Radical Belonging: How to Survive and Thrive in an Unjust World (While Transforming It for the Better)

“In Radical Belonging, author Lindo Bacon applies a socially just and intersectional lens to analyze the systems of oppression that lead to othering and the stigmatization of certain types of bodies and gender, racial, and ethnic identities. The author grounds important lessons in their own experiences as a Jewish child who struggled to find belonging in their own body and gender identity. It was a long road marked by years of eating disorders and substance abuse. Bacon highlights the trauma of genderqueer and nonbinary people who bear the burden of educating others about their lived realities while enduring shame and exclusion for existing outside the “mythical norm.”

In the journey toward self-love, Bacon challenges us to examine our complicity in buying into and perpetuating harmful narratives. Throughout the book, Bacon intersperses observations, anecdotes, and data about the lived realities of, and racial trauma among, Black, Native American, and other diverse communities.

From their vantage point as a therapist, scholar, and advocate, Bacon melds the latest knowledge and research about neurobiology with damaging cultural and societal attitudes toward differences. Neuroscience offers evidence that pain from exclusion leads to poor mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical outcomes. Bacon stresses the importance of being trauma-informed for our own healing, to be cognizant of the ways that intergenerational and historical trauma may be hindering our path toward wellness.”