The Trauma-Informed Lawyer

In this episode Esther Armah and Myrna discuss her Emotional Justice framework.  In this conversation, they get into the courage that racial healing actually requires, and who it asks the most of. Esther is a journalist, playwright, and global emotional justice advocate joining us from Accra, Ghana. 

Drawing on her encounters with Winnie Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Nchiki Biko — the widow of Steve Biko who famously refused to forgive the officers who murdered her husband at the TRC — Esther unpacks why reconciliation is not liberation language, why Nelson Mandela's message of forgiveness placed an impossible emotional burden on Black people, and what the emotional work of white people actually looks like. Myrna brings her own reckoning: years of fawning for white audiences, softening the language of colonial trauma, and what it finally cost her to name it.

This is Part 1. Esther will be back.

Esther Armah is a Ghanaian-British journalist, playwright, radio host, and creator of the Emotional Justice framework. She is the author of Emotional Justice: A Roadmap for Racial Healing. She joins this episode from Accra, Ghana.

IN THIS EPISODE

— How Esther's mother's broken silence about the 1966 Ghana coup gave birth to Emotional Justice — and the insight that "you cannot PhD your way out of untreated trauma"

— What Winnie Mandela told Esther before she interviewed Desmond Tutu: listen to the women first

— Nchiki Biko's refusal to forgive at the TRC, the murder of Steve Biko, and why her "no" cracked open a new understanding of racialized forgiveness

— Why reconciliation bypasses justice and repair — and how Canada's TRC has replicated the same harm as South Africa's

— Nelson Mandela's forgiveness narrative: a political act of its time, and why it seeded a dangerous legacy

— The emotional work that belongs to white people — Intimate Reckoning, Emotional Patriarchy, and the difference between proximity to power and actual allyship

— The language of whiteness: how all of us are taught to center whiteness, and the emotional work of letting it go

— Myrna's own reckoning: years of fawning for white audiences and what it took to name it

— The three Cs — Courage, Comfort, and Convenience — and how we each choose to contribute to or resist systems of harm

— Why you cannot self-care your way towards liberation, and what communal care actually requires

— Isolation vs. solitude — why hiding can be part of healing, and why isolation is the death of liberation

— Wellness in the Face of Warfare: what it means to choose wellness when your health is considered a threat to whiteness

 

QUOTES

"You cannot PhD your way out of untreated trauma. There is no amount of education that will replace the emotional work we all have to do." — Esther Armah

 

"Reconciliation is not liberation language. It is conciliatory language designed to sustain how whiteness comforts and soothes itself." — Esther Armah

 

"In Canada, your superpower is to mask your violence in polite neutrality and somehow describe it as no longer violence. We see that — because that's part of British whiteness." — Esther Armah

 

PEOPLE MENTIONED

— Winnie Mandela — South African anti-apartheid activist

— Archbishop Desmond Tutu — South African human rights leader

— Nchiki Biko — widow of Steve Biko; her refusal to forgive at the TRC was pivotal to Esther's framework

— Nelson Mandela — discussed in relation to racialized forgiveness

— Resmaa Menakem — referenced by Myrna on having skin in the game

— Kwame Nkrumah — first independent president of Ghana; quoted on political and economic liberation

 

RESOURCES

Emotional Justice: A Roadmap for Racial Healing by Esther Armah - You can buy it here: https://www.amazon.ca/Emotional-Justice-Roadmap-Racial-Healing/dp/1523003367

estherarmah.com 

https://www.theaiej.com/

myrnamccallum.co

You can learn more about Myrna and her work at: www.myrnamccallum.ca

In this powerful and unflinching conversation, Dr. Samah Jabr explains the psychological realities of Palestinian life under occupation in Gaza. We move beyond headlines to examine the lived experience of genocide, collective trauma, and the systematic use of brutality, torture, and humiliation as tools of control.

Dr. Jabr offers a deeply grounded analysis of colonial trauma—how it embeds itself not only in individuals, but in families, communities, and generations. Together, we unpack the psychological impact of ongoing violence, the erosion of dignity, and the ways in which survival itself becomes an act of resistance.

Yet this conversation is not only about harm—it is also about healing. We explore community as medicine, the role of collective care, and the power of solidarity across movements. Drawing on liberation psychology, Dr. Jabr reframes mental health beyond individual pathology, calling us toward a more political, relational, and justice-oriented understanding of healing. At its core, this episode is an invitation to witness, to feel, and to consider what revolutionary love looks like in the face of trauma.

Resources & Further Reading:

You can learn more about Dr. Jabr here: https://drsamahjabr.com/

Behind the Frontlines: Tales of Resistance and Resilience in Palestine by Dr. Samah Jabr

Content Note:

This episode includes discussion of genocide, war, torture, and systemic violence. Please listen with care.

You can learn more about Myrna and her work at: www.myrnamccallum.ca

In this episode, I’m joined by my team—Ally and Mariana—for a candid debrief after our recent conference. We take you behind the scenes of what it really took to bring this gathering to life.

We share:

The moments that stood out most—the powerful, the unexpected, and the deeply moving

Some of the challenges and pressure points we navigated along the way

The wins we’re celebrating (both visible and behind the scenes)

Reflections on the speakers, their messages, and the impact they left on us

The people and moments that shifted us in ways we’re still processing

This conversation is honest, reflective, and rooted in what it means to do this kind of work in real time—not just when things go right, but when they’re complex, emotional, and evolving.

If you’ve ever wondered what happens after the event ends, this is that conversation.

The closing Maori prayer of protection was given by Tere Davis who is the Chairperson of Hei Tatau Pounamu, a tikanga‑based restorative justice trust in Auckland. 

You can learn more about Myrna and her work at: www.myrnamccallum.ca

In this deeply honest, vulnerable,  courageous and inter-generational conversation, I am joined by Leslie Priscilla of Latinx Parenting, my daughter Ally Hrbacek, Mariana Trujillo-Lezama, and her mother Claudia Lezama. Together, we explore a powerful and necessary truth: there is no healing or justice without the liberation of children.

We name something many struggle to say out loud—children are often mistreated in ways that have been normalized. Through control, punishment, dismissal, and the assumption of adult authority, harm is perpetuated in everyday parenting practices. Leslie calls this what it is: adult supremacy, and challenges us to radically rethink how we relate to children.

This conversation moves beyond blame and into awareness.

Across generations, we reflect on the parenting we received, the patterns we’ve inherited, and the courage it takes to interrupt cycles of harm. We speak to the tension of loving our children deeply while also confronting the ways we may unknowingly replicate what hurt us.

We also hold a profound truth: children are not just beings we raise—they are teachers, mirrors, and healers.

They reveal where we are still wounded. They invite us to reconnect with our own inner children. And they call us into the work of healing—not just individually, but across generations. In this episode, we explore: the normalization of harm in parenting; power, control, and adult supremacy; what it means to truly love and respect children;  children as teachers and guides in our healing; the necessity of re-parenting ourselves; and why the liberation of children is essential to any vision of justice or healing.

This is not a conversation about perfect parenting. It is a conversation about truth, accountability, and transformation. Because how we treat children shapes not only families— but the world we are creating.

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Leslie Priscilla is a parent coach, educator, and the founder of Latinx Parenting, a bilingual movement rooted in children’s rights, social and racial justice, nonviolence, and intergenerational healing. Her work focuses on:

liberating children from harmful and oppressive parenting practices

supporting parents in reparenting themselves

healing intergenerational and ancestral trauma

and decolonizing family systems

She has worked with thousands of parents, educators, and professionals through workshops, trainings, and community-based programming.

Leslie’s highly anticipated book, Chancla: Healing Our Families, Ourselves, and Our Culture through Nonviolent Parenting, is available for pre-order and will be released on August 18, 2026. In Chancla, Leslie:

examines “la chancla” as both a cultural symbol and a legacy of normalized violence

invites readers to move away from fear, shame, and corporal punishment

offers a path rooted in connection, reflection, and ancestral healing

and supports readers in healing both their parenting practices and their inner child

Blending storytelling, history, and practical tools, this book is a guide for anyone seeking to break cycles and create homes grounded in love, safety, and respect.

Connect with Leslie

Website: Latinx Parenting

Instagram: @LatinxParenting

Instagram (Leslie): @comadre.wellness

Leslie will also be presenting at the Justice as Trauma Summit in Vancouver from April 7-9. Learn more here: www.myrnamccallum.co/jat2026

You can learn more about Myrna and her work at: www.myrnamccallum.ca

In this intimate and wide-ranging conversation, Myrna sits down with her best friend Shain Jackson for a soulful exploration of love, art, healing, spirituality, and relationship—with all the honesty, laughter, and tenderness that only a lifelong friendship allows.
Together, they reflect on how love shapes who we become, how trauma informs our relationships, and how learning to listen—to ourselves, to spirit, and to one another—is an ongoing practice. This episode weaves personal stories with deeper teachings about healing, creativity, and the role of art as a living, breathing expression of spiritual connection.
Shain shares the vision behind his Story Booth Project, an initiative dedicated to creating physical recording spaces where Indigenous people can safely share and preserve their stories, teachings, and lived experiences for future generations. Rooted in respect, sovereignty, and cultural continuity, the project is both an act of preservation and a form of resistance.
The conversation also touches on Shain’s entrepreneurial and community-building work through Spirit Works, as well as his nonprofit Golden Eagle Rising, which centers Indigenous resurgence, creativity, and community care.
At its heart, this episode is about love as a teacher—love in friendship, love in art, love in healing, and love as a spiritual force that guides us home to ourselves.
This is a conversation for anyone navigating growth, grief, creativity, relationships, and the sacred work of becoming.
To see Shain's work: www.spiritworks.ca and www.goldeneaglerising.org  

You can learn more about Myrna and her work at: www.myrnamccallum.ca