From the Baltimore Yearly Meeting Working Group on Racism:

In his recent (2016) book, Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching:  A Young Black Man’s Education, writer Mychal Denzel Smith includes a chapter about his personal struggles with depression.  He goes deeply into how difficult it is for black men, whose persona is generally supposed to be macho, to acknowledge mental health problems and any need for – or access to — mental health treatment.

“What would happen if we reframed the way we understand black male life in a way that took mental health seriously?  If we looked outside and didn’t see ruthless gangbangers but teenage boys left hopeless and giving themselves suicide missions.  If instead of chastising young men for fighting over sneakers we asked why they feel worthless and unseen without them.  If we didn’t label them junkies but rather recognized their need for affirmation.  If we held our boys close when they cried instead of turning them away to face the frustration, pain, and sadness ‘like a man.’  If we believed black boys were worthy of second chances that didn’t involve prison cells.  What if?”