The epidemic of racism has caused a pandemic to our mental health

As we approach the month of May, Mental Health Awareness Month, I couldn’t help but think of the many tragedies African Americans have endured that have tampered with our mental health. Many of our catastrophies live on repeat.

Covid has cost countless jobs, cars, homes, relationships, marriages, children, physical and mental health. Covid has customized our living arrangements in ways we disapprove of but have no other choice but to accept. With that said, covid has a vaccination, a two-part vaccination. …

These pernicious views are causing black girls and women their mental health.

I was eight years old when I realized that girls, black girls, in particular, were treated differently than boys. I subconsciously understood "boys will be boys" without having a title to latch to the experiences I was having.

As a naturally quiet introvert, my intuition always fights for me. Being wrong is rare for me when it comes to studying other people's behavior.

The moment when my aunt summoned me to come into the house to inform me of my wrongdoings, a ball of confusion set in.

I…

roses and flowers alike
blossom and spike
when watered with
tender, loving care

sunflowers — a dash of good luck
daises — sprinkle happiness and friendship
if and when the salt pours its bitterness
the roses and flowers alike lose their meanings.

Tagging Lucy Dan 蛋小姐 (she/her/她) who created this cool emoji challenge.

Michele Thomas, Jee Young Park, TC Hails, Ashlea Morgan, Parris Baker, William J Spirdione, Dan J, Be Open

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“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced” — James Baldwin.

When often met with the question, why do I write about racism; I am never offended per se at the question alone. It is an appalling question because my reasons are valid, authentic, and derive from a passionate place due to the injustices towards my people. What I do take issue with is when asked with a negative undertone. I wonder if those asking are opposing my position as a writer?

Candidly, I have always been voiceless when it pertains…

Dr. Margaret Cornelia Morgan Lawrence was born August 19, 1914, and transitioned at the well-lived age of 105 on December 4, 2019.

Her parents traveled from Virginia to Harlem, New York, before she was born to escape the Jim Crow South kind of treatment. After Margaret was born, her parents traveled back to Richmond, Virginia.

Dr. Lawrence was a trailblazer for people of color. With racism and sexism, odds stacked against her being black and woman, she conquered every stumbling block set up against her and became the first black woman psychoanalyst. …

Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future, and renders the present inaccessibles — Maya Angelou.

Colorism, coined by award-winning author, social activist, and womanist Alice Walker, is the prejudice or discrimination against dark skin complexion people and the preferential treatment toward light skin complexion people. This behavior happens across all ethnic groups; it is a pervasive global issue.

Colorism is not racism, but it is a seed that racism planted, therefore an extension of racism. Sociologist Margaret Hunter says it best when she said, “racism is a larger, systemic social process, and colorism is the manifestation of it.”

Colorism exists because white slave owners treated African Americans with an approximation to whiteness better than those…