Dear Friends:

Spring is in the air, and, as we get ready for a new season, we want to recommend a book that can help us as Black people see ourselves in a whole new light. 

Brainwashed: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority by Tom Burrell, just released last month, is a must-read. It is an important addition to the body of work describing the historical roots of so much of the pain we see and feel in Black communities today. Burrell is in the tradition of Carter G. Woodson, Naim Akbar, Joy DeGruy, Alvin Poussaint, bell hooks, and others who have helped to show how the experiences of slavery and Jim Crow are still shaping our experiences today. Touching on nearly every area of Black life--from our physical and mental health to the health of our interpersonal, family, and community relationships, and more--Burrell shows how each has been undermined by the myth of Black inferiority. Along the way, he shares insights that can help us help ourselves.

Brainwashed shows how the myth of Black inferiority has been skillfully marketed throughout American history and proposes a bold and creative campaign of reverse marketing to help change how we see ourselves and how the world sees us. What is most important about this book, from my point of view, is Burrell's focus on action through his Resolution Project, which is designed to use the media to replace the toxic messages that are part and parcel of the myth with new and positive images of Black people. Burrell has made an indispensable contribution with the gift of an excellent resource for movement-building--and with his commitment, as a marketing expert, to use marketing to change the image of Black people.

The Community Healing Network (CHN) is working for emotional freedom for Black people. With different, but complementary, approaches, CHN and the Resolution Project are working toward the same goal: overturning the myth of Black inferiority. CHN plans to make Brainwashed our featured book for this year's celebration of Community Healing Days, and we are exploring other prospects for collaboration with the Resolution Project. 

In nine years, we will mark the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Africans on American soil. CHN is calling on Black people everywhere to make this the decade of emotional emancipation for Black people. Let us imagine and help build a world in which we are finally free to love ourselves and each other.