Systems map
Systemic Racism in the Roots
Policy and power above ground; intergenerational trauma and inequity carried through the roots.
Public health · memory · moral imagination
Understand what history carried forward. Build what healing requires.
Dr. Corey J. Henderson brings public health research, historical memory, theology, and lived experience into a shared language for transformation.
- Public thinker
- Speaker
- Writer
- Advisor
Dr. Corey J. Henderson, DrPH, MPA
Historical trauma is not confined to the past. It can remain present in policy, place, health, memory, and relationship. Healing begins when we name what happened, examine what continues, and build conditions in which people and communities can live more fully.
A practice for intentional transformation
Acknowledge. Examine. Heal. Thrive.
A four-part movement from honest recognition to sustained, generational wellbeing.
-
01
Acknowledge
Name history and lived experience without minimizing what happened or what remains.
-
02
Examine
Study the beliefs, behaviors, policies, and institutional patterns that keep harm in motion.
-
03
Heal
Restore safety, dignity, connection, identity, and the capacity to imagine a different future.
-
04
Thrive
Turn insight into choices and structures that support resilience, purpose, and collective wellbeing.
Signature scholarship
The Sotero-Henderson Conceptual Model
A systems view of African American trauma in Baltimore City—tracing how mass trauma, dominant-group power, and subjugating policies shape social, psychological, and physical responses across generations.
Mass trauma→Subjugation→Trauma response→Transmission
The model also makes room for a different trajectory: restored social fabric, expanded opportunity, safer environments, cultural pride, and generational healing when systems change.
See the system, not only the symptom
History has roots—and consequences.
These visual histories connect law, policy, displacement, racial terror, institutional resistance, and contemporary disparities. Select a graphic to explore it in detail.
Historical timeline
Black American Subjugation
A long-view record of policy, displacement, racial violence, resistance, and incomplete repair.
Faith and public life
The Black Church: History and Legacy
A visual history of spiritual refuge, institution-building, public witness, and community care.
Bring the work into the room
Speaking, writing, and advisory
Rigorous enough for institutions. Human enough for real conversation. Each engagement helps people move from recognition toward responsible action.
Speaking
Keynotes, workshops, panels, sermons, and reflective talks on trauma, healing, theology, memory, and human dignity.
Writing
Books, essays, speeches, and public reflection that deepen thought, preserve memory, and witness truth with care.
Advisory
Trauma-informed language and strategic counsel for leaders and institutions seeking moral clarity and more human-centered practice.
Research resources
Study the connections.
Downloadable models and visual histories for learning, discussion, teaching, and reflection.
PDF · Historical trauma
Subjugation Policies of Blacks in the US
A panoramic chronology connecting policy and practice to the health of Black Americans.
Download PDF
PDF · Community health
MSM and Black Male Wellness Model
A community-level pathway for reducing barriers to testing, care, services, and treatment.
Download PDF
Image · Historical artifact
Confederate Currency
A visual artifact for conversations about political economy, slavery, memory, and the stories money carries.
Download image
About
Dr. Corey J. Henderson
Public health scholar · speaker · writer
Dr. Corey J. Henderson, DrPH, MPA, examines historical trauma and its reverberating effects on Black health, communities, identity, and public life. His work brings research into conversation with theology, history, and lived experience.
Through scholarship, visual models, and public reflection, he helps audiences name inherited harm, examine the systems that sustain it, and imagine practices of healing rooted in dignity, truth, and connection.
“Understanding our past. Healing our present. Building our future.”
