How Healing And Restoration Take Place At A Time of Plague
How Does Healing and Restoration Take Place? The answer to this question is the subject of this article, but first, how do you even introduce such a topic at a time like this? Healing ?
It is not easy to talk about healing and recovery in the middle of a pandemic. But, I see it as an important subject because we are beginning to appreciate, as a nation, that we cannot go on without confronting rampant incidents of racial injustices in our midst. We must confront these issues if we are going to find healing and restoration and be able to trust each other as we work to forge ways to move ahead as a society.
I invite you to join me as I reflect briefly on a foundational aspect necessary for a community to experience healing and restoration using an excerpt from my new book: HOW TO RISE ABOVE RACISM:A Primer for Understanding the Broader Ramifications of Implicit Bias.
I share this in light of negative experiences of racism, discrimination and implicit bias that many members of minority groups have experienced here in American and abroad.
ALL VOICES ARE IMPORTANT
There is no better place to start the process of Healing and Restoration, than acknowledging that all voices are important.
When it comes to healing and the need for restoration, we cannot start making the necessary changes that are needed in any sector of our lives unless we understand why healing and restoration is necessary. And the voices of those who have experienced the broad ramification of injustices can aid us in this area.
TIP: Things get better when we try to make things better, together. But you can’t say “make a difference” or “change the world” as a team builder, thought leader, academic, or serious leader or thinker and leave people out.
This is why listening to all the voices is important.
Listening to the voices of those affected is the only way we can gain a deeper understanding of how inequity and racism has impacted our lives and our communities. As a society we all need to unite together to learn and grow in this important area.
TIP: The rapidly changing demographics of the United States and the changing demographics taking place in our respective communities require us to be proactive in facilitating respectful conversations that will challenge us to examine our own implicit biases, cultural biases, and stereotypes.
We have to accept that those impacted by injustices for years know best what their needs are, and start involving them in the decisions that impact their lives. This is where healing starts.
The act of listening allows us to seek and utilize input to ensure the changes made align with their needs. This process also helps us with identification of the barriers that the victims of racism face and the systems that create them with a goal of enacting the needed change. Remember, if left unaddressed, these issues will never resolve on their own.
Truth and Reconciliation efforts
Each community has to go beyond wanting healing and restoration to happen or having an interest for such a noble task to take place, and actually show commitment by being proactive and taking positive actions toward this great work.
The Iowa City community leadership where I reside is a good example of what it means to show commitment in this area. The city council officially established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission at their September 2020, formal meeting. The council also announced the appointment of nine board members to serve two-year terms at their November 2020 meeting.
The purpose of the commission is to address issues of racial injustice in the community it operate and carry out restorative justice, through the collection of testimony and public hearings, with such work to include a recommendation to the community leaders of a plan for making changes that foster equality and progress for all.
It seems to me that this is a good place to start, in dealing with issues that we have ignored for such a long time.
Many people are interested to see a fair and more just society that offer, equality and progress for all, but we have to do more than that, and follow the example of the Iowa City community leadership by showing commitment. We all can participate in this process in one way or another to help move towards healing and restore our communities. I believe great positive results will come out of our individual collective efforts in this endeavor and that’s why I dedicated my new book: HOW TO RISE ABOVE RACISM: A Primer for Understanding the Broader Ramifications of Implicit Bias, to those working hard for a fair and more just society that offers equality and progress for all.
Let’s join hands together and go do it.
Cheers to 2021!
About the Author Joe K. Mungai, MSW, LMSW, CLPC, CTP, CCM
As a life skill coach, counselor, and a licensed chaplain, Joe’s mission is to help others become conscious of their entrapment and empower them so they can find freedom and joy in life. He is passionate about helping people cope and grow through their experiences in life-changing circumstances.
Joe is a social worker, a researcher and an author and is a graduate of University of Iowa School of social work MSW program. He is the author of seven books including BROKEN JUSTICE: WHEN LAWLESS GANGS CAPTURE THE STATE which he wrote to strengthen and educate communities that are riddled with corruption and social injustice.
Joe can be reached at: Joe@bremagroup.org
Titles by the same author available at Amazon and at: www.Speakoutspeakup.life
BROKEN JUSTICE: WHEN LAWLESS GANGS CAPTURE THE STATE
LIFE AFTER LOSS: YOU CAN HEAL YOUR WOUNDED HEART
WANT TO LIVE IN AMERICA: YOUR PATHWAY TO LEGAL STATUS
ADJUSTING TO LIFE IN AMERICA: The Ultimate Guide: What You Need to Know
A Guide to Understanding: Depression * Trauma * Healthy Coping Behavior
Driver Safety: 5 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR SAFETY ON THE ROAD AND LOWERING YOUR INSURANCE PREMIUM
HOW TO RISE ABOVE RACISM: A Primer for Understanding the Broader Ramifications of Implicit Bias
Mailing address:
Postal office Box 5204 Coralville IA 52241
How Healing And Restoration Take Place At A Time of Plague
