Resmaa Menakem

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Resmaa Menakem (born Chester Mason, Jr.)[1] is an American author and psychotherapist specialising in the effects of trauma on the human body and the relationship between trauma, white body supremacy, and racism in America.[2][3][4][5][1]

He is the author of My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending our Hearts and Bodies, published in September 2017,[6][7] which appeared on the New York Times bestseller list in May 2021[6] and The Quaking of America: An Embodied Guide to Navigating our Nation's Upheaval and Racial Reckoning, published in 2022.[3] He is also the founder of the Cultural Somatics Institute.[8]

Career[edit]

For ten years, Menakem cohosted a radio show with former U.S. Congressman and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on KMOJ-FM in Minneapolis. He also hosted his own show, “Resmaa in the Morning,” on KMOJ.[9]

Menakem has served as the director of counseling services for Tubman Family Alliance, a domestic violence treatment center in Minneapolis; the behavioral health director for African American Family Services in Minneapolis; a domestic violence counselor for Wilder Foundation; a divorce and family mediator; a social worker for Minneapolis Public Schools; a youth counselor; a community organizer; and a marketing strategist.

From 2011 to 2013, Menakem was a community care counselor for civilian contractors in Afghanistan, managing the wellness and counseling services on 53 U.S. military bases.

He has appeared on American daytime TV shows The Oprah Winfrey Show and Dr. Phil, the On Being podcast with Krista Tippett, late night talk show Tha God's Honest Truth with Charlemagne the God, iHeart radio's The Breakfast Club with DJ Envy, and the Goop podcast, among many media appearances.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b My Grandmother's Hands, p. 256, n. 92
  2. ^ "Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris – Why We're All Suffering from Racial Trauma (Even White People) -- and How to Handle It | Resmaa Menakem – 1:18:45". radiopublic.com. Retrieved 2020-11-26.
  3. ^ a b "Resmaa Menakem on Why Healing Racism Begins With the Body". Compassion Center, University of Arizona. 2020-04-05. Retrieved 2020-11-26.
  4. ^ Sewell, CheyOnna. "Artist Resmaa Menakem launches new book, gallery exhibit and album to inspire action on racial justice". Twin Cities Daily Planet. Retrieved 2020-11-26.
  5. ^ "'Soul Medic:' From the battlefield to Minnesota, a therapist continues to listen". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2020-11-26.
  6. ^ a b My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies. 2017-09-19. ISBN 978-1-942094-47-0.
  7. ^ "My Grandmother's Hands". Psychology Today. Sep 21, 2017. Retrieved 2020-11-26.
  8. ^ "Cultural Somatics Institute".
  9. ^ "Training Summit".

External links[edit]