there are two system-affected people in this photo
HOW BEING SYSTEM-AFFECTED WORKS
System-affected person #1
This is a photo of the lynching of Reuben Stacey, a 37 year-old field hand from Florida. He was lynched in 1935 because a white woman accused him of attacking her. The local police, Chief Deputy Sheriff Bob Clark, led a mob of white men and hanged Reuben from a tree. The Sheriff made eye witnesses participate by shooting Reuben's dead body. Reuben was shot 17 times by many different people. Chief Deputy Sheriff Bob Clark testified before a grand jury and was found innocent. The judicial system failed Reuben. His short life is an extreme example of a system-affected person.
System-affected person #2
The little white girl standing in the photo is also a system-affected person. Her name is unknown. Her age probably between 9-12 years old. No child should be exposed to such violence let alone a racially motivated lynching. It is impossible that this scene did not affect her for the rest of her life emotionally, mentally and socially. Whether this scene propelled her into the abyss of bigotry or catapulted her into an ascension of social justice work, we'll never know. I'm sure she was aware that the grand jury found the sheriff not guilty and that her identity lent her a certain type of access to many public systems that others did not benefit from. The little white girl as a witness to racial violence is another type of example of a system-affected person.
Why isn't the adult male standing behind the young girl considered a system-affected person?
Because he is one of the creators and sustainers of the public system that encouraged the lynching of Mr. Stacey, and the subsequent acquittal of his murderers. In this case, it is a white adult male, but in other cases the creators and controllers of systems may be a different gender, or race. The creators and controllers of such systems can't then be affected by them.
A system-affected person is anyone negatively impacted by the systems that govern their life including toxic family silos, social services, education, criminal justice and more. System-affected people are not just a poor or working-class monolith. System-affected people can be doctors, lawyers, academics etc. When a system that governs a society becomes imbalanced, everyone suffers. All persons involved in those systems become victimized. Studies show that disparities in public systems affect humans from two sides: access and deprivation. When a child is born into the luxury of attending the best schools, the best universities, never having to work hard for anything, this can create feelings of low self-esteem, uncertainty in one’s own ability and uninformed bigotry. Likewise, a person born into deprivation due to the imbalance of one or more systems may become anti-social, maladaptive, and ultimately harmed indefinitely.
system-affected wellness
Spentem assumes a continued responsibility to design programs that heighten the self-awareness of people from all racial backgrounds, education levels, gender identities, and classes as to meet the needs of an ever-fracturing world. Paramount to its mission, Spentem sees itself as a strategic disrupter in communities of color, professional environments, university campuses and school settings. Spentem is committed to addressing the individual harms many people are experiencing daily, as well as the collective trauma we all face when we leave our safe spaces and venture into the world. Further, we believe that system-affected people are chosen to be witnesses to their experiences so that others can benefit from their lived testimony.
Spentem believes that humans are naturally inclusive, generous, and empathic but may lose connection with those qualities through outside influence or by unrecognized trauma. Research shows that unresolved trauma from childhood and into adulthood can cause physical illness, mental disturbances, emotional instability, and spiritual disease, which may show up in many maladaptive ways interpersonally and socially. We believe that there’s a path to becoming a whole human again by restoring emotional wellness, kindness, empathy, and critical conscience. We also believe these are revolutionary conditions that support holistic mental health, and meaningful social integration.