Resmaa Menakem

Resmaa Menakem describes himself as a healer, a New York Times best-selling author and a racialized trauma specialist. He is a therapist and trauma specialist who, in his words, activates the wisdom of elders, and he is the creator of Somatic Abolitionism, an approach that uses the body and its natural resilience to heal racialized trauma.

In his own words, he helps people, communities and organizations find strength in healing that is holistic and resilient. He calls himself a cultural trauma navigator and a communal provocateur and coach, and he is a Senior Fellow with The Meadows Institute. "I consider it my job in this moment to make the invisible visible," he writes. He stresses that moving from race to culture to creation takes work, and "a lot of reps."

He has written three books on healing racialized trauma and building an anti-racist culture. They are My Grandmother's Hands, a New York Times bestseller that looks at white body supremacy through trauma and body-centered psychology, The Quaking of America, and Monsters in Love, a guide for couples. He also co-authored the children's book The Stories from My Grandmother's Hands with T. Mychael Rambo. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters in Social Justice, Somatic Education and Advocacy from CIIS, and gave the commencement address at its 56th ceremony.

His work reaches people through the Cultural Somatics Institute, which offers embodied racial literacy courses and the CORE Assessment. It also reaches people through the Black Octopus Society, a learning experience and community with body practices that build resilience and discernment.