Chapter 9: We Wear the Mask: Unmasking Racial Trauma through use of Spoken Word Poetry as a Therapeutic Tool

The above quote is from a young man named Dallas who was asked about the role of spoken word in his life and how spoken word serves as a buffer and a coping mechanism against microaggressions, discriminatory incidents, and other forms of racism, including racial trauma that he experiences in school and in society. He was one of the seven young men between the ages of 18 and 22 interviewed about ways participation in a community-based spoken word poetry program assists Black males with managing traumatic stress when they encounter racialized experiences in and outside of school. During interviews, I remember holding back tears as the young men spoke of how teachers in school and others in society perceived them, including being profiled by police. I had to pause frequently to give these young men a minute to gain their composure as they spoke about the trauma that they feel from these encounters, and from witnessing injustices endured by their family members and other men who look like them. Incidents like police shootings of unarmed Black men and White male vigilantism are especially traumatizing.