Dance Movement Therapy Commons^™

Addressing White Body Supremacy In The Black Body: An Embodied Approach, Alexandra Stewart

Dance/Movement Therapy Theses

Oppression, discrimination, and racism are deeply rooted within our country’s institution and are the framework for the ideology, political, social, and economic values that are still upheld today. The enforcement of White body supremacy has caused trauma related mental and bodily distress to develop into anxiety, depression, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), or Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome (PTSS), and other mental conditions manifested in the body. As oppression is not officially acknowledged as trauma, it significantly complicates the process of healing for Black people. Degruy (2005) calls Black people to action to heal the traumas that have been passed down …