Collective Healing and Transformation from a Dehumanizing Past through Personal Dialogue: The Keti Koti Table Dialogue Method

This chapter presents how the Keti Koti Table approach can be used to explore the potential of personal dialogue to heal the deep emotional and relational wounds caused by the shared legacy of slavery. This dialogue-based ritual was developed by the authors to foster mutual understanding and empathy among individuals of different backgrounds, addressing the transgenerational trauma of slavery and its continuing influence on contemporary racism and discrimination. With the theme and questions determined to foster transformative change in participants in a specific context, Keti Koti Tables combine personal dialogue with plenary exchanges, and are set against a wider socio-cultural background that spans micro, meso and macro-levels. This chapter features a narrative account of an experience of the Keti Koti Table followed by a “do-ityourself” guide to support those considering implementing their own modification of the Keti Koti Table to facilitate healing from historical and societal traumas.