Journal May 2026 Release_Full Edition - Flipbook - Page 73
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But Will carries a tremendous burden around with him that interferes with his
fathering and other parts of his life. He is in an ongoing and intractable dispute
with the school administrative staff where he works. Will is also black and is all
too aware of the socio-political burden of being a person of color in a political
climate that refuses to acknowledge the systemic and cultural bias that
disproportionately disadvantages people who look like him.
Trouble at work
The story goes that he, a fiercely stubborn and strong-willed person, found
himself at odds with an administrator on campus one day. The dispute led to him
being followed by this administrator back to his classroom without due cause. He
felt the person was aggressive and unprofessional, leaving him to feel threatened
by the behavior. That night, and for the next two weeks, Will would find himself
waking up in the middle of the night in total panic. He took the next two weeks
off from work in the hopes that this would quell his anxieties, but what he didn’t
expect was to find himself stuck in a perpetual state of reciprocal hostility and
ongoing antagonism from the administrative staff from both the school and the
district.
For many, this kind of thing would be a minor inconvenience chalked up to a
collegial dispute. But for Will, this action has led to a protracted state of stress
and anger. All of which his family now bears the brunt of, despite his best
attempts not to let it. This is because Will has endured a powerfully shaping
experience in his past that left him, a black man, profoundly skeptical of anyone
who holds authority over his head.
Paralysis strikes
When Will was 23 years old, he was struck with paralysis from his waist down to
his toes due to a mysterious inflammation around his spine. He had just
graduated from college and was on the cutting edge of the beginning of his life as
an adult. His doctors, not knowing the cause of the inflammation, gave him a
damning prognosis. A catheter was painfully “installed” in the hospital, and he
was discharged into the care of his mother and father with almost no medical
Animative Descriptions and Vivifying Discovery: Inviting Clients Into The Marvel Of Their Understory
Journal of Contemporary Narrative Therapy, May 2026 Release, p. 52-79.
www.journalnft.com
