Black Mental Health Matters | Phillip J. Roundtree | TedxWilmington 2018
Summary
TLDRIn this powerful speech, the speaker highlights the intersection of Black identity and mental health, discussing personal experiences with depression, anxiety, and trauma. He reflects on societal expectations, the pressure to suppress emotions, and how mental health issues manifest differently in Black men. Sharing stories of family loss, institutional racism, and the journey toward healing, the speaker emphasizes the importance of addressing mental health within the Black community. He advocates for shifting from survival to thriving and calls for greater understanding and support for Black mental health issues.
Takeaways
- đ The speaker is often perceived based on physical traits like being black, bearded, and strong, resembling famous figures like James Harden or 50 Cent.
- đ Despite outward appearances, the speaker battles with depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts, which are not often recognized or acknowledged.
- đĄ Black mental health is often overlooked in the larger conversation about mental health, where stereotypes about race and mental illness persist.
- đ§ Trauma plays a significant role in black mental health, including historical trauma (slavery, Jim Crow) and modern-day events (police brutality, violence).
- đą The speaker shares personal stories of trauma, including witnessing his mother's nervous breakdown and the death of his brother from drug use.
- đ„ The speaker highlights how black menâs mental health often manifests in anger and rage rather than traditional symptoms like prolonged sadness.
- đźââïž A minor incident with a cup of juice led to the speaker being arrested, charged, and jailed, demonstrating how unresolved trauma and anger can escalate situations.
- đ Therapy and medication have been crucial in the speakerâs journey to mental wellness, helping him move from survival to thriving.
- â The speaker urges the black community to seek help, reject the stigma around mental health, and embrace wellness and healing.
- đ The speech is a call to broaden the understanding of mental health beyond the stereotypical images, including people of color who are often excluded from the narrative.
Q & A
What common perceptions does the speaker mention people have about him?
-The speaker mentions that people commonly perceive him as black, bearded, strong, and resembling NBA player James Harden, hip-hop star Donald Glover (Childish Gambino), and Curtis Jackson (50 Cent).
What does the speaker emphasize people don't recognize about him?
-The speaker emphasizes that people don't recognize his struggles with depression, anxiety, and being suicidal for 15 years, despite his external appearance.
How does the speaker describe the typical American view of mental health?
-The speaker describes the typical American view of mental health as focusing on homeless individuals, white celebrities who die by suicide, and white mass murderers, rather than acknowledging people like him, a Black man with a family and education.
What does the speaker mean by 'Black mental health'?
-The speaker defines 'Black mental health' as the individual and collective experiences shaped by trauma that affect the wellness of the Black community, including historical trauma like slavery, Jim Crow laws, and present-day violence.
What are the three personal traumatic experiences the speaker shares?
-The speaker shares three personal traumatic experiences: his mother's nervous breakdown when he was in eighth grade, the death of his brother when he was 17, and an incident in college where he was arrested and jailed after being accused of stealing juice.
How did the speaker cope with the loss of his brother?
-The speaker coped by crying and following cultural practices from hip-hop, such as getting a 'rest in peace' tattoo, though he later realized that these actions did not alleviate the pain of losing his brother.
How does the speaker describe the manifestation of depression and anxiety in Black men?
-The speaker explains that depression and anxiety in Black men often manifest as anger and rage rather than the stereotypical image of someone lying in bed for days.
What lesson did the speaker learn from his psychology professor, Dr. Campbell?
-Dr. Campbell taught the speaker that in life, you either change to get something or to keep something, a lesson that became the speaker's mantra in his journey toward mental wellness.
What has helped the speaker in his journey toward wellness?
-The speaker has found wellness through a combination of medication that helped eliminate his suicidal thoughts and regular therapy sessions, which he attends weekly.
What message does the speaker give to Black and non-Black audiences regarding mental health?
-To Black audiences, the speaker encourages them to seek help, thrive, and not just survive. To non-Black audiences, he asks them to reconsider their perceptions of Black individuals, recognizing their potential mental health struggles and the resilience required to succeed.
Outlines
đȘ Overcoming Stereotypes and Confronting Mental Health
The speaker introduces how people often misinterpret his appearance, labeling him based on his race, beard, and strength, while comparing him to celebrities like James Harden and 50 Cent. However, he highlights that no one perceives him as someone battling depression and anxiety or who has been suicidal for 15 years. He discusses how black mental health is often ignored or misunderstood in society, contrasting it with stereotypical representations of mental health in America. He stresses that black mental health matters, especially in the face of historical and present-day trauma.
đ The Impact of Trauma in Black Communities
The speaker explains how trauma, including historical events like slavery and the civil rights movement, impacts black mental health. He shares personal stories, such as witnessing his mother's nervous breakdown at a young age, and how he had to suppress his emotions to continue with life as expected. He reflects on how black people are conditioned to endure trauma and move forward without addressing their emotional pain, which can lead to deeper mental health issues.
đ Coping with Loss and Cultural Responses
In high school, the speaker lost his brother to drug abuse, which he connects to the opioid epidemic prevalent in the black and hip-hop communities. Without proper support, he followed cultural norms, like getting a tattoo to commemorate his brother, but this did not alleviate his pain. His grief manifested as anger, leading to an outburst in class and subsequent suspension. This experience reflects how depression in black men often appears as rage rather than sadness, a critical point in understanding black mental health.
đš A Life-Changing Incident and Self-Reflection
The speaker recounts a pivotal moment during college when a misunderstanding over a cup of juice escalated into a serious confrontation with law enforcement, resulting in numerous charges and temporary expulsion from school. This incident led him to reflect on his unresolved anger and trauma. However, with the support of his professor, he began to seek help and focus on improving his mental wellness, realizing the importance of change for personal growth.
đ± The Journey from Survival to Thriving
The speaker shares how therapy and medication helped him address his suicidal thoughts and improve his mental health. He emphasizes the long process of healing, particularly for black people, who often take longer to seek treatment due to cultural stigmas. His message is one of hope, urging others, especially black men, to seek help and go from merely surviving to thriving. He also calls on non-black people to recognize the struggles that black individuals face with mental health, encouraging empathy and understanding.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄBlack mental health
đĄTrauma
đĄSuppression of emotions
đĄCultural expectations
đĄResilience
đĄHistorical trauma
đĄMental health stigma
đĄSuicide
đĄCoping mechanisms
đĄRepresentation in mental health
Highlights
Speaker introduces how people perceive him as strong, black, and compared to celebrities, but no one assumes he lives with depression and anxiety.
Describes his experience of being suicidal for 15 years, with multiple daily suicidal thoughts.
Challenges societal stereotypes about mental health, explaining that mental health issues in America are often attributed to white individuals or mass shooters, but rarely discussed in the context of black men.
Defines black mental health as the collective experiences of a community, with trauma being the biggest influencer.
Details historical and ongoing traumas affecting black communities, including slavery, Jim Crow, police violence, and intra-community violence.
Shares personal trauma, including witnessing his motherâs nervous breakdown when he was 13 years old and feeling helpless in the situation.
Recounts the loss of his brother to the opioid epidemic and how it affected his mental state.
Discusses how black men's depression and anxiety often manifest as anger and rage, rather than the stereotypical image of sadness and isolation.
Narrates his encounter with the police over a cup of juice, leading to 20-plus charges and his eventual expulsion from university.
Explains how the university incident became a turning point in his life, making him realize the need to change his approach to his mental health and behavior.
Highlights the importance of therapy and medication in managing his mental health, leading him from merely surviving to thriving.
Encourages black individuals to seek help for mental health issues, rejecting the idea of needing to 'wear a mask' or suppress emotions.
Calls on non-black individuals to recognize that black people may have gone through significant trauma and to be aware of the challenges they face.
Contrasts how mental health is perceived in America, citing examples of high-profile suicides among white celebrities like Anthony Bourdain and Robin Williams, while asking for similar attention to black lives affected by mental health struggles.
Concludes with a message of hope and empowerment, advocating for the importance of addressing mental health and supporting one another to move from survival to thriving.
Transcripts
[Applause]
when you look at me what do you see now
I'm gonna go through some of the things
that I typically here to the very astute
I usually get I'm black I'm bearded and
I'm strong I also get I look like NBA
superstar James Hart I'm most definitely
the poor version I get hip-hop superstar
Emmy Award winner Donald Glover aka
childish gambino yeah that's you right
and last but not least I get Curtis
Jackson aka 50 cent now one of my goals
is definitely to get rich or die trying
I think Sallie Mae is putting the
emphasis on or die trying
right but see what I don't hear is Phil
you look like somebody that lives with
depression and anxiety Phil you look
like somebody that was suicidal for 15
years every day five to six times a day
they don't say Phil you look like
somebody that was driving on Interstate
95 wanting to crash your car to end your
life no because see here in America when
we think about mental health we think
about the homeless man who's walking the
streets talking nonsensically to
themselves we think about the the white
celebrity who takes their life via
suicide we think about the the white
mass murderer who goes into a high
school and takes the lives of innocent
children or beasts usually your
president who loves the tweet venom from
the hip but see rarely does the
conversation speak of a father of two
kids someone who possesses a master's in
exercise science a Masters in Social
Work somebody pursuing a doctorate
rarely is it a person of color rarely is
it a black man like myself
until now because black mental health
matters now you may be asking yourself
what is black mental health and why is
it differentiated amongst racial and
ethnic lines black mental health are the
individual and collective experiences
that influence the wellness of a
community trauma is the biggest
influencer of black mental health we're
talking about historical trauma slavery
Jim Crow the civil rights movement the
Tuskegee Experiment up until present day
trauma when you see somebody that looks
like you get killed in their home
resting peas both them gene when you see
somebody who's living with mental
wellness issues get killed by the police
rest in peace laQuan McDonald of Chicago
Illinois or when you see somebody let
looks like you get killed by somebody
that looks like you rest in peace xxx
fantasy owned see when we talk about
trauma trauma is unique to the
individual and I'm no different there
were three impactful traumatic
situations that I've experienced in my
life outside of the genetic
predisposition because my grandmother
lived with schizophrenia i harken back
to being an eighth grade 13 years of age
on the way to school
my mother has a nervous breakdown she's
crying she's pulling at her clothes in
her hair she's cursing I felt helpless
because I couldn't help her or I
couldn't and I couldn't help myself and
see I was expected to continue to go
into school that day and achieve it's
funny when I when I first started
telling this story I told my mother
listen I'm telling the story of when you
had a nervous breakdown and she said so
that didn't happen now I know I'm
getting older I have a few grades right
but I swear I remember that and then she
called me a week later and she said Phil
I didn't know you remembered that as if
I wouldn't remember the most traumatic
situation that I've experienced them
life and that typically happens we're
often expected to just continue on
because we are so resilient as a people
because we do survive and we survive for
hundreds of years and I was expected to
survive and go into school that day and
perform and I did because like many of
us I learned how to suppress my emotions
and my feelings but what if I didn't
what if I went into school and I started
arguing with peers and fighting what if
I started arguing with the teachers what
if I did criminalistics within the
community would I be deemed and courage'
balandin unable to be in the school
setting in a community setting or would
anybody care that I just experienced
this traumatic situation that has
impacted me fast forward to my 12th
grade year 17 years of age January 2001
my mother said Phil come downstairs
she said Phil your brother Bobby died
and I started crying that was probably
the only healthy coping skill that I had
at the time right because being a
product of the hip-hop culture
hip-hop tells me when somebody dies you
either go out and get some liquor or you
go get a rest in peace' tattoo well I
wasn't old enough to drink that would
happen once I got to college right but I
went out and I got this rest in peace'
tattoo as if that was going to do
something if that was want to take away
the pain of losing a primary
relationship it didn't and people asked
me feel well how did your brother die
say the opioid epidemic is as popular
now but in the black community in the
hip-hop community especially amongst
black male it's always existed he was
one who liked to use coding and san-x
I don't know what he was trying to cope
with I will never know I went to school
that Monday because I didn't have
anybody to say Phil stay home because my
mother was was going through it because
she just lost her only child
and I went to school feeling all of this
emotion and I remember it like yesterday
I was sitting in computer class mrs.
Williams my computer teacher came up to
me and I don't know what she said she
said Phil she could have said Phil what
was the score of the Eagles game last
night I let her have it I blacked on her
I cursed her out
why because I had all this built-up
anger all this built-up rage because see
when we're talking about depression and
anxiety for black men especially it
doesn't look like somebody laying in bed
for six and seven days on end
no it manifests itself through anger and
rage I ended up getting suspended that
day and Miss Williams and I were able to
laugh at the situation years later
because I was able to cope with it and
understand what I was feeling but again
it was a moment in time that impacted my
life my third and final story happened
at Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg
Pennsylvania again we remember dramatic
situations and I remember it like it was
yesterday I call it the juice story
right because when I go fill out job
applications and it says have you ever
been convicted of a crime as long as it
doesn't say misdemeanor or felony I can
I can ignore it if it says that but if
he says have you ever been convicted of
a crime I have to check it off and then
I put well it all started with the cup
of juice and then the employers they
laugh like oh man and I laugh like haha
that's my life so the true story is I
was coming from the gym to go get me
something to eat I got my food I paid
for it emphasis on pay and you know how
you go to McDonald's they give you a cup
and you can go through there it fell in
and get whatever drink you want and I
did that and I tasted it to see water
and see if it was water down but see
when you go to a predominantly white
institution like Bloomsburg University
it seems like they have all the
minorities names on a list and she's the
school police officer said Phil that
stealing mind blown
and me having this anger this
frustration has built up over years of
trauma and me not being able to express
myself in a healthy way I blacked on her
just like I dead miss Willy did miss
Williams unbeknownst to me that would
lead to 20-plus charges I ended up going
to jail that night I ended up getting
expelled from school I ended up doing a
weekend in jail because listen they say
you'll get judged by a jury of your
peers with the average age in that
community being 60 and over it wasn't
going to be a jury of my peers but I
needed that experience I needed it and
III needed it because it told me that
Phil I have to do something different I
ended up appealing to get back in the
Bloomsburg University and people knew me
so people wanted me back and so I got
back and I was focused one day my
psychology professor dr. Campbell camara
god blessed the dead he said Phil come
talk to me about anything anytime and I
took him up on that I wouldn't talk to
him not to talk about school I would to
talk to him about a young lady I had
been courting right and I wanted to
understand why did she want me so I went
to his office I'm like listen I bought
her sneakers I took her to the movies I
took it a dinner well my mom took her to
dinner and all those things because I
didn't have a job thanks mom
but he said to me Phil in life you
change to get something or to keep
something what are you talking about
little did I know that that will become
my mantra that I realized I had to
change I had to work on my wellness so I
can be whole it took approximately 10
years because that's the average length
of time that they say somebody who lives
with mental wellness issues that's the
time that it takes for them to come to
grips with it and to seek treatment for
black people I think it's much longer
and so within those 10 years I've been
on a medication which quelled the
suicidal ideations there no more I go to
therapy every week hi dr. Val it's been
so critical for me and my wellness
because I decided to go from living to
thriving to my black brothers and
sisters you two deserve to go from
living to thriving we no longer have to
wear the mask we're survivors there's
help now we can get help and walk out
there with our heads held high and get
the treatment that we need so we can go
from living to thriving to my non black
brothers and sisters will you now view
the black person that you come in
contact with and it might be in a
negative way and recognize that you know
what they might have gone through
something or to see them when they excel
what they had to go through to get to
that point or will mental health
continue to be viewed in America as Kate
Spade as Anthony Bourdain as chester
bennington as Robin Williams would it
now include actor Sam Sarpong Lee
Thompson young will it now include
ten-year-old Ashanti Davis who took her
life because of bullying when now
represent a manual Sloane who's the
reason why I'm here because in 19 years
of age he decided to take his life by
jumping in front of a train this isn't
an indictment on you or on America this
is just a public service announcement
that's stating that we're here and we
deserve to live and to thrive thank you
you
[Applause]
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