bell hooks quote

I love this quote from bell hooks, who was a Black American author and social activist who’s best known for her writings on feminism, race, and class.

I believe the heart of justice in trauma work is also truth telling. So much of what is painful and traumatic about these experiences is the secrecy that so often surrounds them, or the silencing of the victims by the perpetrator, the system, and/or their family.

This holds true at both the individual level and at the societal level as well. We cannot heal our collective trauma and grief, unless we are first able to hold space for people to speak their truths. Then we have to make space for finding justice.

And when I refer here to justice, I am not talking about our legal/criminal system. I mean, what would justice look like, for the survivors? How can we make a better, safer, saner, and more just society for all of us? So that people are less likely to feel desperate or driven enough to cause trauma?

These are complicated questions, without easy answers. And they are some of the most important work that we can do for our society and ourselves.