A call to healing: Black Lives Matter movement as a framework for addressing the health and wellness of Black women

Abstract

The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement re-centered and illuminated the disparities facing the Black population as a result of systemic racism in the United States (U.S.). Notably, BLM also highlighted and uplifted issues facing Black women. Numerous studies have demonstrated that Black women are at-risk for cardiovascular disease, maternal and infant mortality, breast cancer, and mental health symptoms. This paper seeks to argue that the BLM movement is a critical site for radical transformation for raising critical consciousness. In focusing on the well-being of Black people, BLM puts forth a framework of healing justice that employs an anti-racist, intersectional, holistic, and culturally and politically appropriate informed therapeutic approach. This framework addresses the historical and contemporary trauma that Black people have and continue to experience in the U.S. This paper asserts that this framework can cultivate a space of vulnerability for Black women to heal and to continue to develop resilience for liberation and self-determination.

Keywords

• Black Lives Matter, Black women, anti-racism, mental health, social determinants of health