| Maya Angelou (1993) has famously noted, "History, despite its wrenching pain cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again" (para. 26). This dissertation joined the ongoing conversation about generational trauma, also known as historical trauma. It argues that to understand parenting within the Black Caribbean population, consideration has to be given to their experiences with past trauma, including forced migration, physical and sexual assault suffered in slavery, segregation, and ongoing racial discrimination. Through a recognition that undesirable trajectories that have emerged in some Black parenting practices find their origin in transmitted generational unresolved traumas, those traumas can be addressed and disrupted. Using frameworks that employ an analysis of anti-Black racism, Black feminism and anti-colonialism as analytic tools, combined with literary exploration, this dissertation examines the impact of generational trauma on parenting practices among the Black Caribbean population. It contends that generational trauma exists, and has profound implications on parenting within this population, and that current routine assessments are not inclusive and considerate of historical racial experiences and the consequences of racism when they assess Black families. It reveals that the consequences of not doing so support the continuation of experiences that stemmed from the complication of racism and unresolved historical trauma, layering another burden of trauma on each successive generation. These findings recommend a critical pedagogy that educates, empowers, and mobilizes parents, professionals, and communities to recognize historical trauma as significantly present within the Black population, and to understand how this can be problematic in the functioning of Black parents and their families. |
