Grief in the Margins explores the ways in which grief manifests in the Invisible Majority (racialized and underrepresented groups) and how the intersections of identity shape how this community experiences loss. Through examining the cultural implications of grief and loss, this text takes a closer look at the phenomenon of collective grief and considers the effect of dominant Western culture on the ability of an individual or a community to grieve effectively.
The author provides a social commentary on the systems and structures, such as white supremacy and anti-Black racism, that make loss and grief more prevalent in racialized and underrepresented communities. The topics discussed include an exploration of the BLM movement as a manifestation of grief and as a response to long-standing historic and continued loss due to anti-Black racism, police brutality, slavery, and colonialism, as well as the history of residential schools in Indigenous communities, resulting in systematic losses including the dismantling of Indigenous families, culture, and traditions.
Readers will gain insight and understanding of a universal human experience that is systematically and structurally inequitable. Grief in the Margins is an essential text for college and university courses focusing on grief and loss, bereavement, and death and dying.
Introduction: The Invisible Majority, Language, and Limitations
Chapter
1: On Grief and Loss
Chapter 2: Grief, Health, and Racial Trauma: The Intersection of Personal
and Collective Loss
Chapter 3: Grief and Oppression
Chapter 4: Collective Grief
Chapter 5: Disenfranchised Grief
Chapter 6: Grief and White Supremacy
Chapter 7: Grief, Loss, and Social Justice Movements
Chapter 8: Grief, Mourning, and Cultural Appropriation
Conclusion: Supporting the Invisible Majority in Grief Through
Decolonization, Social Justice, and Cultural Responsiveness
Michelle Williams is a registered social worker and therapist, and the Founder and Lead Consultant at Evolve Shift, a private practice specializing in DEI consulting and therapy services. She holds a BA in Psychology and a Master's in Social Work. She has worked with both Canadian and U.S. organizations, providing DEI education, guidance, and consulting.
Michelle's experience spans hospice care, private practice, and grassroots organizations, where she has supported bereaved individuals, provided end-of-life care, and helped communities facing housing instability, food insecurity, addiction, and inadequate mental health resources.
As a Black woman, Michelle connects the experience of grief and loss and the impacts of marginalization and discrimination. She has shared her expertise on BIPOC grief and loss as a guest on CTV's The Social, The Huffington Post, and various podcasts.
