Sam Simmons: When Survival Becomes a Wound: Black Men, Trauma, and the Cost of Carrying It Alone

What happens when the very strategies that helped us survive begin to harm us?   In this powerful episode of YANA: You Are Not Alone, host James Trice sits down with nationally respected behavioral consultant and author Sam Simmons for a raw, illuminating conversation about Black male trauma—personal, cultural, and generational.   Sam traces his journey from physical injury to emotional awakening, unpacking how trauma shows up in our bodies, our relationships, our work, and our communities. Together, James and Sam challenge some of the most deeply held beliefs in Black culture: when “that’s just how we are” is really unhealed pain, when caretaking becomes control, when perfectionism masks shame, and when work becomes an escape from intimacy.   This episode wrestles honestly with hard questions:   How do you recognize trauma when you’ve been taught it’s just culture? Why are Black men often rewarded for survival behaviors that later cost us our peace? Why does society—and sometimes our own communities—struggle with the idea of Black men healing? And what becomes possible when we choose awareness, honesty, and internal work?