In this episode of the Speaking Out of Place podcast, Professor David Palumbo-Liu interviews Dr. Jennifer Gómez about her new book, The Cultural Betrayal of Black Women and Girls: A Black Feminist Approach to Healing from Sexual Abuse, which takes on the particular difficulty of centering the voices and experiences of Black women and girls when confronting sexual violence in the Black community. 

Jennifer M. Gómez is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work and a Faculty Affiliate at the Center for Innovation in Social Work & Health at Boston University, and a Board Member and Chair of the Research Advisory Committee at the Center for Institutional Courage. Her primary research focus is cultural betrayal trauma theory (CBTT), which she created as a framework for understanding the mental, behavioral, cultural, and physical health impact of violence on Black and other marginalized youth, young adults, and elders within the context of inequality. 

Written while she was a 2021-22 Fellow at the Stanford University Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS), her book, The Cultural Betrayal of Black Women & Girls: A Black Feminist Approach to Healing from Sexual Abuse (American Psychological Association; 2023), provides individual, interpersonal, and structural strategies for healing.

“So many of us have experienced things along this vein, and when we know that, then the feelings of isolation can be interrupted with this understanding that many of us have been through these things. And if that person over there can experience joy, well maybe I can experience joy too, and maybe this is a different kind of harm and cultural betrayal. Sexual trauma and abuse as a collective community-level harm, that means community-level healing and personal healing. The radical hope piece for me - but it isn't hope. That's like toxic hope of like everything will be okay, everything will be fine! Instead, it's like - No, things are crappy. They're awful. And how can I still experience joy and happiness and believe that the world can be different even in the face of all the evidence suggesting otherwise? And how powerful that is. And I think the orientation that this framework has includes understanding your history, understanding your past.”

https://jmgomez.org
https://www.apa.org/pubs/books/cultural-betrayal
Twitter: @JenniferMGmez1

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