Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen Quotes

“They are working multiple jobs, trying to make it in a system designed to prevent them from getting ahead. Strong Black women are not just the backbone of society, they are its breath and its heartbeat.”
― Inger Burnett-Zeigler, Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen: Exploring The Emotional Lives of Black Women

“Joy does not deny or minimize the reality of the painful experiences that we may have endured or require that we silence our pain. Joyful moments are hiding in the crevices of our lives, waiting to be seen and held tenderly.”
― Inger Burnett-Zeigler, Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen: Exploring The Emotional Lives of Black Women

“The first step in the journey from suffering toward healing is to identify the sources of your suffering and how that pain shows up in your life. Then you must accept (rather than deny) your complex experiences as they are, without shame or judgment, but with compassion. Let go of the self-deprecating stories that you have told yourself about who you are and why your life is what it is. Free yourself of the agony rooted in the past that you have been holding on to and know that it does not serve you. Bring awareness to your triggers in the moment, name the trigger and the feeling, and respond mindfully rather than react impulsively. This is how we honor the full range of our feelings and also manage our emotions in a healthy way.”
― Inger Burnett-Zeigler, Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen: Exploring The Emotional Lives of Black Women

“that notion and says to me, “I know that God sent you here to help me. I know you can’t say it, but I know that you love me too.” Gloria integrates the strategies that she has learned in therapy with her spiritual beliefs. She uses scripture for cognitive restructuring—a process whereby together we identify and dispute irrational negative thoughts. For instance, when she has the thought Nobody loves me, she reminds herself, God loves me, and he said I’m never alone. She has become aware of her “stinking thinking” and rejects it when it shows up. Every morning she reads her Bible and listens to her gospels to keep herself immersed in the Word. The Word of God gives her guidance, comfort, and encouragement and shifts the focus from thoughts of herself to the Holy Spirit. This daily practice gets each day started on the right foot.”
― Inger Burnett-Zeigler, Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen: Exploring The Emotional Lives of Black Women

“Gloria was ashamed to tell her church friends that she was in therapy. She believed that they would judge her and think that she had lost her faith in God. Older Black adults are more likely to believe that depression occurs because of a loss of faith; therefore, regaining faith through prayer, talking to a pastor, and going to church is the only way to heal, making them less likely to pursue traditional mental health care.10 Gloria quietly resists”
― Inger Burnett-Zeigler, Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen: Exploring The Emotional Lives of Black Women

“In this sacred space, she received the respect that she knew she was inherently entitled to receive.”
― Inger Burnett-Zeigler, Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen: Exploring The Emotional Lives of Black Women

“Attending worship service and Bible study gave Black people a way to conceptualize their struggles within the larger struggle between good and evil.4 We cling to the scripture that says, “We boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Rom 5:3–5, NRSV).”
― Inger Burnett-Zeigler, Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen: Exploring The Emotional Lives of Black Women

“Given the mental health stigma within the Black community that precludes many Black women from identifying themselves as needing help, the groups were advertised as women’s wellness groups, rather than as mental health treatment. The brochure listed common symptoms of depression, such as feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and irritable; having difficulty paying attention or concentrating; feeling tense or on edge; feeling unmotivated; having difficulty sleeping; and feeling fatigue. Women saw themselves in these symptoms, even when they adamantly denied being depressed.”
― Inger Burnett-Zeigler, Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen: Exploring The Emotional Lives of Black Women

“Parents who have experienced trauma often have excessive feelings of fear and worry that an unnamed catastrophic event is going to happen, so they try to exert control over their children in an attempt to keep them safe from harm. This behavior is intended to protect children, but instead, the adults model anxiety and the children internalize the fears and worries of their parents as their own. The fears of the parents become the fears of the children.”
― Inger Burnett-Zeigler, Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen: Exploring The Emotional Lives of Black Women

“While we’re trying to come up, racism continuously has its foot on our necks.”
― Inger Burnett-Zeigler, Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen: Exploring The Emotional Lives of Black Women

“Statistics reported that Black women are earning more college degrees than any other racial/ethnic group;5 however, college-educated Black women still earn less than white women who are not college educated.”
― Inger Burnett-Zeigler, Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen: Exploring The Emotional Lives of Black Women

“The strong Black woman has been trained to put the needs of others—especially family—ahead of her own. This can mean sacrificing personal hopes, dreams, aspirations, and especially time for self-care, in order to take care of children, as mothers often do. As she achieves career success, the strong Black woman may feel responsible for helping people in her family and community, which sometimes can lead to a sense of pride, purpose, and value and other times can leave her feeling worn down, stressed, and overwhelmed.”
― Inger Burnett-Zeigler, Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen: Exploring The Emotional Lives of Black Women

“Her independence allows her to maintain a sense of control over herself and her circumstances.”
― Inger Burnett-Zeigler, Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen: Exploring The Emotional Lives of Black Women