My Grandmother's Hands is a book written by the American author and therapist Resmaa Menakem and was published in 2017. As a therapist, Menakem specializes in body-centered psychology, violence prevention, and trauma, incorporating years of experience in the book. This groundbreaking New York Times bestseller delves into the concept of race by examining the damage caused by discrimination and racism.
The author addresses race as a social construct that is a product of white-body supremacy which runs deep in the fabric of society. The book is inspired by the author’s maternal grandmother by referencing her hands that were damaged from years of picking cotton. Menakem uses this analogy to address the pain, fear, and trauma that lies in the bodies of both black and white people. The unconscious adoption of racial superiority from generation to generation has bred trauma amongst people of all color in form of “dirty pain”. Menakem presents the idea of body-centered psychotherapy aimed at confronting the trauma and anguish embedded in our bodies for generations. As such resilience, love, and body mindfulness aid in detaching from reflexive responses that are harmful to our experience.
Publishers Weekly reviewed “Sensitive and probing, this book from therapist Menakem delves into the complex effects of racism and white privilege. Departing from standard academic approaches, he speaks from the wisdom of his grandmother and his own expertise in somatic therapy, a field that emphasizes the mind-body connection.”
