mental health
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DRK Beauty: Cynthia Erivo Covers InStyle's Beauty Issue—and Crusades for Black Women's Mental Health
“Beautiful, inside and out.” “Pretty is as pretty does.” We’re all familiar with the platitudes, but beyond being our kindest, most generous selves, what does putting it into practice actually look like for Black women? We’re well accustomed to taking care of everyone else, but as InStyle’s October cover star Cynthia Erivo reminds us that…
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This Free Black Mental Health App Was Created Two Years Ago. It's Especially Relevant Right Now for Our Community
Jasmin Pierre isn’t shy when it comes to discussing her mental health journey with others. “I’m really not afraid to put it all out there. Like, people know that I’ve been suicidal. People know that I’ve been in a mental institution,” said the 31-year-old mental health advocate and app creator. By being so open about…
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'These Intergenerational Wounds Continue': How Trauma From Hurricane Katrina and COVID-19 Are Affecting Black New Orleanians
The Black experience in America is rooted in trauma. Blacks folks have been the objects of systemic and state-sanctioned trauma beginning in 1619 and existing well into today. There’s no denying the staggering Black maternal mortality rate, effects of weathering and environmental racism on the Black body, as well as the harmful ways police brutality…
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'We Don't Talk About This at Home': Taraji P. Henson Gets Real About Our Mental Health at The Root Institute
In 2005, I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder while staying at UCLA’s medical center in Los Angeles for several weeks over Christmas. Back then, to me, the severity of my diagnosis was already scary, but what was even scarier? Feeling I was alone. “We don’t talk about this at home,” said actress Taraji P. Henson…
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'Joy Is at the Forefront of Our Culture': Chloe and Maud Arnold, Phil Augusta Jackson and Michael Harriot Talk Black Joy During Times of Crisis
You know what doesn’t get enough love and attention right now? Black joy. So what are we going to do about it? Well, at The Root Institute, we decided to have a whole conversation around Black joy, especially as it relates to the current times we’re in. Panama Jackson—it me—was joined by choreographers Chloe and…
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LAPD Response to Reported Suicidal Man Ends With Officer Being Shot by ‘Friendly Fire’
If you are struggling to understand why people are calling for police departments to be defunded and have those funds reallocated to human services such as mental health professionals, then please allow an incident that occurred with the Los Angeles Police Department on Wednesday to serve as one glaring example. The Los Angeles Times reports…
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Don't Call 911: America's Policing and Healthcare Systems Fail Black People With Mental Health Challenges
Kayla Moore. Ezell Ford. Deborah Danner. Marcus-David Peters. Pamela Turner. Each of these Black people were killed by police. They all dealt with mental health challenges. In this country, folks with mental health concerns are 16 times more likely to be killed by law enforcement. And as calls to defund and abolish America’s police grow…
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This Is Bad, Real Bad
In Keri Hilson’s 2008 single “Knock You Down,” Kanye West spit a particular line in his featured verse: “Cause we had it, we was magic, I was flyin’, now I’m crashin’ / This is bad, real bad Michael Jackson.” While watching ‘Ye’s first presidential campaign rally this weekend, the only words I could muster over…
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Tamar Braxton Hospitalized After Being Found Unresponsive in Los Angeles
Singer and TV personality Tamar Braxton is in hospital after being reportedly found unconscious at the Ritz-Carlton in Los Angeles on Thursday night. E! News confirmed on Saturday that Braxton’s partner David Adefeso called 911 after he found her unresponsive at The Ritz where they had been staying. From E: The Los Angeles Fire Department…
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Post-Traumatic Blackness Disorder: The Mental Toll of Surviving Racism
We called it “The Bull in the Ring.” Every gridiron competitor in America has likely played a variation of this ubiquitous football drill. It begins with one player in the center of a circle of other teammates, who take turns hitting the player in the middle of the “ring” in an attempt to push them…