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Past the Pain
- Author
- Anjanette L. Young
- Narrator
- Anjanette L. Young
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date
- 3 February 2026
- Run Time
- 6 hours 8 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
Forty minutes on February 21, 2019, changed Anjanette Young’s life forever. Her story made national news for months after it broke: A forty-eight-year-old social worker was winding down at home after a long day of work when police broke into her apartment with a faulty warrant and incorrect information. With guns drawn and flashlights shining, twelve cops converged in her home, demanding that Anjanette put her hands up, despite the fact that she was in the middle of changing her clothes. Naked and terrified, she watched as men in tactical gear ransacked her home.
The trauma from that night was devastating, but somehow Anjanette emerged a different person with a new purpose—to serve as voice for the voiceless, particularly those facing injustices by the very people meant to protect them.
In Past the Pain, Anjanette tells her story—of what happened that night, what came next, and most important, how others who experience trauma can draw on these lessons to move forward in their own stories. She shares advice from her beloved and respected therapist, Alicia Troff-Meade, designed to bridge the gap between simply reading about healing and actively engaging in it. And Anjanette details how, through the support of her church and her community, and by reconnecting with her legacy as the granddaughter of a civil rights activist who marched with Dr. King, she realized that God was truly with her, and she began to forge a future that is not dictated by trauma but empowered by resilience.
As a social worker and advocate, Anjanette shares practical insights for others to push past their trauma to find purpose and avoid burnout, engage in self-care, and protect their emotional and physical energy when working in social justice and advocacy support.
Critics Review
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“Anjanette’s testimony is clear: God, and God alone, preserved her life. In this courageous book, Anjanette refuses to let trauma have the final word. Her story is more than one of survival amid the injustice she suffered at the hands of a broken system. It is a witness to the keeping power of God.”
Dr. Charlie Dates, Senior Pastor, Progressive Chicago and Salem Baptist Church
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“Anjanette Young understands that our silence will not protect us. In the face of trauma and cruelty, her willingness to speak truth to power, her courage, her resilience, and her advocacy are an inspiration.”
Eve L. Ewing, Associate Professor, Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity, University of Chicago, and New York Times bestselling author of Original Sins
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“Anjanette does not just recount the narrative of the profound injustice she endured, though that is important enough in its own right. She uses her story to chart a journey through, from pain to healing and advocacy for others. Grounded in the faith that gave her strength to overcome impossible odds, she provides all of us with the necessary tools to dismantle unjust structures.”
Esau McCaulley, PhD, The Jonathan Blanchard Associate Professor of New Testament and Public Theology, Wheaton College, and author of How Far to the Promised Land: One Black Family’s Story of Hope and Survival in the American South
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Details
- Author
- Anjanette L. Young
- Narrator
- Anjanette L. Young
- Duration
- 6 hours 8 minutes
- Release Date
- 3 February 2026
- ISBN
- 9798228742468
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Genre
- Biography: general, Ethnic studies, Biography: historical, political and military, Political activism, Biography: general, Gender studies: women and girls, Memoirs, Coping with mental health issues
Synopsis
Forty minutes on February 21, 2019, changed Anjanette Young’s life forever. Her story made national news for months after it broke: A forty-eight-year-old social worker was winding down at home after a long day of work when police broke into her apartment with a faulty warrant and incorrect information. With guns drawn and flashlights shining, twelve cops converged in her home, demanding that Anjanette put her hands up, despite the fact that she was in the middle of changing her clothes. Naked and terrified, she watched as men in tactical gear ransacked her home.The trauma from that night was devastating, but somehow Anjanette emerged a different person with a new purpose—to serve as voice for the voiceless, particularly those facing injustices by the very people meant to protect them.In Past the Pain, Anjanette tells her story—of what happened that night, what came next, and most important, how others who experience trauma can draw on these lessons to move forward in their own stories. She shares advice from her beloved and respected therapist, Alicia Troff-Meade, designed to bridge the gap between simply reading about healing and actively engaging in it. And Anjanette details how, through the support of her church and her community, and by reconnecting with her legacy as the granddaughter of a civil rights activist who marched with Dr. King, she realized that God was truly with her, and she began to forge a future that is not dictated by trauma but empowered by resilience.As a social worker and advocate, Anjanette shares practical insights for others to push past their trauma to find purpose and avoid burnout, engage in self-care, and protect their emotional and physical energy when working in social justice and advocacy support.
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