-It can be really overwhelming because you're so young
and you're just getting all this information
and you know so many people don't want you to win.
It really is so upsetting.
And it's so just -- I really -- I hate it, you know.
-This moment is reminding me
of at the height of my activism in college,
how much I was depressed, and I never talked about it.
While there's so much joy and agency
in the work that they do, they're also really tired
and stressed and overwhelmed and scared
and have no idea what's going to happen.
And they continue to spend their childhoods
fighting for systems that are supposed to be serving them.
-Naomi and Emily are a part of a youth
social justice group in Detroit.
I talked to them about racism and the racial trauma
that comes along with the type of work they do.
I'm Nicole Ellis and this is "The New Normal."
What does it mean to feel or be traumatized by what's going on?
Like, how does that manifest itself?
-I overwork, so I find myself diving into work.
I find myself questioning if I'm doing enough all the time.
I find myself saying yes to everything.
I'm basically just burning myself out.
-I am very, very self-critical.
I usually feel like I'm not doing enough.
-We could look at past movements
and see how much our freedom fighters did not stop.
Right.
And they pushed and pushed until they died.
You know, I might be 28 on the outside,
God knows what my insides are looking like at this point
because -- honey, I don't know.
I think it's at least 38.
-As social justice advocates,
Emily and Naomi are used to dealing with race
and racism head-on on a daily basis.
But watching George Floyd's death
is creating similar feelings of trauma and anxiety
for black people all over America and the world.
And that's because black people deal with racism
in seemingly small and big ways every single day.
Whether it's somebody crossing the street
because they see you coming,
or somebody at the office wanting to touch your hair,
or one of your classmates making you the de facto
Black History Month ambassador
because you're the only black kid in class.
-It is exhausting.
And that takes just a little bit out of us each and every day.
And we might not characterize that as trauma per se,
but it is something that psychologically
is very taxing, at best.
-You know, the black community --
we're experiencing an overload of trauma right now.
What are some at-home steps
can we take to lessen the impact of our trauma?
-With the help of Dr. Walker and Dr.
Harris-McCoy, we came up with some tips
on how to cope when those big
and seemingly small instances of racism become unbearable.
-It's helpful to know what your body feels like when it is calm.
If you're engaging in your familiar coping skill,
but you're still feeling exhausted,
if there's still this anxiety or fear -- realizing that,
"Okay, so this coping skill is not working in this context,
which means I may have to pivot."
-How do you balance feeling like you want to be
a part of supporting your community
and feeling like you need a mental health break?
-We "should" on ourselves so much.
"I should be out there protesting."
"I should be able to contribute in some meaningful way
to this specific organization."
And we put all of this pressure on ourselves,
and it just makes us feel worse.
Maybe if you could just take some time,
and you'll feel even better about
your contribution tomorrow.
-Understand that you're allowed to take a break.
You're allowed to rest.
You're allowed to recharge.
So you can then come back with energy,
because it's not going to end right now.
We're probably going to do this for the rest of our lifetimes.
-Our thoughts I think are much more powerful than we realize.
So if we say something like, "I can't get through
another day of this," then guess what?
It's going to be really hard to get through another day.
A substitute for that might be more like,
"Okay, I can get through another hour."
Then we can problem-solve a little bit better.
"What do I need to do to get through another hour?
-I stand on --
You can't do anything without community.
I call them my soul friends.
The community who holds you accountable,
who both lays your edges
and snatches your edges at the same time.
-African people were brought to the US as enslaved people.
There is this incredible resilience
of having overcome considerable, considerable trauma.
Most of the people who come to be great,
impressive people in our society,
they've overcome something.
When you see someone overcome and they find their gifts
and their talents and their strengths --
it is that much more meaningful.
-And, hopefully, it's a reminder
that things might be tough today, but you can overcome it.
Let us know if these tips helped.
We're going to keep telling stories like this,
so stay tuned.
For more stories like this, find us on thelily.
com or washingtonpost. com.