Wise Rowe provides exactly the anecdotes (and antidotes) we need for such a time as this. The chapters of Healing Racial Trauma outline common responses to racism: fatigue. Silence. Rage, fear, and shame. Addiction. Wise Rowe also includes other, healthier chapters: lament, freed
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“Racism is like the elephant in the room that we pretend is not there. However, we now see that it’s enormous and we’re tripping over it. How do we get rid of it? If we try to move it alone, it won’t budge. It’s going to take a large number of folks of all races, undergoing a heart change, sharing our stories, and lives, and challenging false narratives. If we all speak up and engage in small and large acts that pursue love, peace, and justice, we can dismantle the systemic structures that promo
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Though written mostly for an audience that has experienced racial trauma, the author's message serves as an important learning place for anyone. As an older White woman, the truths and stories of individual's life experiences helped me understand a bit more deeply the large and often hidden burden carried by others.
The book clearly describes ways that racial trauma affects all of society and the reactions to it that can keep individuals and our society from moving into the reality that "the Lor ...more
The book clearly describes ways that racial trauma affects all of society and the reactions to it that can keep individuals and our society from moving into the reality that "the Lor ...more

During this turbulent time, this book is a must read for everyone who wants to grow in compassion and understanding toward people of color. I found this to be a heartbreaking read as I learned about the author's own journey, as well as the treatment of others who aren't part of the white majority. The book is a challenge for those of us from a more comfortable background, but necessary if we are to empathize with different experiences. We must not look away.
Especially I thought of all my friend ...more
Especially I thought of all my friend ...more

The author’s name, Sheila WISE Rowe, is a true reflection of who she is. She teaches with such a deep understanding of people, victims of trauma, the human psyche, and Scripture. I found myself highlighting so much, that I realized this will be a book I refer back to over and over again. She shares the stories of different individuals, what they went through, how the felt, and how they heal. If you or your loved ones have experienced any amount of pain from racism, implicit bias, or micro-aggres
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This is a Christ-centered book about racial trauma, it's affect on people, and finding ways to heal through a relationship with God and community. I found it very enlightening and helpful, both as a white woman who needed to better understand the affects of systemic racism and examine my own privilege, and as a person who has experienced trauma and sometimes forgets the deep scars it leaves. Sheila Wise-Rowe writes in an honest, open, and compassionate tone. She shares the stories in an unblinki
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Healing begins by identifying ways individuals experience and respond to racial trauma (from fear and rage and lament to fatigue and silence and shame and addiction). The author proposes a biblical framework for healing and freedom. Her advice seems mostly directed toward professional counselors and persons of color, but she does advise white readers that it is not enough to "simply bandage the wounds of victims." There is much we can learn from those who have been wounded by injustice: about re
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This book, written by a black woman with a master's degree in counseling, helped me (a white woman) understand the trauma of growing up Black in Boston during the 1960s era of riots and desegregation busing.
Rowe skillfully weaves together the historical facts with her own emotional response to those events. She asks challenging questions. And she draws readers to the healing power of faith in God.
If you haven't read a lot about racial issues, this book is a good place to start.
Rowe challenges ...more
Rowe skillfully weaves together the historical facts with her own emotional response to those events. She asks challenging questions. And she draws readers to the healing power of faith in God.
If you haven't read a lot about racial issues, this book is a good place to start.
Rowe challenges ...more

I read this book to better understand racial trauma. I respect all races, but as a white person, I can't put myself in the experiences of racism. Through personal stories, Sheila Wise Rowe helped me understand a bit of what racism feels like. The book made the point that generations of racism have taken a physical and mental toll on minority people. The main purpose of her book is to help people who have experienced racial trauma to experience healing through naming it and finding help in God's
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Rowe tells the stories of the wounds, fatigue, rage, fear, and shame that people of color in America can carry, due to personal and generational experience of racism and race-based trauma. Rowe also highlights knowledge and knowledge and experiences that can facilitate healing, freedom, and resilience. An honest, insightful, and hopeful book.
I wish Rowe had spoken more of trauma-informed therapy and the significance of long-term supportive community in the healing journey. More of the healing st ...more
I wish Rowe had spoken more of trauma-informed therapy and the significance of long-term supportive community in the healing journey. More of the healing st ...more

A good read for some. But a religious read.
As an atheist, I couldn’t finish this book. As reading about racial trauma raised my own sensitivity, the religious approach in this book triggered my own experiences of trauma from religion. The author’s understanding of trauma is deep and the discussion of racial trauma is important, but this isn’t the path to healing for me. For those with a religious practice, this is a good book.
It’s very good, for what it is. But it’s not for me.
As an atheist, I couldn’t finish this book. As reading about racial trauma raised my own sensitivity, the religious approach in this book triggered my own experiences of trauma from religion. The author’s understanding of trauma is deep and the discussion of racial trauma is important, but this isn’t the path to healing for me. For those with a religious practice, this is a good book.
It’s very good, for what it is. But it’s not for me.

Picked this book up at my library. After reading it, I want to either own it, and or, spend time with it in a discussion group. I so appreciate that this book is about moving toward healing. On a tragic topic/reality, I was encouraged that here in this book were testimonies and and some hope for true healing.

I truly appreciate the honesty, wisdom and faith of Mrs. Sheila Wise Rowe. This book is heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time. Using true life stories and the Bible, she enlightens us to the racial trauma that people of color have faced and still face while also giving us steps to take to work towards God’s call to racial reconciliation. I would highly recommend this book.

Rowe compiles several anecdotal stories concerning situations surrounding racial trauma. The stories showcase both obvious cases of racial violence and discrimination as well as things we would not be so inclined to notice. Victims of racial trauma are encouraged to be resilient, bystanders are encouraged to be resistant, and assailants are encouraging to be repentant

When I first picked up this book it was out of a deep need and desire to take steps forward on the journey of pursuing my own healing. With storytelling, truth-telling, biblical and psychological wisdom, this book met this need and then some. I felt seen, known, and poured into as I turned the pages, and I know it will be one I refer back to often. It is truly a read for us all.
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Kerine Wint is a software engineering graduate with more love for books than for computers. As an avid reader, writer, and fan of all things...
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“If we all speak up and engage in small and large acts that pursue love, peace, and justice, we can dismantle the systemic structures that promote racism, xenophobia, White supremacy, and privilege.”
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“As people of color living in America (and around the world) continue to be impacted by racism and racial trauma, we will need God's grace, stamina, and resilience to stay well.”
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