A Black Girl's Guide to Emotional Healing
By Diarra English
Black women are often told that they are strong, independent pillars of families, communities, and workplaces, but what happens when the strong person feels weak? More often than not, Black women are placed in situations where they have to push their own feelings to the side in order to accommodate the needs of others. As a result, Black women are left not only with the crushing weight of their own problems, but also the weight of everyone else’s. According to a study conducted by Johns Hopkins, in addition to carrying more emotional weight than their counterparts Black women are “half as likely” to reach out for help when they feel their mental health beginning to slip. This is where Nijiama Smalls devotional journal comes into play for Black women who are suffering.
In addition to day-to-day stressors and triggers, Black women carry generational trauma that manifests in ways that are detrimental to their mental and physical health. Instead of being able to take a back seat and actually address the factors that cause distress, Black women often end up taking a frontline to stand either fighting back against the stress or teaching others, mostly white female counterparts, about the stress. This is best evidenced by the way the United States continues to turn to Black women after a police-involved murder of a Black or African American person.
In an article written by Lynya Floyd entitled “Black Women Are Facing an Overwhelming Mental Health Crisis” Monnica Williams, Ph.D., ABPP outlines the difficult position Black women are typically thrown into by saying “every Black woman I know is so emotionally exhausted[...] Adding to their stress is well-meaning outreach from white friends who often then center the conversation around their guilt.” While the outreach may be in good faith, it doesn’t leave any breathing room for a Black woman who is already emotionally traumatized and stressed from her own personal life in addition to the tragedy she may see on the news any given day.
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Black women especially take on the emotional weight of others, as evidenced by the way Black women have been disproportionately affected by the trauma of the Black Lives Matter movement. Following her father Eric Garner’s murder by the New York Police Department, Erica Garner dedicated her life to seeking justice for him and others and eventually passed away from a heart attack at the young age of 27. This is where Nijiama Smalls’ The Black Girl’s Guide to Healing Emotional Wounds Devotional comes into play as a daily resource for Black women who don’t know where to begin their journey toward a new life. Smalls explores and outlines a variety of methods for Black women to begin the restorative process by letting go of the past trauma to move forward with the carefree life they deserve. In a world where Black women are often left on their own without any resources to combat their trauma, Smalls offers “healing and unity” for them instead.
Smalls strategically structure the book as a devotional journal so those who are looking for that healing and unity don’t know where to begin their search. Smalls takes her readers on a spiritual journey through fictional storytelling that allows the reader to connect to characters who share their trauma and apply their healing methods to their own lives. Smalls’ book is an excellent resource for the Black woman who wants and needs to “tear down the inner chaos and rebuild with healthy and learned behavior” to live a more positive life. By the end of the spiritual sojourn, readers should feel enlightened, empowered, and encouraged to take a new lease on life free from emotional trauma and baggage.
For more information about purchasing The Black Girl’s Guide to Healing and Emotional Wounds Devotional, visit nijiamasmalls.com.