The next meeting of the Disaster Trauma Committee will be Friday, June 18, 9 to 11 am via zoom (invitation below). As you know, it will be my last meeting as the chairperson since beginning the committee 25 years ago.
I hope you’ll be able to attend, as we’ll include a review of these years of collective trauma and loss, beginning with a moment of silence for those lost to COVID here and globally, and to the pandemic of structural racism over the centuries and within the last weeks, at a time of escalating hate crimes and violence toward those of Asian descent, along with others, and ever-strengthening voter suppression, just before Juneteenth.
We’ll recognize June/July anniversaries, from the Tulsa massacre a century ago, and the 2016 mass shooting hate crime in Orlando at the Pulse nightclub on Latinx night, to the white supremacist mass shooting in 2015 at the historic Mother Emanual AME church, and the relentless murders at the hands of law enforcement, including Alton Sterling in 2016, Philando Castille in 2016, and Eric Garner on Staten Island, 2014.
The meeting will underline the enduring impact of disasters/collective trauma and loss- certainly on us, and more broadly- on individuals and communities crossing the generations, as we acknowledge the significance of an attuned response to the unprocessed collective losses of historical traumas, the necessity of collective mourning and collective memorializing, layers of moral suffering, and the remarkable determination and perseverance of survivors.
Importantly, we’ll acknowledge together this setting of close collegial engagement and support over the years, a community to hold our vulnerability and our resourcefulness so naturally coexisting in our practice, our social justice work. And while unfortunately there will not be the 20th 9/11 Anniversary Reflection and Remembrance meeting in the coming months, I am glad to keep you informed about a few anniversary commemorations this year which may be of great interest and much support.
Thank you for please sending an RSVP to mgmiller96@aol.com. I look forward to seeing you on the 18th, and send my best-
Madelyn
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