Colorism and the Poetics of Resistance Among Black Youth: An Application of the Colorist-Historical Trauma Framework

Abstract

The colorist-historical trauma framework offers scholars, practitioners, and educators a new lens with which to more effectively combat racial disparities in society through the understanding of the intergenerational transmission of colorism in the historical trauma response of African Americans. This article applies the colorist-historical trauma framework to the colorism poems of young African Americans who demonstrate that poetry, as a device of healing, can be a useful mechanism of passing on more than the challenges associated with colorism, but also the art of resistance. The results of this thematic analysis produced three emerging concepts about the poetics of 16 young African Americans and have implications for mental health practitioners, educators, and scholars that uplift the healing process of poetry.

Keywords

colorism historical trauma poetry healing poetry resistance African American youth

Introduction

Skin color, a virtually immutable biological characteristic, has been linked internationally to rates of morbidity, disparities in health status, rates of life satisfaction, income levels, educational attainment, and career trajectories (Hamilton, Goldsmith, & Darity, 2009; Hall & Crutchfield, 2018; Hunter, 2007). If considered superficially, how could skin, a basic physical organ of the human body, influence such essential life outcomes? It is because skin color has an ascribed sociological meaning, both intra- and inter-group (Hall & Crutchfield, 2018). Racism, a system of oppression that privileges Whites over other racial groups in society, manifests not only in interpersonal interactions between people of color and Whites, but also within institutions and sectors of society including education, healthcare, criminal justice, and economics among other sectors. People of color experience racism that is systematic in denying them the same opportunities as Whites resulting in disparate outcomes in all of these areas. Racism often depends on phenotypical markers of race, such as skin color (Hunter, 2007). In other words, skin color is a key determinant of well-being in a society built to uphold a racist ideology (Hall, 1992). Colorism, the preference for skin color and phenotypical characteristics that resemble or embody Whiteness, is a function of racism that exists globally among various racial and ethnic groups (Hunter, 2016). Colorism is a social determinant of health that has historical roots in racial subjugation and ethnic oppression.

The internalized emotional experience of colorism and resistance to its violence is not monolithic (Hall & Crutchfield, 2018). The nuances of how colorism causes harm has been studied extensively and internationally. However, few studies have empirically examined the experience and meaning of colorism in the context of historical trauma from the subjective standpoint of resistance and healing. In this paper, findings are presented from a thematic analysis using the colorist-historical trauma framework (CHTF). The CHTF was applied to a volume of poetry reflecting on the experiences with colorism among African American youth (Ortega-Williams et al., 2019). Specifically, an in-depth look at how poetry was used to creatively synthesize and make sense of the nuances of colorism in the context of historical trauma by African American youth will be presented.

For the scope of this paper, 16 poems were analyzed using thematic analysis, noting three emerging concepts about colorism as experienced in the United States among African American youth. Implications for culturally responsive mental health education, practice, and research will be presented. The study is situated in literature on colorism, historical trauma, and poetry as a therapeutic device.

Literature Review

Colorism Defined

Colorism, as an ideological system, is visible internationally (Dlova et al., 2015; Hunter, 2007; Jayawardene, 2016). The common principle across ethnic and racial groups upholding colorism, is discrimination against more melinated or darker skin tones (Hunter, 2005). In the United States, preferential treatment based on colorism manifests both within and between racial groups (Hunter, 2007). For example, White people and people of Color with what are perceived as more “European” phenotypical features including skin color, eye color, hair texture, facial characteristics and body shape, receive undue social privilege and advantage (Hunter, 2007). Color-based disparities are perpetuated systemically and enacted within institutions, communities, and families (Hall & Crutchfield, 2018; Hannon et al., 2013). For example, in the United States where education is not just a public right but is a mandatory requirement for minors, access is implicitly aligned with colorist values (Shedd, 2015). Youth of color are more likely to receive harsh discipline in school and be suspended and “pushed out” as compared to White peers, controlling for infraction type (Hannon et al., 2013; Shedd, 2015). In the founding of the United States, colorism was explicitly used for enslavement, legalized segregation and racist exploitation (Hunter, 2007). In the 21st Century, in the era of “color blindedness”, colorism is technically illegal yet some markers of well-being are comparable or worse than in the pre-Civil Rights era (Hunter, 2007).

The African American Journey in Colorism

Colorism is a fundamental ideology of America’s founding and national ethos (Williams, 1987). Narratives of rugged, hard-working White settler colonialists massacring indigenous inhabitants on the landmass that would become the United States was justified and not considered a crime against humanity (Tuck & Yang, 2012; Zinn, 2003). Differences in skin color, custom, and spiritual practices were delineating factors that identified who belonged in the new nation state and who did not (Tuck & Yang, 2012). Conformity to White norms was reinforced through violence; colonialism was promulgated in America through war, land appropriation, missionary work, enslavement, and forced removal of indigenous children to White-run boarding schools (Tuck & Yang, 2012; Zinn, 2003).

Colorism was a key mechanism for the historical enslavement of African people, in the pre- and post-colonial formation of the United States (Williams, 1987; Zinn, 2003). Phenotypical identifiers were used, along with proof of lineage, to determine one’s freedom; “slave codes” standardized these discriminatory practices (Mullane, 1993). Black people who could “pass” for White, based on a mixed racial heritage were subject, in some early states such as Louisiana, to different laws and policies, including land acquisition and freedom (Aslakson, 2012; Hunter, 2005). The differential treatment of White-appearing Blacks and its influence on wealth access as compared to Blacks of deeper skin tones post- and antebellum has been covered extensively elsewhere (Kerr, 2006; Mullane, 1993; Ryabov, 2013). Therefore, for the purposes of this paper, the contemporary experience of colorism will be the focus.

Colorism continues to impact the well-being of Blacks (Hall & Crutchfield, 2018). For example, lighter skin tone has been linked to lower sentencing, higher rates of schooling and higher income (Hannon et al., 2013). The impact of colorism is perpetuated through societal mechanisms such as policies and priorities, however it can also be reinforced through colorist microaggression (Hall & Crutchfield, 2018). Racial microaggressions, the subtle often unconscious put downs toward a group of people of Color by Whites has been described extensively (Sue, 2009). The distinctive feature of colorist microaggressions is that it can be perpetuated from outer group and within group; members who share the same racial or ethnic identity can be at fault (Hall & Crutchfield, 2018). Colorist microaggressions reinforces unearned privilege and internalized oppression; it is a mechanism of subjugation (Fanon, 1963; Freire, 1993; Pierce, et al., 1977).

Colorist-Historical Trauma Framework

The colorist-historical trauma framework conceptually contributes to the understanding of colorism’s role in the intergenerational transmission of a historical trauma response among African Americans (Ortega Williams et al., 2019). Historical trauma, was first conceptualized for the Lakota by Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart a Lakota social worker (1998). She theorized that historical trauma consisted of a soul wound, unresolved grief, and cumulative trauma at the mass group level during subjugation (Brave Heart, 1998). A key feature of historical trauma is the intergenerational transmission of a historical trauma response; a distal social health determinant consisting of behaviors, biological predispositions and spiritual impacts that explain health disparities (Brave Heart et al., 2011).

Social epidemiological research suggests that distal and proximal social factors can impact well-being (Krieger, 2016). The mechanisms of historical trauma responses have been conceptualized as four pathways, segregation/displacement, physical/psychological violence, economic destruction, and cultural dispossession (Sotero, 2006, p. 98). However, there have been few models of historical trauma, ones that have been geared toward indigenous, Black people, or people of Color more broadly that has captured the impact of colorism on the transmission of historical trauma responses (Ortega Williams et al., 2019; Schultz et al., 2016; Sotero, 2006; Williams-Washington & Mills, 2018). The colorist- historical trauma framework explores the function of colorism as a dimension of subjugation initiating and maintaining the historical trauma response (Ortega Williams et al., 2019). Specifically, colorism played a role of increasing exposure to physiological, environmental, psychosocial, socioeconomic, political and legal pathways of targeted racialized violence (Ortega Williams et al., 2019). Increased exposure to White supremacist mass group level violence was mitigated by skin color. Therefore, the risk of a health disparities related to a historical trauma response, the sense of cumulative loss, unresolved grief, compounding losses, and soul wounding, in this perspective was influenced by skin color (Ortega Williams et al., 2019; Brave Heart, 1998). The colorist-historical trauma framework is informed by the historical trauma framework (Brave Heart, 1998) and intersectionality theory (Crenshaw, 1989). Kimberlé Crenshaw, who conceptualized intersectionality theory, centered the marginalized experiences of Black women to upend the “single axis” used to understand oppression (Crenshaw, 1989, p. 139). Intersectionality theory exposes the compounding erasures of marginalized identities and the repercussions. Likewise, the colorist-historical trauma framework unpacks the role of color as a function of racism, a dynamic that is often relegated to the margins. In centering the use of color in the service of racism, in the context of historical trauma strengthens analysis while expanding possibilities for intervention. The colorist-historical trauma framework offers an additional dimension to intersectionality theory and the historical trauma framework. However, there are no empirical studies that apply the colorist-historical trauma framework to ascertain the meaning of colorism in the context of historical trauma and resistance to its internalization.

Poetry as Healing and Resistance

Poetry as a therapeutic device for addressing trauma and promoting healing has long been demonstrated in the helping professions (Coulehan, 2009; Mazza & Hayton, 2013). Whether it is trauma, recovery from addiction, or grief, poetry in its many forms is often a vehicle through which individuals and counselors are able to improve the human condition (Mazza & Hayton, 2013; Tyson, 2004). Particularly, poetry has been used by oppressed groups to make sense of their world and the things that have occurred in their families, neighborhoods, and communities (Chepp, 2014a; Muhammad & Gonzalez, 2016), some, like Toni Morrison (1992) and Maya Angelou (1978) becoming famous for such contributions.

Recently, with the renaissance of spoken word poetry performance, the recognition of poetry as a modern day tool of activism and resistance for oppressed groups has increased (Chepp, 2014a,b; Fields, et al., 2014; Muhammad & Gonzalez, 2016; Spahr, 2015). Poetry is also a tool used therapeutically, such as in hip hop therapy (Tyson, 2004). Poetry outlining experience of the “isms” including, racism, sexism, ageism, classism, and cisgenderism, for example, has been noted as a device that provides a forum for cathartic emotional release, meaning making post-trauma, as well as advocacy (Lorde, 1984; Nilofa, 2014; Rangel, 2016). Poetry is not only an outlet for those experiencing oppression and discrimination, but has been used as a cultural tool of resistance and catalyst for change (Chepp, 2014a; Lorde, 1984; Morrison, 1992; Walker, 2004).

Poetry as a “site of public knowledge production and political practice” (Chepp, 2014b, p. 222), has the capacity to articulate nuances and textures of social conditions among those seeking to transform social injustice. In particular, the use of poetry as testimony stemming from lived experience, has been used as evidence to incite change (Rangel, 2016). Poets, as cultural workers and storytellers, bring awareness to salient issues and support the broader society in making sense of what is often experienced alone or in silence (Lorde, 1984). Historically Black poets have, from Phyllis Wheatley during enslavement to Langston Hughes during the Harlem Renaissance, to contemporarily in the works of Stacey Ann Chin in 2019, distilled personal experiences of racism to expose patterns and larger themes for public investigation, interpretation and action (Nilofa, 2014).

Purpose of the Study

Poetry lives at the center of subjectivity and objectivity through its resonance between the poet and the audience (Chepp, 2014b). Therefore, poems when used as literary devices for healing, offer not only writers an opportunity to express emotions and thoughts, but also invites the audience to examine their own feelings and positionalities toward the content (Rangel, 2016). Poetry has the capacity to shift the audience, as witnesses, into becoming actors (Chepp, 2014a; Rangel, 2016). The purpose of this study is to link these concepts and explore the impact of poetry. To accomplish this, we posed the following three research questions: (1) What is the impact of colorism on Black youth’s historical trauma responses? (2) What are the physiological, psychological, social, and socioeconomic responses to colorism demonstrated in the poems? And, (3) What are the commonalities among the experiences of African Americans from the lens of the Colorist-Historical Trauma Framework?

Methodology

Using a thematic analysis of poetry for this study, the authors were able to reflect on the healing and resistive power of poetry from a group of young African American poets. Qualitative research including the thematic analysis is well positioned to explore the lived experiences of individuals.

Data Collection and Data Sources

In 2014, (Author) launched the annual colorism healing poetry contest at (Webb, 2020) as a way to invite all people to the colorism conversation. As part of this project, hundreds of diverse submissions from around the world were received. Some of the contestants have won cash prizes and many have been published. Although a writing contest merely seems like a competition to see who is the best writer, the colorism healing poetry contest serves even those who don’t usually write very much or who don’t think of themselves as “writers.” From the poems of the contest winners over the years, (Author) has published three anthologies of colorism poems. Individuals ages 12 to 19-years-old who lived in countries throughout the world submitted poems about colorism. Thirty-nine poems were published in the book “Colorism Poems”; using a colorist-historical framework (Ortega Williams et al., 2019) we analyzed a subset of poems (N = 16) written by African Americans. The poems were written by African Americans across the gender spectrum; however, the information regarding their socioeconomic status, familial background, and/or sexual orientation were not provided in the book. There was a myriad of titles that focused on skin color, hair texture, interpersonal relationships, familial hardships, and physical/psychological aspects of colorism, etc.

Data Analysis

The authors were provided electronic copies of the book and read each poem, manually marking distinct comments that were believed to represent discrete thoughts or themes. Using the colorist-historical trauma framework as a lens with which to view the data involved identifying generational themes in the poetry and exploring the depth and breadth of colorism’s impact on the lived experiences of the participants as evidenced by their poems. A clear linkage to African ancestry for example, and explicit discussions of the patterns of colorist behavior in themselves and their families and communities was of particular importance using the colorist-historical trauma framework. Additionally, the specific aspect of skin color within the intergenerational themes will be an apriori focus on the coding scheme. This same group of authors met to discuss and resolve minor differences in choices of themes and where the relevant comments began and ended. Open coding of poems was conducted. Axial coding was performed to regroup codes into overarching categories that captured poets’ psychological, social and emotional experiences. The core categories that emerged from this analytic step resolved differences to consensus, and refined the categories to illustrate themes and patterns regarding the contexts of poets’ experiences. Specifically, this involved a constant comparative method (Corbin & Strauss, 2015); which involved constantly comparing data with data, data with codes, and codes with other codes, leading to a consolidated set of themes and patterns grounded in the data. To further enhance the validity and rigor of the study; the coding process and themes were reviewed by a fourth reader, who was the editor of the poetry anthology and served as a final reviewer of the analysis determining if it captured the spirit of the work and poets, and provided feedback on the analysis. The resulting comments were separated into categories with thematic labels based on the actual words used by the poets (Corbin & Strauss, 2015). These categories were used to develop a final grouping of three emerging concepts: (1) the use of poetry as healing and the description of healing practice, (2) the contribution of slavery to colorist-historical trauma responses, and (3) the permeation throughout everyday life of colorist-historical trauma responses.

Positionality

As advocates for anti-colorist research, teaching, and practice, we acknowledge the limits of our personal understanding of colorism and the biases of our own socialization based on how our skin tone has been interpreted historically and contemporarily. We approached this study as a team of self-defined lighter-skinned and darker-skinned African American cisgender women who each have a unique experience with colorism and commitment to undoing colorist microaggressions. To these ends, we spent additional time during analysis and manuscript formulation to interrogate how our positionalities shaped our interpretations of the findings to explore potential biases.

Findings

Using the colorist-historical trauma framework, the authors present several emerging concepts from the poems including the following: (1) the use of poetry as healing and the description of healing practice, (2) the contribution of slavery to colorist-historical trauma responses, and (3) the permeation throughout everyday life of colorist-historical trauma responses. We then demonstrated how these concepts answer our three research questions.

Emerging Concepts

The first emerging concept, the use of poetry as healing and the description of healing practice, was developed from the themes of resistance in the poems. Research on the healing components of poetry suggest that colorism like other forms of discrimination, are ripe for being tackled through the artform of poetry. Poems were used by these poets as a powerful device for healing from the colorist-historical trauma responses of their past and those passed down from their families and communities. The language of the political portions of poems faces outward and are critical of colorism and those that perpetrate it. The political manifestations in these poems urge readers to combat discrimination based on color hierarchy not just in society, but within their own families and belief systems. The language of healing manifested in these poems as believing in oneself, teaching self-love, prayer, and perseverance. Many poems demonstrate anger as a form of resistance as well as a recasting Blackness so that the image of the oppressor is no longer legitimate (Fanon, 1963). It is also worth noting that this practice of healing may be nuanced across generations; as evidenced in several poems, while some older generations have struggled to heal, younger generations demonstrate a formidable tenacity for healing through poetry.

The second emerging concept of the poems is the contribution of slavery to the colorist-historical trauma responses in these poems. The writings make clear that colorist-historical trauma response is linked to the collective history of slavery. In these poems, truly creative characterizations of how the color stratification began in slavery and how the reflection on some of the African ancestors provides strength to overcome experiences of colorism. Also documented are the continuing struggles of Black families in their socialization of children and interactions within their own ethnic communities. Need a transition sentence to introduce the reader to these quotes.

The third emerging concept is the permeation throughout everyday lives of colorist-historical trauma responses. It is evident in the poems that the vestiges of colorist-historical trauma response permeate the physiological, psychological, social, socioeconomic, and political responses of these African American poets. Many signify ways in which colorism is a burden, while also sharing resistance to this burden. The onslaught of colorist microaggressions is prominent in all of the poems. While the source of these microaggressions vary (family, media, friends, community members), poets have had to both reconcile colorism with their own choices to heal and resist through poetry as a healing device.

Research Questions

Research Question 1: What is the impact of colorism on Black youth’s historical trauma responses?

This analysis revealed an intricate and nuanced perspective on the impact of colorism on the historical trauma responses of Black youth. Not only do we see excerpts that demonstrate healing practice from historical trauma response,

Tell them their skin is gorgeous. Tell them their skin is smart. Tell them their skin is gentle and kind. Tell them it sets them apart. Tell them their skin is proud. Tell them their skin is beautiful.

You can’t conceal my light with your harmful words. . . .with your anger. . . .with your dark, cumulative clouds. Accept me. For who and what and why I am. Me. Beautiful.

They will try to make your blackness a burden, but don’t pay them any mind, because your heartbeat is the melody of the mockingbird.

but also excerpts that position healing and the written practice of poetry as resistance to the intergenerational impact of the colorist-historical trauma response (CHTR).

I am the Angelou’s and Morrison’s phenomenally black and beloved. Ode to the world’s most disrespected tough as whipcords, messengers of the black sun,

Many excerpts highlighted the pain in the CHTR to participant’s own value and self-worth

Getting blacker was the undesirable thing, the wrong thing, or even the scary thing. Getting blacker was to be avoided at all costs. It meant recesses spent in the shade and cowering in the dark corners of life.

I was taught that beauty was only skin deep, taught that vanity would fade. I learned God was my creator, that I was fearfully and wonderfully made. So the comments would confuse me. I couldn’t quite comprehend why people said the things they said in reference to my skin.

I was one of those midnight girls who believed darkness was associated with sin and filth and ugliness.

When I was little, my mom attempted to explain to me why my skin can represent the pinnacle of Blackness, but not black beauty and how “black-girl pretty” is light skin with Negro nose omitted.

. . .dark moms can’t help but to be bitter at little chocolates who can’t help but to be dark.

However, the majority held a reflective posture and critique of the CHTR, with the poetic device as a tool for healing.

Research Question 2: What are the physiological, psychological, social, and socioeconomic responses demonstrated in the poems?

Many poems highlight the emergent concept of how colorism permeates the everyday lives of the poets. Physiologically, poets described actions evident of colorist-historical trauma response on their physical bodies.

My grandmother even gave me cream to lighten my face— I didn’t really know what it was, but I’d rub that stuff all over the place.

I couldn’t smile at the sun like my light skin sister did I was always scrubbing my neck praying the black fall off like the ash of a cigarette.

Psychologically, CHTR has one of its most illuminating descriptions in the poems as poets describe the doubt and mental health challenges of dealing with colorist-historical trauma as well as the self-talk and belief to boldly confront these challenges.

No one told me light skin made you smarter. No one told me dark skin wasn’t beautiful. No one told me light skin was better, but I knew.

Socially, the colorist-historical trauma response manifests in some degree of isolation for the majority of poets in this analysis. Particularly among families, poets felt the sting of the CHTR in their socialization about skin color and race.

I was one of those midnight girls who believed darkness was associated with sin and filth and ugliness.

Some poems offer a critical stance toward this isolation, thereby demonstrating resistance to the mere fact that skin color should result in isolation or “othering” at all. In several poems, there is a detection of being “triumphant” in discarding attitudes that promote negative attitudes toward darker skin.

You can’t conceal my light with your harmful words. . . .with your anger. . . .with your dark, cumulative clouds. Accept me. For who and what and why I am. Me. Beautiful.

They will try to make your blackness a burden, but don’t pay them any mind, because your heartbeat is the melody of the mockingbird.

From the standpoint of socioeconomics, the colorist-historical trauma framework could be used to understand what poets described as being projected onto them. The mechanism of historical trauma that is limited in the historical trauma literature, but present in their poems, is the mechanism of media representation to transmit colorism.

Every year, I flipped through the toy catalogs, looking for the most beautiful dolls to put on my Christmas list. I never found a pretty, brown doll—only white dolls with yellow hair, blue eyes, and white, lacey socks.

Why allow a Viola Davis into Hollywood.

When there is a Halle Berry to tell you beauty can only stretch so dark.

Research Question 3: What are the commonalities among the experiences of African Americans from the lens of the Colorist-Historical Trauma Framework?

Many of the excerpts aligned with the emerging concepts and demonstrate a link to the distant past, the pain of the recent past, reflection and interruption of the colorist-historical trauma response, and preparation for continued healing in the future. Throughout several of the poems, there is a clear storyline that acknowledges colorist-historical trauma rooted in colonialism and slavery, which elicits the colorist-historical trauma response within families and in their own lives.

People of color from every nation suffer from a type of Stockholm syndrome. It causes them to want to look like their captors—their conquerors.

Whiteness becomes you, wants to eat you, stays hungry. I see the way it be lookin’ at me, grasping at the flesh of me. It dreams of drinking from my middle passage, stays thirsty.

A slap in the face to our ancestors buried underneath our feet. The Taino. The African Slaves, bodies slaughtered, nooses around necks, came a long way from pickin’ out the cotton to pickin’ on the streets.

You cannot escape your skin color. You cannot blot out your heritage. You cannot erase your past.

Dark brown (the color of the dirt my ancestors used to create a path for me) missing punctuation?

Whether this is in the form of microaggressions or denied access to opportunities or services, the poets artfully describe the pain of the recent past. Equally notable in the poems, however is the reflection and wondering “why” in the poems. The poetry seems to allow for the poets to assume this posture of questioning and “praying for” a new way forward that disrupts the colorist-historical trauma response within their families.

Discussion and Implications

The illuminating results of this thematic analysis are helpful in several ways, none more important than improving the lived experiences of African American individuals, families, and communities. Through the application of the colorist-historical trauma framework to these poems written specifically about colorism, there is first an important identification of the pervasive yet nuanced influence of colorist-historical trauma on the everyday lives of African American people, including families, communities, and generations. Throughout these poems, the colorist-historical trauma response is linked back to colonialism, the middle passage, and how the enslavement of African Americans created colorist-historical trauma. While some poets were socialized within the colorist hierarchy and reflect the harm caused because of discrimination against what is perceived as more Afrocentric features like dark skin and kinky hair texture, others demonstrated in these poems that they were emboldened by their connections to ancestors when dealing with colorism. This highlights more context for the historical trauma field, in that beauty norms are an integral mechanism of violence perpetuation in the colorist-historical trauma response but can also be a source of resistance through poetry. Chester Pierce (1977) began exploring this concept and critiquing the role of media upon African Americans. He identified invisibility or lack of representation in the media, or across a broad spectrum of careers in society, as a form of microaggression against Black people (Pierce, 1977).

Secondly, the findings of this analysis there was evidence suggesting that poetry was a device capable of evaluating the impact of colorist-historical trauma for individuals and supported their process of reclaiming power in the public space. They challenged the public to bear witness to the impact of colorism, contemporarily and historically, creating an opportunity for healing personally and change collectively, which extends findings in the literature (Chepp, 2014a).

Also, the implications of poetry as a healing device from CHT cannot be understated. Individuals may or may not be able to build large coalitions for change regarding CHT, but individuals can surely engage in resistance through poetry writing. Poetry as a healing strategy has been enacted as a therapeutic intervention for countless mental health practitioners (Coulehan, 2009; Mazza & Hayton; 2013; Tyson, 2004). When addressing the costs of colorism for African American clients, this study strongly supports using poetry as a mechanism for clients to heal. Thus, poetry provides agency for African Americans to address their own experiences with CHT as well as to help others heal.

Lastly, the identification of poetry as a mechanism for healing from negative experiences with colorism indicates that the historical trauma response not only incorporates subjugation of oppressed African Americans, but can also incorporate resistance. As such, this study provided a lens for understanding adolescents colorist-historical trauma responses and information that might be useful in developing interventions. As referenced in many poems, the negative historical trauma responses were interrupted in some families and replaced with resistance of the oppressor and embrace of the ancestor. For those engaged in education, practice, and research with African Americans, the nuanced views of reactions and resistance to colorism, grounded in lived experiences, while not generalizable, could offer insight for future studies.

Strengths and Limitations

This study has several notable strengths. First, it is the only application of the colorist-historical trauma framework to the written reflections and experiences of African Americans. As such, this study advances not only the literature on historical trauma by adding colorism to the traditional understanding, but also expands the colorism literature by offering nuances to the intergenerational transmission of colorism as a historical trauma response.

One limitation is the lack of sample demographic information. Due to the use of publicly available poems, the authors were not able to gather socio-demographic data that could have further illuminated the thematic analysis using the written words of these young African American individuals.

Conclusion

This study provides the first application of the colorist-historical trauma framework to qualitative data in the form of poetry. In addition to the magnification of the colorist-historical trauma and colorist-historical trauma response within the poems, the most significant contribution of this paper is the mechanism of poetry as a healing device for African Americans addressing their experiences with colorist-historical trauma. For individuals, mental health practitioners, researchers, and educators, increased knowledge of the colorist-historical trauma framework stands to offer meaningful progress within each respective area. Beyond an increase in knowledge of the colorist-historical trauma framework, the art of poetry as resistance to colorist-historical trauma is a method that can be adopted from the homes of countless African Americans to the intimate rooms of clinicians to the desktops of students in schools, to the pedagogical underpinnings of higher learning institutions.

Footnotes

Authors’ Note

Jandel Crutchfield, PhD, LCSW is an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Arlington School of Social Work. Dr. Crutchfield’s work is designed to understand underlying contributions to the stagnation in racial disparity gaps for vulnerable people of color in all sectors of society. Her main foci include the following (1) examining cases that describe the lived experiences of discrimination that vulnerable people of color experience and which contributes to disparities, (2) identifying institutional, societal, and individual level racial and skin color bias that contributes to such disparities, (3a) demonstrating the need for better training in cultural engagement for professionals working in any system with vulnerable people of color and (3b) identifying tools for better training in cultural engagement for these professionals.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Ethics

We have no ethical conflicts to disclose for this work.

ORCID iD

Jandel Crutchfield

Author Biographies

Jandel Crutchfield, PhD, LCSW, has worked as a clinician and is presently an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Arlington. Her position includes primarily researching in the area of school social work in traditional and charter schools, cultural competence of school social workers, colorism and social work practice. She has served as a reviewer for Children & Schools and Urban Education. Dr. Crutchfield has taught an array of courses in academia and is a grant writer as well. She is a licensed clinical social worker, an orator on controversial social issues such as race/color and has developed curriculum taught in university settings.

J. Camille Hall, PhD, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker and associate professor. Shehas more than twenty years of experience in clinical social work practice and supervision. Hall’s research focuses on multicultural competence, and risk and resilience. For many years, she has conducted research using various modalities and methodologies. Hall has taught many courses at the University of Tennessee as well.

Anna Ortega Williams, PhD, is an assistant professor at Hunter College, Silberman School of Social Work. Black youth, exposed early to the violence of structural racism and systemic inequities, within the context of historical trauma, are disproportionately at risk for psychological and physiological distress. In the midst of this, Black youth are using creative peer-led approaches and social action to generate mass group-level wellbeing. Dr. Ortega-Williams’ research investigates the role of organizing among Black youth, to interrupt social injustice, as an action-oriented trauma recovery practice and pathway of post-traumatic growth. An additional area of interest is how youth access and employ cultural traditions and historical legacies of social resistance to pursue wellbeing.

Sarah Webb, MFA, PhD, is an assistant professor, a writer with a focus on African American Literature and founder of colorismhealing.com, a resource for learning and healing from experiences of colorism. Sarah received her PhD in English from LSU and is currently at University of Illinois, Springfield where she teaches literacy and poetry courses.

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