Donna Jackson Nakazawa: 'Girls on the Brink'
November 9, 2023
Hosted by Ingrid Cockhren
[Download MP3] [itunes] [Bookmark Episode]
Guest Information
Episode Description
This week's episode is an excerpt from a recorded interview of Donna Jackson Nakazawa conducted by PACEs Connection team members, Carey Sipp & Natalie Audage. The interview occurred on October 12th, 2022 and is the second installment of PACEs Connection's Connecting Communities One Book at a Time initiative. In this interview, Donna Jackson Nakazawa discusses her latest book "Girls on the Brink" (2022), which focuses on the impact of modern society on adolescent girls. "Anyone caring for girls today knows that our daughters, students, and girls next door are more anxious and more prone to depression and self-harming than ever before. The question that no one has yet been able to credibly answer is “Why?” "Now we have answers. As award-winning writer Donna Jackson Nakazawa deftly explains in Girls on the Brink, new findings reveal that the crisis facing today’s girls is a biologically rooted phenomenon: The earlier onset of puberty mixes badly with the unchecked bloom of social media and cultural misogyny. When this toxic clash occurs during the critical neurodevelopmental window of adolescence, it can alter the female stress-immune response in ways that derail healthy emotional development."
History. Culture. Trauma
Thursday at 1PM Pacific Time on VoiceAmerica Health and Wellness Channel
According to Resmaa Menakem, trauma decontextualized over time looks like culture. We, at PACEs Connection, agree. 2020, with COVID-19, our climate crisis, and the racial reckoning, has shown us that trauma is embedded within our institutions, our culture, and our history. 2020 was a collective trauma. And, with the addition of technological advances like the internet and social media, we are more connected to our collective selves than ever before. We can no longer live in silos, focused on the individual. We know now that our shared experiences matter. Our podcast will examine trauma and resilience, not just at the individual level, at the systems and cultural level. How has the trauma of slavery and genocide impacted our current society? Why are the cultural manifestations of trauma, i.e., community violence, school shootings, etc., so pervasive? Together, our hosts and their guests will outline the true impact of trauma and resilience on the human experience.
Ingrid Cockhren
Ingrid Cockhren knows first-hand how impactful trauma and toxic stress can be for children and families and has dedicated her professional life to investigating and educating the public about the link between early trauma, early adversity, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), positive childhood experiences and the consequences that occur across the lifespan. Specializing in creating equitable and inclusive environments within organizations, collective impacts and grassroot movements, Cockhren uses her knowledge of stress, trauma, historical trauma, human development, and psychology to translate research concerning DEI into community, workplace, and organizational solutions. Cockhren graduated from Tennessee State University with a B.S. in psychology and from Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College with a M.Ed. in child studies specializing in minority and impoverished children. Her research areas are African American parenting styles, positive and adverse childhood experiences, historical trauma, intergenerational trauma, brain development, developmental psychology, and epigenetics. Cockhren’s experience includes juvenile justice, family counseling, early childhood education, professional development, consulting, and community education. She is currently CEO at PACEs Connection and an adjunct professor specializing in Black psychology, developmental psychology, abnormal psychology, and personality theory at Tennessee State University.
