Lexington, Ky. — University of Kentucky College of Education faculty member Candice Nicole Hargons will join CNN political commentator Van Jones and CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez for an online discussion on coping with and healing from the psychological chains of Juneteenth to today.
The talk, “Building Resilience: The Path to Moving Forward,” will start at 3 p.m. Friday, June 19. It is hosted by Black professionals at WarnerMedia, parent company to CNN. The Zoom code to attend will be sent to those who register prior to the event.
Hargons is a prominent voice in the emerging science of racial trauma. She is an assistant professor of counseling psychology in the Department of Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology at the UK College of Education.
Hargons creates research-based ways to help heal the hurts of racism, and she wants to use her voice to modify systems that help create it. She approaches her work with what she calls a “love ethic,” which is a way of saying that, no matter what, her research, teaching and service efforts are centered around making people feel loved and cared for.
Hargons has created a Black Lives Matter Meditation for Healing Racial Trauma for people who experience microaggressions, oppression, and other traumatic racist incidents. She also has an Ally + Accomplice Meditation for Cultivating an Anti-Racist Mindset (scroll to section below Black Lives Matter meditation).
Hargons has initiated two national hashtag love campaigns for Black people and is founding director of the Center for Healing Racial Trauma. Her meditation and podcast have been highlighted in the press and picked up by numerous national blogs, extending the field of psychology’s reach to individuals and communities not previously served.
Media featuring her work in 2020 include Women’s Health, Good Housekeeping, Blavity, CNBC Make It and Newsy.
In 2019, Hargons was awarded the American Psychological Association’s presidential citation for her commitment to leadership development and education and for her fearless research on and commitment to social justice. The citation recognized the leadership role Hargons has played in the psychology field’s focus on Black Lives Matter. She was involved in coordinating the Solidarity March for Black Lives at the 2016 American Psychological Association convention.
Hargons has been recognized with numerous scholarly and community service-focused state and national awards. She served on the faculty of the Society of Counseling Psychology’s Leadership Academy, providing insights into the design, implementation, and evaluation of leadership development activities. She recently served on the executive board of the Kentucky Psychological Association and on the Council of Representatives for the American Psychological Association.
A 2017 Huffington Post article about Hargons’ Black Lives Matter Meditation for Healing Racial Trauma has been shared more than 5,000 times and the meditation has been used at counseling centers on college campuses across the U.S.
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