The Motherland, My Ancestors, and Me: My Experience Navigating Psychoanalytic Spaces

Abstract

ABSTRACT I am a 31-year-old, black, African American, cis-gender woman, who is a first-generation college student born into a working-class family and a descendant of slaves. Navigating psychoanalytic spaces with these identities has been a powerful experience, but it has also been a painful one. In the following, I discuss my experience of entering the field of psychology and the psychoanalytic community. I explore the power of utilizing psychoanalysis to deepen my understanding of intergenerational trauma from slavery. Lastly, I share my experience of pain navigating psychoanalytic spaces with my intersecting identities, pain such as having to split off parts of myself and my identify to minimize the potential of white discomfort. Psychoanalytic thought has the potential to be a powerful tool against racism and hate; however in my opinion, before this tool can be effectively utilized, the voices of marginalized people must be heard, especially those of us marginalized by race, ethnicity, gender, and class.