Oakland’s The Town Talks Speaker Series Hosts Internationally Renowned Author & Researcher Dr. Joy DeGruy
Oakland, CA – The City of Oakland’s Department of Race & Equity (DRE) brings Dr. Joy DeGruy to Oakland to headline The Town Talks about Racial Equity, the second installment in an on-going series.
Who: The City of Oakland with Dr. Joy DeGruy, internationally
renowned author & researcher
What: The Town Talks about Racial Equity series
When: Friday, September 13, 2019 | 6:30pm
Where: First Congregational Church of Oakland
2501 Harrison St., Oakland, CA 94612
Why: Although this country ended the formal, legal codes of human enslavement and segregation that ruled the U.S. for most of its history, the racist ideas that those structures rested on have not changed much.
“This is an effort to reform some of the biases we all have learned about being Black,” said Darlene Flynn, the City’s Race & Equity Director. “Our hope is to create spaces where City residents can develop skills to work cross-racially, listen to national experts, and leave energized to support our work in helping to transform local government. We want to find our community in Oakland, those who are ready to co-create with us, a city where racial equity is achieved.”
Dr. DeGruy, has published numerous journal articles and book chapters and authored the seminal book Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury & Healing. Dr. DeGruy will take the audience through a healing journey from the intersections of anti-Black bias, trauma, violence and the enslavement of Black people in America to the amazing resilience and strengths of the Black community, and the lessons we can all learn to stand in solidarity and help heal racism.
Dr. DeGruy’s research focuses on the intersection of racism, trauma, violence and American chattel slavery. She has over thirty years of practical experience as a professional in the field of social work. She conducts workshops and trainings in the areas of intergenerational/historical trauma, mental health, social justice, improvement strategies and evidence-based model development.
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