Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: Joy Degruy

Dr Joy DeGruy

In every community, there are people who help us see more clearly, who give us the language and tools to understand what we've lived through. Dr. Joy DeGruy is one of those people.

Dr. DeGruy is a nationally and internationally respected scholar, teacher, and truth-teller. With degrees in Communication, Social Work, and Clinical Psychology, including a PhD in Social Work Research. She has spent more than 30 years studying how trauma, racism, and the legacy of slavery shape our lives today.

Dr Joy DeGruy book

Her groundbreaking book, Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing, helped spark a national conversation about how the pain of our past still shows up in our present. In it, she explores how centuries of racial trauma, from slavery to Jim Crow to modern-day racism have left deep emotional and psychological scars on Black communities.

This book gives us a powerful framework to understand behaviors that may be rooted in survival, but are no longer serving us. It also highlights how strength, resilience, and cultural brilliance have been passed down through generations. Dr. DeGruy encourages readers to not only recognize inherited trauma but to engage in healing, on both individual and community levels.

One of Dr. DeGruy’s most important contributions is her development of an assessment scale that measures levels of respect toward African American male youth. This tool sheds light on how bias and stereotypes can impact how Black boys are treated in schools, communities, and public systems. Her work urges us to shift our thinking and behavior to build environments where Black boys are seen, valued, and respected.

Whether through her writings, lectures, or community trainings, Dr. DeGruy helps people understand complex issues like intergenerational trauma, mental health, and racial injustice in ways that feel human and real. Her message is simple: We have inherited pain, but we’ve also inherited strength.

We uplift Dr. Joy not just for her credentials, but for the clarity, compassion, and cultural insight she brings to our healing. Her work is a vital resource in our movement for justice and collective well-being.

To learn more about Dr. Joy’s work and powerful insights on healing and social justice, visit her website at https://www.joydegruy.com/about.