If a Piece of History Doesn’t Get Resolved…

The Transformational Agenda Magazine 26th Edition

…if a piece of history…

“If a piece of history of a people doesn’t get resolved…
then it is present, it’s always present.”

The above was spoken by Jimmie Durham, a celebrated American-born sculptor, essayist, and poet. He was active in the United States civil rights movements of African Americans and Native Americans in the 1960s and 1970s.

African Americans have yet to resolve our history of being enslaved in America. Nor have Native Americans resolved that a foreign culture could be so drastically different from their own, forcing them from their land and devastating their culture.

In both cases the cultural trauma was so massive that it literally distorted conceptions of reality and meaning. In both cases the trauma became historical trauma, as unresolved it moved from generation to generation. In both cases the dominate culture neither demonstrated regret nor empathy for the cultural damage (trauma) nor the current plights of the
members of each culture.

Jimmy Durham’s quote is comprised of but a few words, yet its illuminating truth speaks volumes, while implying exactly how healing can be achieved.

The Transformational Agenda Magazine 26th Edition