How We Heal
A Journey Toward Truth, Racial Healing, and Community Transformation from the Inside Out
La June Montgomery Tabron’s memoir-cum-guidebook for combating racism through racial healing, How We Heal, is focused on honest guided conversations between community members and addressing problems as a collective.
Tabron grew up in Detroit in the 1960s. The Detroit Rebellion and the urban neglect that followed shaped her future. She was among the few Black women students among her University of Michigan class and had to overcome being underestimated and misunderstood. In 1987, she was sought out to join the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. She was inspired by its founder’s commitment to equity. With Dr. Gail C. Christopher, she worked on America Healing, an initiative to connect and foster healing and organizing efforts throughout the country.
In 2014, Tabron became the foundation’s CEO just in time to deal with a rise in police brutality. She incorporated feedback on the local level and created Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation, a framework to help communities build connections and face racial division in the face of the 2020 pandemic and protests. The book shows the positive effects of the program in Flint, Michigan; Taos Pueblo, New Mexico; and many other places in the US and throughout the world. It includes resources and a reader’s guide to overcoming “empathy deficit,” which prevents people from seeing others clearly.
The prose is engaging and clear, breaking down complex social issues and philanthropic work into smaller pieces and then relating those to personal experiences. This not only results in a moving story but a well-argued case for racial healing methods. Historical events are connected to current issues in a way that shows the scope of the US’s racial issues and the power of the people working together to confront them.
How We Heal is an enlightening exploration of ongoing racial divides with recommendations for creating a better future.
Reviewed by
M. W. Merritt
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
