Dot to Dot: Part 1

As it's Black History Month I have decided to write articles that explore my questions ans processes, whilst reviewing black history related events in London.

Two months ago I watched Rising of the Planet of the Apes which is a brilliant film. Like most people I was moved and saddened by the treatment of Caesar and his fellow prime mates at the hands of humans to such a degree that I detest Zoo’s. Technology has advanced and so has our understanding on the effects of animals being removed from their natural environment, there is no reasonable justification in my eyes for this in the 21st century. I digress...as I dug deeper I realised the core of my emotions centred on the fact that Caesar’s treatment, especially when his keeper left him at the compound reminded me of Slavery. The cell- confined space, neck brace- slaves shackles whilst the food represented inedible slops that slaves were given as they were viewed as less than.

As the film went on, Caesar’s hopes of going back home slowly diminish and we see the ranging emotions coupled by this acknowledgment. Rubbing out the window which he drew in chalk, representing home was heart rendering. I can only imagine, but this mental process must have been the same for those who were kidnapped from their families. The distress is unimaginable, as is the kind of thoughts that must have been swirling in their mind constantly. Thinking of their life before, may have been hope to some and insanity to others. Staying on this avenue of thought also reminded me of Existentialism and Viktor Frankl’s story.

Existentialism is the belief that the sole responsibility for giving life meaning lies with us, through free will and choice, in spite of many obstacles and distractions including despair, angst, absurdity, boredom and death. Some existentialists considered the meaning of life to be based in faith, while others noted self-determined goals. In general, existentialism has been described as a set of ideas to categorize human existence, beyond the traditional ancient philosophies and scientific methods. Read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existentialism

Viktor Frankl was a concentration camp prisoner survivor, Psychologist, Existentialist and author. His experiences within the Nazi death camps led him to form Logotherapy, from the Greek word Logos, which can mean study, word, spirit, God or meaning. Through observing who did and did not survive he concluded “He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how.” He saw that people who had hopes of being reunited with loved ones, or who had projects they felt a need to complete, or who had great faith, tended to have better chances than those who had lost all hope.

Freud centred on a will to pleasure, as the root of all human motivation, whilst Adler a will to power. Frankl through Logotherapy postulates a will to meaning. He said "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way". I find this statement powerful beyond measure.

He also went on to say “If a prisoner felt that he could no longer endure the realities of camp life, he found a way out in his mental life– an invaluable opportunity to dwell in the spiritual domain, the one that the SS were unable to destroy. Spiritual life strengthened the prisoner, helped him adapt, and thereby improved his chances of survival”.

Many slaves found solace and faith in Religion. Did this provide meaning within the meaningless that enabled them to adapt and survive? Christianity was also used by many to okay slavery which leaves a bad taste in my mouth because it feels like a double betrayal cloaked in further illusion for those who suffered at the hands of this inhumane ‘enterprise’. “Meaning must be found and cannot be given” said Frankl and so I have to also acknowledge that meaning is personal and so many would have found comfort in what resonated for them. Christianity appears to have acted as a personal and collective relationship with God.

 

I wasn’t there, I shouldn’t know, so why do I make these comparisons to slavery? And why do my emotions feel so strong? Beliefs and historical memories are re-awakened when in contact with a real or perceived external oppressive situation. Watching the film triggered and unlocked, emotions that were dormant. I have experienced this on at least 5 separate occasions prior to this and it is scary because there is no reference point to help provide meaning. Last year I came across the words Cellular memory and Internalised Oppression, the latter coined by Franz Fanon and everything just clicked into place.

My great, great grandmother was a slave and although I/we are generations removed from the actual experience of slavery, we still carry the scars of the experience thorough Cellular memory, also known as ‘Collective Colonial memory’(Tuckwell, 2002, p.39) in both our social and mental lives. Akbar (cited in Mackenzie-Mavinga,2003, pg 105) said “Psychologists and sociologists have failed to attend to the persistence of problems in and on our mental and social lives, which clearly have roots in slavery. Only the historian has given proper attention to the shattering realities of slavery, and has dealt with it only as descriptive of past events”.

Internalized oppression highlights the ongoing impact slavery; imperialism and colonisation have on the psychical level. Later writers use this term as well as internalised colonization and internalized racism. Alleyne (2004) said “It is the process of absorbing consciously or unconsciously the values or beliefs of the oppressor and subscribing to the stereotype and misinformation about one’s group...such a process leads to low self esteem, self hate and other complex defensive interpersonal behaviours” (p.48).

The legacy of the historical past has a traumatic affect in similar ways of post traumatic syndrome, where the pain and full acknowledgement is preferred to be avoided. What is the result of avoidance? How would this be displayed in behaviour? How can I/we fully heal if the unconscious does not become conscious? For me there are more questions now then ever before. Below are some examples of what I am thinking...

• I am a descendent of slaves, therefore what part of Africa did I originate from?


• My surname and family surnames are English sounding as far as I can go back, what is my true surname?

• What is my mother tongue?

• I fully believe in the notions of Cellular memory and Internalised Oppression as a result how much of what I do in my day to day life is motivated by proving “I am good enough?”

• How much of my culture, values and beliefs today are entwined with conditioning, trauma and fear from my historical past?

• Is who I think I am, really who I am? How can this be the truest essence of me, if a large part of my existence is informed by unconscious conditioned ways of behaving? Virtually raise your hand, or shout YES to the screen, if you can identify with this statement “You are black and therefore you have to work ten times harder than your white counterparts”. This is conditioning and this statement has been informed by our parents, parents, parents experiences, which is understandable however go deeper to ask who am I working hard for? What am I trying to prove and who am I trying to prove it too? Answer this honestly.

We all need to look at our ways of behaving as potentially this is another type of shackle. BE-ing is different from DO-ing. To BE is about reaching our potential and not proving our potential to others. Black psychologists such as Alleyne and Ellis speak of the ‘true black self’. This must exist because Cellular memory and Internalised oppression does. Therefore underneath the layers and layers of baggage that we unconsciously carry lies are truest essence. The answers also lie in finding out who we were before the trauma of slavery. Whilst I also believe that we can choose to define, re-define who we are at any given moment, acknowledging the past is also important.

Internalized oppression is a collective experience of black people (Tuckwell, 2002), as a result the likelihood of other black people experiencing similar thoughts and feelings triggered by any type of stimuli is high. This is the main reason I have decided to write this. The information is there but hidden away in books. If any of what I have said resonates with you, or makes you question or explore more, than I guess I have done my bit in highlighting the known.

I have never thought about visiting a Slavery focused museum before now. Avoidance I think played a large part, however due to the emotions triggered by The Rising of the Planet of the Apes and my previous reactions to other types of stimuli, it felt necessary. So last week I went to the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool to look at the past, connect the dots and process it properly, in order to reduce my own known and unknown historical baggage.

My review/thoughts and insights of The International Slavery Museum will be posted tomorrow evening.



References:

Tuckwell, G. (2002). Racial identity, white counsellors and therapists.

Mckenzie-Mavinga, I. (2003). Linking social history and the therapeutic process in research and practice on black issues

Alleyne, A. (2004). The internal oppressor and black identity wounding

Related Posts:
1.Dot to Dot:Part 2
2.Road Blocked
3.Stamps from the African Diaspora: Review

© Lisa Bent 2011

Road Blocked

The Hospital, a channel 4 documentary which focused on knife crime in North London left me a tearful speechless wreck. Like the participants I struggled to understand why this was happening and how it all began and so I racked my brains until my head hurt.

“We are all destined to die, if it happens it happens” these are the words of Daniel a 16 year old boy who was knifed in the heart and survived. He had multiple organ failure and within 6 weeks had received 9 operations. His words shocked me but he echoes the mentality of the majority of young boys today, which is disturbing as it cheapens the gift of life.

Whilst death is inevitable no one deserves to die with fear in their eyes and heart. A life cut short in this way is murder. The growing numbers of people who have died since the wave of knife crimes were not destined to die in this way, many hadn’t even lived. Life is precious and on the streets of London it is being taken away in a blink of an eye with the glint of a blade. For what? What are they fighting for?

Respect is a word banded about so much that it has now lost its meaning, they are doing everything but respecting people, others and themselves. Plus this talk of post code turf war is absolutely absurd. These boys, young men, in gangs are killing each other because others have dared to enter into a place where they reside, which they must fight for and protect. Erm... what are they protecting exactly? London is so small you could be on a road that is one postcode one minute, turn left and be in another area the next.

It’s like something out of a wild life documentary by David Attenborough who observes that the un-expecting prey is pounced upon by a pack of lions, as it dared to enter their domain. But this is people we are talking about. Are we not meant to be more intelligent as we have a conscious, a higher sense of reasoning and a life that extends beyond day to day survival? For some evidently not made clear by Taurean, a 22 year old stabbed in a fight who gave a personal insight into what is happening in his area, the result being “Hackney is the centre of my universe.”

At this point I was incensed with anger, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Rosa Parks, to name a few fought so hard to allow us to have greater freedom and right now, black boys feel trapped by numbers, letters, concrete and fear. We have gone backwards and I feel while they are turning in their graves, the BNP and Klu Clux Clan have their feet up with smiles on their faces.

Asked to shed light on why this is happening Taurean is just as baffled. If those directly involved or affected by this nonsense can’t explain why they are doing it, or why it is occurring then how can we as adults, provide help and guidance? So many bleat about how hard done by in life they are, yet they are the ones who have created these rules which have now become both their mental and physical prisons. Or have they? To understand this postcode restriction and random attacks, which is gang related, looking back to southern Los Angeles street gangs, the Crips and Bloods seems naively obvious.

These two violent street gangs began in 1969 between predominately African-Americans and Hispanics, both active and highly successful in the drug trade. New members were recruited by their environment, which were predominately poor African-American communities often of school age. Gang membership offered a sense of belonging, protection and immediate gratification to the economically disadvantaged youth, who equated gang life to gold Jewellery, cash, nice cars and expensive sports clothes.

The Crips adopted the colour blue for their clothing and Bloods red to identify and differentiate themselves. "Cuzz," short for cousin was the greeting term adopted by the Crips in greeting each other, whilst the Bloods used “Blood” as a symbol for their gang family. All gang members were identified by a nickname, AKA or street name, which usually gave an insight into their psychological perspective of themselves.

There are evidently clear similarities with gangs in the UK! Fascinated by American culture perhaps this is where all this stems from. From as early as I can remember it was said that Britain was 10 years behind America. Well it is now on our doorstep in all its self-fulfilling prophecy glory. As gangs in America are supposedly dying out, it is rapidly growing here. Apparently there are 36 gangs operating in the borough of Lambeth alone!

The senseless killings are about gaining “stripes” projecting a “bad man” exterior coupled with “I’ll get you before you get me” This is not a spaghetti film or a music video. There is no director that will shout “cut” signalling them to wake up from their collapsed position and wipe away the fake blood. Unfortunately the reality may come too late for some. A young decision, an action or reaction can have lifetime consequences.

Whilst emulation has occurred due to the glorification of gang life in films and music, I am still left contemplating as to whether there are more reasons. What is it that makes an experience elsewhere, resonate so much here? Is it identification with wanting more? The socio-political unbalance? Or the immediate identification with people who are of the same colour? I came across a trailer called Crips and Blood: Made in America, a documentary narrated by Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker, revealing the modern-day gang life: the turf wars and territorialism, the inter-gang hierarchy, rules of behaviour, the culture of guns, death and dishonour. Within the 2 minutes 46 seconds, a respondent revealed that the Crips formed as a result of frustration and anger as a result of racism, discrimination and injustice: 

I thought further and remembered a quote by Alice Walker who said “Men make war to get attention. All killing is an expression of self-hate”. This notion of self hate coupled with the knowledge of racism and Internalized Oppression, a term coined by Black Psychologist Frantz Fanon which highlights the ongoing impact slavery; imperialism and colonisation have on the psychical levels, should be considered together for further exploration (I will attempt this in a future article). For now I ponder whether this is the frustrated powerless exercising what they deem to be power and control?

As Daniel looked at his family around him he broke down. Although he didn’t say much, the pain and fear in his eyes spoke volumes; he looked like a scared lost deer which was a horrible sight that triggered my tears to flow. The reality of what he had been through, the love and worry of his family surrounding him and the new and very real struggle back to recovery seemed to hit home in that one moment. Daniel upon facing death was glad and grateful to be alive and the hard words expressed earlier revealed themselves to be fake bravado, empty, selfish and valueless.

As well as the physical injuries Daniel and so many other survivors of knife crime and crime in general, must now also strive to overcome the psychological damage which is just as crippling. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is common amongst anyone who has been in a life threatening situation. PSTD is likely if the person has been exposed to a traumatic event in which both of the following were present:

“The person experienced, witnessed or was confronted with an event or events that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others. The person’s response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror” (Scott et al., 1995, p.78).

Direct related signs of PTSD will include heart palpitations, anxiousness, distressing dreams; unpleasant and intrusive thoughts, disruptions of behaviour, fatigue, insomnia, irritability, and a return of fear. PTSD was first documented amongst war veterans but is now also associated with experiences such as child sexual abuse, rape, terrorist bombings, vehicle accidents, physical or emotional abuse and natural disasters such as earthquakes. The meaning and order of the world for survivors crumbles beneath them. Their sense of self worth, safety, stability and sense of control is compromised and shattered. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is considered to be the appropriate intervention for PTSD.

At this point my mind crossed over to the perpetrator. Yes, he plunged the knife in cold blood with no conscience or respect for life and ran off, not sticking around to hear the sirens and the chaos thereafter. So why should I, we care? The perpetrator would have smelt the fear, his own and his victims. Seen the blood, his own and/or his victims and as their eyes met in this surreal but very real situation of aggression, fake bravado and survival, will too have seen the mirrored truth, which he knows and feels in the reflected eyes of the other, FEAR!

As the perpetrator, the cause, but also the witness, PSTD is likely and I wonder how he deals with the memories at night and in the day? The psychological distress must be high as the potentiality of a mental health disorder. Two birds are killed with one stone. The perpetrator and victim are both scarred. There are no winners here!

The Hospital series is an eye opener as it directly voices the opinions of the issues that affect young people, giving an insight into their world view. Whilst my emotions and frustrations dipped and dived throughout, I acknowledge that this is what they are going through. This is what they know, all they know. This is what they are dealing with and they cannot see bigger or beyond the end of their road due to fear, attack and tunnel vision. So what do we do about it? What happens next? After all, we are the adults who can see that Hackney is not the centre of the universe.

Gangs and post code wars were perhaps structures built on top of the foundations of fear, pain, frustration and powerlessness, however these structures only serve to be visual, mental and physical road blocks to potential, self development and a future.

The reality of the situation needs to hit home to these youngsters and fast. Prisoners and reformed gang members need to directly show the way, as whilst this series is absolutely brilliant, I am convinced that those who needed to watch it for a wake up call, were out on the street...defending their area!

©2010 Lisa Bent