How Unresolved Slave Trauma Affects How We Handle Money

I graduated with a degree in History (how I ended up in tech is a loooooong story) and I studied the effects of the trans-atlantic slave trade on Caribbean and Latin American communities. Since getting my degree, I’ve come back to studying how the trauma of chattel slavery shows up in our relationship to each other and to money.

Here’s something that came to me…

Chattel slavery was brutal and violent. Black bodies were treated harshly; they were dehumanized. But the effects of slavery on our connection with money needs a closer look.

How other communities heal around money won’t work for Black people. The reason is that money is associated with harm. The very thing that slaves could not touch was the very thing controlling their freedom.

Let me explain…

Slaves were required to perform tasks on the plantation without pay — at least not monetary pay — and under extreme acts of violence.

Those who benefited from the free physical labour of slaves were plantation owners, overseers and those who traded slaves. They grew rich off the misery of slaves.

Slaves never held the very thing that kept them in bondage. This invisible thing controlled their movements, their family patterns, even their culture.

If you can’t hold the very thing that controls your agency, chances are when it finally shows up, you don’t want it. You will do everything not to have it in your presence.

And since we carry an imprint of our ancestors’ trauma in our cells (see the science of epigenetics), we pass on this distaste for money generation to generation.

This is similar to how the humans reacted to the Cylons on New Caprica…

Stick with me here as this is probably the best analogy I could think of to describe this phenomenon.

On the show called Battlestar Galactica, the humans’ homeworld was destroyed by the Cylons in a matter of hours. Billions of humans died in the attacks. The only humans to survive were the ones who were in ships in outer space, which totalled just under 50,000 people.

Here’s the thing — most of the humans have never seen a Cylon…

The Cylons were created by the humans. They were robots created to make life on the Twelve Colonies (the name given to the human homeworld) easier.

But then, the Cylons rebelled. They wanted their freedom. They fought against their human masters. After a few years, both sides wanted peace, so they arrived at a truce. The Cylons would get their freedom, but would have to leave the Colonies. And so they did.

They went away for 40-years…

That means an entire generation grew up never setting their eyes on a Cylon. Sure, the older folks had stories about the Cylons. But after a few decades, the stories get old. Tired. And they end up sounding like fables, myths.

So, for the almost 50,000 humans who are on the dozens of ships fleeing into deep space, many have not seen the very thing that has destroyed their lives, their family structure, their homes, and practically their very existence. Most hate the Cylons for what they did, yet most have never laid eyes on one.

Such rage directed at something never seen, held, or touched…

The Cylons chase the survivors throughout space for months. The humans hide, but are always found. Finally, the exhausted humans find a new planet which is hidden from the Cylons. They call it New Caprica and exit the ships to start to rebuild their civilization.

Unfortunately, about 380-days later, the Cylons find them. The Cylons land on the planet and march through the human settlement on New Caprica. Many humans are now seeing with their own eyes the very thing that has robbed them of their happiness. They can reach out and touch the very thing that has caused them so much pain. For the first time.

How would you react?

First, you’d be shocked. You’d probably be thinking, “Wow! They really do exist!” You may even look at them in awe and wonderment, trying to figure out who the Cylons are. Because, maybe if you could understand them…

And then you’d snap out of it…

You’d remind yourself that the Cylons are disgusting and ugly. That because of them, you have been living in a virtual prison since they destroyed everything you once knew. You would most likely rebel. Do anything you can to get as far away from the destructive Cylons.

You see this formally intangible, invisible thing as evil and demonic…

If this thing could cause you so much grief before even seeing or touching it, you want to have nothing to do with it now that it’s here. You find no beauty in it.

You want to rid your space, your thoughts, and your soul of the very thing that destroyed your family, your culture, your home, your peace, and your self-confidence.

Perhaps there are even messages from the sacred scrolls that help to justify why this thing is evil and demonic.

This is how those who have unresolved slave trauma view money…

We do things to get rid of money quickly. It is evil. In our slave-based history, money destroys families. It separates mothers from their children, husbands from their wives, and breaks down the family structure (back then, families were separated when a slave owner died or when a slave trader needed to make money).

I have to work twice as hard to get money and when I finally get it, someone else has already taken their share (back then, it was the slave traders and slave owners; today, it’s the government and employer through federal & state taxes, plus other deductions).

I can’t think of the future because I’m so busy meeting my financial obligations today (back then, a slave could be sold or killed at a moments notice, so the future was uncertain; today, many Black families don’t have insurance, or can’t do wealth planning because there’s not much left over after rent and other living expenses are paid).

Plus, the sacred scrolls that I read, the Bible, says that “money is evil” (yes, this is a misinterpretation for the Bible says, “the love of money is evil,” but messages passed down from generation to generation become truth).

Traditional healing patterns around money will not work for those who have a history of chattel slavery in their bloodline. It takes a different approach.

First, you need to acknowledge that you even have unresolved slave trauma in your bloodline. There is quite a bit of shame around the history of slavery. Black people feel shame that their ancestors were even slaves; white people feel guilty that their ancestors did such horrible things as slave traders and slaver owners. So, unless you are willing — and ready — to stare this evil in the face, your command of money will forever be faulty.

Second, you need to get in touch with the emotions and feelings that your ancestors may have felt during this time. This work is equally painful. To imagine yourself as a slave on a plantation with no rights, and with no one advocating for you, is tough. But you need to do it if you want to break the cycle. So, get your journal out, and write down what you’re feelings and seeing.

Otherwise known as expressive writing, you write everything and anything that comes to mind. Do not censor or edit yourself. Simply put pen to paper and use your words to write down your understanding of your ancestors’ emotions and mindset as they navigated through such a brutal reality.

Finally, write a new money story. Write down the words. Write down your actions. Then, as you digest the words, write the opposite expression — a more positive one. Get clear on how the trauma shows up in how you treat or speak about money. As you begin to accept the choices your ancestors had to make, forgive them. Treat your ancestors with compassion. Look at your parents. Forgive them as well for they were just using the messages they learned from their parents to try and help you navigate the system. Then, commit yourself to speaking about money in a new and powerful way.

In addition to using expressive writing to help heal the generational trauma around money, there are three books that helped me with resolving the slave trauma in my bloodline…

• Gather at the Table: The Healing Journey of a Daughter of Slavery and a Son of the Slave Trade by Thomas Norman DeWolf and Sharon Leslie Morgan — This book gets raw! Guilt, shame, and rage are all explored in this book.
• Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing by Dr. Joy Degruy — This book delighted the professional historian within me. Through her work as a school teacher and sociologist, Dr. Joy gives insight into how the treatment of slave was even justified, what made slavery in the United States so unique, and how the effects of the slave system shows up today.
• Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America by Melissa Harris-Perry — I have to admit, this book nearly made me an atheist (there’s a chapter on the effects of religion on Black women’s identity and it made me so mad). Aside from that, this book helped me see how the various stereotypes about Black women (Jezebel, Mammy, The Matriarch, The Angry Black Woman, The Independent Strong Black Woman) have been used since the time of slavery to justify the assault on Black women’s bodies, political discourse, and agency.

And if you need help in resolving the historical trauma in your bloodline so you can finally innovate your income…

Reading is one thing, but having someone hold your hand through this process is another. I host a 21-Day Write Early Challenge designed to help you become a better leader by using expressive writing to move beyond generational trauma. I host the challenge three times per year. To find out more, go to www.writeearlychallenge.com.