When you think about mental health.
What does that mean to you now versus
when you first learned that this was
even a thing, that mental health
was something that was important?
Of course, early on, you know,
we think about mental health.
You think about, you know, crazy people.
And growing up in the black community,
when you heard someone having mental
health issues, you thought about
somebody having a mental
health break down or nervous
breakdown is what they called it.
And I grew up in the South,
where they call it depression.
You had the Blues.
Now I see mental health just really.
Life in motion describe
a time for you when you knew you
needed to seek some mental health,
some some therapy for any
mental health issues. So.
Take a deep breath on this one.
10 years ago I attempted suicide
the second time and my godmother
found me underneath the bed.
And I think the challenging part
for me was that my parents couldn't
really understand what depression was.
My parents are pastors and so it
was hard for them to comprehend
why wasn't prayer working and one
of the misconceptions that people
have about people who struggle
with suicide and have suicide,
suicidal thoughts or suicidal ideation.
The clinical term is they think that
they're wanting to end their life,
but they're just wanting to end the pain.
You talk about depression and many of
the things that kind of led to you
knowing that you needed to try to get
some kind of help, talk to someone.
How do you get a person to realize that my
heart goes out to black men? Because.
I think they're emotionally exhausted.
For most people, it's it's exactly,
it's acknowledging that they need help,
and that's hard. And,
and particularly for men and men of color,
because there's this, this, this,
this notion that you have to be strong
and they're mentally fatigued, tired.
Many don't feel seen and they feel hopeless.
You know, when men take their lives
it's usually because there's a a lack of
hope and they don't see their way out.
What do you think is the most common
misconception about mental health?
We look at people in high places
and we look at people who
have of acquired stuff and we
say they have everything, but on the back
end of that we never know what they're
fighting with internally because you
can be high functioning depressed.
But I think there's a level. Of.
Abandonment that we're experiencing as black
men because who's cared for black boys?
You know who's cater to the
needs of black boys emotionally.
You know, even in the school systems,
black boys are usually criminalized
when I think the issue may be clinical.
You know, they're, they're, they're,
they're removed from classrooms.
They're not giving the same
grace as other students.
They're not giving the same compassion
and and how do you expect somebody to want
to live if they have not been embraced
so you don't feel well, what is it?
What is the purpose of being here?
You know, do you even want me here?
And I think we have a real issue
on our hands.
I think the challenging thing
is that the the demand outweighs
the solution because there's not
enough black male therapists
to connect with the black boys. And I
just want black men to know that their lives
are valuable. And that you
don't have to end your life.