YOUNGSTOWN — To better understand the full scope and context of the multigenerational trauma and injury many black people today deal with, it’s essential to turn back the clock several centuries, then examine five pivotal structures along that timeline, an acclaimed writer and researcher contends.

The five structures are chattel slavery, including the Atlantic Slave Trade; the Jim Crow era, especially in the South; redlining, a discriminatory practice in which certain neighborhoods or individuals are denied financial services; urban renewal, an economic-development and revitalization tool that has often disenfranchised black people; and gentrification, a process by which affluent people move into formerly disinvested, low-income areas, which often results in residents being displaced, contends Joy DeGruy, author of the book, “Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing.”

The book and interview clips of DeGruy were the subjects of discussion and dissection during a Kwanzaa event Tuesday evening at United Returning Citizens, 611 Belmont Ave., near downtown.

Sponsoring the program were URC, the Student Brotherhood Association and Know Thyself African Marketplace.

The gathering also focused on Nia (purpose), one of Kwanzaa’s seven guiding principles, along with how urban renewal and redlining have negatively affected especially neighborhoods on Youngstown’s South Side.

Post-traumatic slave syndrome “is a condition that exists as a consequence of multigenerational oppression of Africans and their descendants resulting from centuries of chattel slavery — a form of slavery which was predicated on the belief that African Americans were inherently / genetically inferior to whites. This was then followed by institutionalized racism, which continues to perpetuate injury,” DeGruy wrote.

DeGruy’s book addresses the etiology of multigenerational trauma and makes connections between slavery hundreds of years ago and how its impacts and effects influence the present. In addition, she discusses ways to learn and build on strengths from the past to heal from past and present injuries while eliminating unproductive behaviors and attitudes.

Such trauma also has carried some conditions that align with certain behavioral and classical conditioning theories espoused by Ivan Pavlov, the Russian physiologist.

Specifically discussed was the Pavlovian conditioning concept that if a guard stood outside the door to a room and threatened to shoot someone in there for attempting to leave, even if the guard left the area — and the door was ajar — fear would likely cause the person to be conditioned to remain in the space. Such a theory also is symbolic of how many black people have been conditioned to respond to societal wrongs that have caused them injury, Louis Muhammad of the Student Brotherhood Association, noted.

Also examined was the concept of learned helplessness, a theory developed by Martin Seligman, in which uncontrollable negative events often lead people and animals to assume future outcomes also are unable to be controlled. The consequences typically are depression-like symptoms, passivity and demoralization, even when control returns.

Many black people deal with learned helplessness, which also is rooted in hundreds of years of oppression, Muhammad said.

“Systems of oppression didn’t just happen; they are passed down,” Julius Jocko Williams, an artist who’s affiliated with URC, said, adding that celebrating and living by the seven principles of Kwanzaa are means of promoting healing.

Generational trauma has contributed to erasing many black people’s true identity, though DeGruy’s book provides a framework from which to correct past wrongs and resolve some of the trauma associated with them, Williams added.

Also during Tuesday’s program, Kenneth King, who is part of the Harambee Youth Organization, discussed some of Kwanzaa’s most significant symbols. Those include seven candles, each of which represents a Kwanzaa principle; ears of corn, which are symbolic of children and their roles in the family and community; and the unity cup, from which libations are poured. The libations recognize people’s ancestors and their will, contributions to family and community and faith, he said.

In addition, King led a somber “Let us remember” portion in which attendees were encouraged to say aloud leaders, history makers and ancestors they wished to remember and honor. Those cited included Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass and legendary R&B singer James Brown. Also mentioned were Mississippi civil rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer, along with Edna Pincham, who was the first black woman elected to the Youngstown City School Board.

Pincham also was active for years in local politics and founded the Pincham Initiative Resource Center, an organization that was committed to children’s education.

As noble as Kwanzaa’s guiding principles may be, it’s vital that people realize they also have an ongoing nature.

“We must practice Kwanzaa throughout the year,” Muhammad said.