Mothering Slaves:
The Intergenerational Orphan and Cultural Trauma

Presented by Fanny Brewster, Ph.D.

This lecture will explore the concept of mothering slaves, women whose lives were centered on having children, and the loss of these children through the cultural trauma of slavery and its aftermath.  The Mother of Sorrows  archetype will be discussed within the context of African American parenting, the Jungian Feminine, and African Feminine Mythology.

Learning objectives:

• Identify two key aspects of the cultural trauma of American slavery which has affected the psychology of the African diaspora
• Describe what is meant by the term ‘inter-generational trauma’ as it relates to American slavery
• Describe African American parenting styles that have evolved in response to intergeneraitonal trauma and implications for treatment.

Fanny Brewster, Ph.D., is a Jungian analyst and author of poetry and nonfiction. Her book         African Americans and Jungian Psychology: Leaving the Shadows has recently been published by Routledge (2017). Her poems from Journey: The Middle Passage have appeared in the Psychological Perspectives Journal (2016) in which she was Featured Poet. Dr. Brewster is a Core Faculty member at Pacifica Graduate Institute and the Philadelphia Association of Jungian Analysts. She is a   lecturer and workshop presenter on Jungian Psychology related topics and will be the keynote speaker in Portland, Oregon at the Jungian Society for Scholarly Studies (JSSS) Conference, June 27, 2018.