March Newsletter: A Conversation with Reverend Paul T. Abernathy

Hello Friend, 

In honor of Black History Month, the CEO of the Neighborhood Resilience Project, Rev. Paul T. Abernathy, MPIA, MDiv, agreed to speak with us in February about the history of generational and communal trauma in Pittsburgh’s Black community. The mission of the Neighborhood Resilience Project is to “support the transformation of neighborhoods from trauma affected communities to resilient healing and healthy communities through trauma informed community development.” We are grateful for this chance to expand our understanding of the effects of communal trauma and different strategies for communal healing.

Where does communal trauma originate from in local Pittsburgh communities, particularly local Black communities?  

Trauma is caused in this city by policies, institutions, and practices. These include redlining and urban renewal, which causes “root shock,” or the displacement and the loss of resources, social networks, and a sense of belonging. These local issues only add to the national issues we face, such as the repercussions of historical chattel slavery.   

When I was born in Allegheny County, my grandfather had already built respect and reputation in my community, which I could lean upon for a strong social network. In many neighborhoods like mine, there are last names going back three or four generations. When families are uprooted they experience root shock and lose this social capital. Additionally, they are often moved into public housing projects outside of city limits without the capacity, funding, schools, transportation, or services that the city has, leading to a worsened quality of life. These neighborhoods are often hostile to them, which contributes to the negative situation and removes the possibility of true integration.  

There are many barriers to resiliency work and the healing process in these communities. For many the source of their trauma is ongoing, or there is always a threat of it returning. If trauma is caused by gun violence and the threat of gun violence never goes away, healing and resiliency building is stymied. We need to address the factors and traumas that continue to affect these people.   

Another barrier to Black resiliency-building is low self-determination. Many of the resources, leadership, and agency centered around Black communities and communities in Pittsburgh are white-led, and at the Neighborhood Resilience Project we seek to implement Black-led leadership and strategies.  

What are the consequences of communal trauma?  

We need to be honest about the trauma in our communities. The quality of life for Black communities and individuals in Pittsburgh is poor and the city is slower to react and acknowledge this than its peers. The relationship between individual trauma and communal trauma is undeniable and must be addressed. Not everyone has lost a son to gun violence, been incarcerated, or been evicted, but everyone knows someone that has. This is when individual trauma becomes communal trauma—when the trauma becomes so widespread that it becomes the defining characteristic of a community, and the foundation of their worldviews.   

When communal trauma is built into the bedrock of a community trauma-associated beliefs emerge. For example, in this community gun culture is not associated with belief systems like the Second Amendment, but rather with the ongoing trauma-associated beliefs that are baked into the community’s foundation. Without addressing this communal trauma, individual interventions will be ultimately less successful. When interventions are effective and communities become more resilient, they can bounce back and even thrive even under adversity, but when trauma-associated beliefs are instead the norm, this is much less likely. 

The Neighborhood Resilience Project facilitates diverse and broad work, from trauma-informed community development to individual leadership development to practical community support systems. Can you elaborate on one of the ways your organization supports community resiliency, and what the results of those efforts are? 

Science shows that strong relationships in your family and community is one of the most significant factors in strengthening resiliency. While having a strong social network might seem purely personal or even down to luck, there are a lot of ways that skilled interventions can occur to design situations where people are more likely to be able to form effective networks and community ties and have been shown to produce real results in terms of positive healthy relationships. These social interventions, paired with institutional change, can fight the effects of root shock, social displacement, and the fundamental belief systems of a community grappling with communal trauma. 

What institutional changes that reinforce communal trauma do you hope to see changing in the future? 

I believe a lot of the local factors and barriers are on the precipice of change. I’m hopeful towards change in healthcare, which I see taking extraordinary strides towards building relationships with the local community through fruitful discussions and reevaluating its role in wellbeing beyond just clinical spaces. I see local government and the Department of Human Services making positive movement towards a commitment to changing gun violence, and I am encouraged by movement at the local universities to facilitate wider change in the community. I commend my staff and the other local organizations doing this work for their efforts towards spreading trauma-informed practice, communal change, and partnership and collaboration. 

In Solidarity,

Maggie Feinstein