1. RESILIENCY PROJECT
April Martin Chartrand, Presenter
COUN 702[02] | Dr. Sandra Fitzgerald
San Francisco State University
December 9, 2014
Photo:Google.com
Photo: Esther Bubley | placesjournal.org

2. DEMOGRAPHICS
1. 54 yrs. | DOB 1960 | Civil Rights Era
2. Kentucky (USA) during ‘Jim Crow’
Federal/State mandated segregation
3. Self-identifies as a Black male (3rd
generation Native American ancestry)
4. Same gender loving male
5. MS Degree in Clinical Psychology
6. Resides in the Bay Area
7. Spiritual teacher
2
Photos: Google.com

3. 1990 LIFE EVENT – LYNCH MOB
1. 30 yrs. old - Early Adulthood Love: Intimacy vs. Isolation
2. Restaurant in Kentucky
3. With a white pregnant study partner (Miscegenation Laws)
4. Microinsults - wait staff & restaurant regulars
5. Study partner was in denial about the structural racism in
Kentucky (Post-Racial?)
6. Their car had a threatening sign on it containing a racial
slur on it
7. Microassaults - they were followed by two white men and
threatened, taunted, and physically harassed for miles
3
Photos: completewellbeing.com
& www.indianapolisrecorder.com

4. QUESTIONS
1. Tell me about a life event related to
the experience of resilience?
2. What was the challenge?
3. Who was most helpful to you? What
community resources were available?
4. What kept you going?
5. What individual attributes and
protective factors contributed to your
resiliency?
4
Photos: Top -Google.com
Bottom - 1963 MLK in Frankfort, Kentucky | Google.com

5. RESPONSE HIGHLIGHTS 5
“I come from a family where education has been extremely important
for several generations” . . .
“I find various aspects of my own multicultural culture, my
own complex spirituality and their related support systems, for
me, to be among the most consistently helpful things to aid in
my ongoing building of resilience” . . .
“I did not allow myself to become a victim. I acknowledged that
neither myself nor my friend deserved the treatment we were exposed
to. I worked to continue work, in my own way, to educate around the
issues of white supremacy, racism” . . . Graphic: April Martin Chartrand

6. PROTECTIVE & RISK FACTORS
Family
Friendship
Community
Spirituality
Education
Insight
Compassion
6
1. Assaultive Racism = Death
2. Mental Heath = PTSD, PTSS, Stress,
Low Self-Esteem, High Blood Pressure
& Depression . . .
3. Shorter life expectancy
4. Cumulative discriminatory experiences
& adverse health outcomes
5. Adverse social impairment,
economic and political
ramifications
Photo: Facebook | Graphic: April Martin Chartrand

7. Mr. X’s WORDS OF WISDOM
What I would first say is that such a student must be coming from a place of
service, deep service, when deciding to enter into any kind of counseling
profession that will require one to work with people who have experienced
systemic oppression.
. . .become intimately and deeply connected with and accepting of your utter
and profound ignorance and cluelessness around race based systemic
oppression if you are white. This, I believe, is true even if you are a woman,
even if you are a member of the LGBTQI communities, even if you come from
a very economically poor background, even if you are disabled in some way.
7
Photo: Google.com

8. 8
Find out who you are.
I mean really find out who you are on the inside.
Discover the shadow parts.
Discover the unresolved pain parts.
Discover the needy parts.
Discover the mean parts.
And accept them all to the best of your ability.
Graphic:AprilMartinChartrand