Can We Get Out of Survival Mode?

Is getting out of survival mode possible for Black people? I’ve asked myself this on more than one occasion. Pondering the generations of traumatic experiences that placed us in a never-ending loop of fight or flight.

We live in a capitalist society that is built on supply, demand, and labor. For centuries, Black people provided that labor for free, giving a financial leg up to a growing nation. A nation that never paid Black people what they are owed. Hundreds of years of financial, political, and social disadvantages have created a wealth gap that only reparations will solve. But, the fight for reparations is still ongoing and while there isn’t a set number due to a variety of factors, according to economist William A. Darity Jr. and scholar A. Kirsten Mullen, if Black Americans alone received what was owed in reparations money the estimated amount would be, between $10 and $14 trillion. 

History has shown us that we are not going to see those funds anytime soon, but how does a group of people with hundreds of years of setbacks and financial disadvantages pull themselves out of a trauma response generations in the making? 

Survival mode is a fairly general concept that can apply to people of all racial and cultural backgrounds. We are all, in our own way, in a constant state of survival. We all find ourselves in a loop of working, spending minimal hours at home or with friends, living for the weekend, then having to do it all over again. Many people have found themselves in a live to “pay the bills” routine. For Black people,  however, there is more to survival mode than just ‘getting by.’ Slavery, in and of itself, was enough of a traumatic experience to scar any group of people for generations. The traumas of slavery seeped into Black American culture, from the scraps of food we turned into culinary masterpieces to our spirituality, and the way we raise our children is rooted in resilience. Even after hundreds of years of survival, we have turned trauma into triumph and we have thrived, pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps, as we were ordered to do. Having communities destroyed in various ways to having jobs taken away. We barely survived with what little opportunities were left, so we earned a higher education (and going into massive amounts of debt doing so) only for our degrees to mean nothing in an ever-changing job market, we then started to use modern technology to build our own tables so we no longer have to beg for an opportunity from someone else. Black people have been in survival mode for so long we have mastered the art of the pivot. 

New challenges breed new solutions but what lingers is a constant need to look over your shoulder. To know that one missed check could mean financial ruin. To take on the burden of family financier because there’s no one else that can help. To thrive but always be reminded that, “even if you’re in a Benz, you’re still a nigga in a coup.”  

For Black people, survival mode is a state of perpetuity. It goes beyond simply getting stuck in a loop of working and paying bills. Many of us wish that bills were the only thing we had to worry about. For Black people, survival mode is constantly looking over your shoulder, waiting for the other shoe to drop even when you are at peace. It’s being blamed for not helping solve a problem you’ve been warning everyone about for hundreds of years. It’s the feeling of your very existence being policed. 

Survival mode is defined as a state of chronic stress or “functional freeze” where the nervous system is overwhelmed, forcing the body and mind to prioritize immediate, basic functioning over long-term health, growth, or emotional regulation. It mimics a constant “fight-or-flight” response, often triggered by trauma, burnout, or prolonged, unresolvable stress. 

Financial hardship is the most common cause of chronic stress or functional freeze. A society built on capitalism has placed its people in a constant state of fight or flight, but for Black people, it goes beyond money. Black people have been in survival mode for so long that our survival habits have been passed down from one generation to another, adding layers to our nuanced culture. 

Having immigrant relatives has given me first hand insight into the way that people from other countries think about Black people. There is a chronic failure to understand the complex layers that make up Black people’s means of daily survival. The idea that they, “came from nothing and still became successful,” falls flat when you peel back the layers of our collective trauma. We do not only face financial problems, the current state of our communities was hundreds of years in the making. Black people spent decades building businesses and towns on their own, even after being enslaved, but violence, systemic racism, and political programs took those communities away. Even still, we persevered, making due with the opportunities that were left available. Even after our communities were ripped apart by unprecedented violence and a substance abuse epidemic we are still finding ways to pivot and rebuild. 

For Black people, getting out of survival mode goes beyond being able to build generational wealth, though that is a great start. It starts with healthy minds, bodies, and spirits. It continues with healthy relationships, families, and communities. It grows through financial progress and generational wealth. It starts with being able to exist without being forced to solve a problem you didn’t create. It starts with being able to exist without judgement. It starts with acknowledging that centuries of hell cannot be overturned in 60 years, especially if the financial playing field isn’t going to be leveled. 

For Black people as a collective, survival mode is a constant state of being that global racism and discrimination has put us in. 

It’s all about your mental and what you believe about yourself, your life, and your environment. Something that a lot of Black people have yet to realize, because the first step in getting out of survival mode is recognizing that you are in it. 

Getting out of survival mode means setting your goals, identifying your wildest dreams and writing them down, then starting where you are, with what you have. It’s planting a seed, watering it, and slowly watching it grow over time. It’s taking that seed and caring for it relentlessly, nurturing it until it finally begins to sprout. It’s continuing to care for that sprout no matter how big or small even when setbacks occur. In a world that expects people to live in a constant state of survival, joy is a radical act.