The Forgotten Black Mind
The strength of the Black community. While it’s inspiring, it is also a magnified weight on the shoulders of young Black adults. Our world has yet to reject the upholdings of oppression, pushing us to fight against it and constantly prove our worth. We all are forced to represent one another because of collective stereotypes and the incapability of the world to separate an individual from a community. Our efforts in doing so enables harmful behaviors in prioritizing this task over our much more valuable mental health.
If I screwed up, we all screwed up. If I make it, we all made it. I can’t screw up.
It is truly a gift to have a community that has worked tirelessly to help someone they don’t even know reach potentials they weren’t sure existed. That is the power of community, especially one that has borne through the worst systems of dehumanization to yet still establish strength upon their future generations.
For the coming of age Black kids, we have a responsibility, burden, and power, all in one, in which we shape our future fulfillments and guide the following generation. We must continue the wave of accomplishment and success our parents, grandparents, and those before them have left. However, we must do so in a manner that maintains our well-being as young Black adults. In doing so, we manifest a radical form of empowerment and pride.
Black kids have to think about everything their parents achieved, so that we could be set up to live better than them, and so we can open our eyes to opportunities that we have never seen ourselves in before. That’s the essence of “do it for the culture.” But, it is sourced in Black people “integrat[ing] trauma responses into the culture,” as stated by therapist, Jenna Agnew, in the TedTalk speech, “Black Folk Mental Health: Generational Trauma, Traditions & Truth” (Agnew 1:38). Having the mindset of, we can’t make too many mistakes because we will not be seen as good enough, smart enough, or professional enough, is unbelievably straining. We have to adjust for the sake of ourselves and our younger siblings, cousins, friends, so that we can all have a chance to make it without tainting our minds.
I understand, no one wants to be the reason why the next Black person after us can’t reach a position just because we didn’t work hard enough for them to be given a chance. To always wonder if it was your fault, or if there was something more you could do to show that Black people are capable, then you’d never forgive yourself. It’s a reality that we are likely to face, and one that our parents and grandparents could be facing now. “The internalization of emotions is a safety concern” (Agnew 3:39). The holding of this collective fear in our consciousness troubles our minds greatly.
We’ve put ourselves into this idea of a domino effect, and while it has helped us work together, it has also dismantled our mental state when we reach certain positions and achievements in our lives. What’s just as hard, is deciding if we even have a choice. In the book, Black Mental Health: Patients, Providers, and Systems by Ezra E.H. Griffith M.D, Billy E. Jones, and Altha J. Stewart, Griffith stated “I was a symbol of Black exceptionalism at Yale without having planned it” (Griffith 4). There is always some incident, some conversation, or some people or lack thereof that reminds us that we are a representation of our community. In prestigious spaces like Yale, we are often analyzed closely, and those observing us dissect every move we make to determine if we deserve to be there. They decide if we are a good enough image and if we deserve to be a part of the big picture of the room.
Black parents, grandparents, great-grandparents faced the brunt of segregation and discrimination, especially as they worked their way up to opportunities that were automatically reserved for white people. So given the somewhat more opportunity we have now, we have come to the harsh reality of us not having room to mess up. Our previous generations dug up the ground to give us a path, and now we have to seal it.
The overload that comes with constantly fighting to receive recognition has emitted a trend of generational trauma and distress that has started trickling down. Noted by Carol Veronica Wade, a doctor of philosophy, in Understanding Parenting in the Black Caribbean Population within the Context of Historical Trauma in Toronto, “The traumatic experiences associated with racism continue to transform the lives of Black families and influence the messages that they intentionally pass on to their children’’ (Wade 125). It can often begin in the household where the response from tragedy can be so exponential, that the process of healing is not given enough weight.
We exist in a world that has historically added a burden to our identity. This has led to a flood of unconscious harmful behavior and mental health issues that have been passed down over centuries. We subconsciously try to use our strength as an excuse to not focus and recognize our need for self-realization and care. In actuality, we have more strength in admitting that our generations of hard work have come with engraved consequences. Avoiding the need to discuss the emotions that stem from constant battles, avoids the human need to release and recover.
Instead of “toughening up” or avoiding the tears, we need to work through the emotion and come to terms with knowing that our collective and individual pain does matter. No longer should systemic and communal barriers define our struggle as personal weakness. There is no weakness in being emotional and honest about whatever is trailing in our minds, especially when we face so many outside forces that dehumanize our humanity and demean our values. The need for rest is substantial. “Internal peace is a revolutionary act…valuing health over hustle” (Agnew 8:23). There is empowerment in validating the psychological bruises that have been inherited and taking the time to mend them. By doing so, we can break the mental health stigma, have consistent serenity, and truly resolve patterns that weigh down our elevation.
While we did not originate the generational mental effects, we do have to recognize and be aware of the realness and seriousness in mental health. It starts within our community. As recognized in Black Mental Health: Patients, Providers, and Systems, “because of the historical and current experiences of black people in a society with institutionalized racism…black patients are placed in a devalued imposed social position because of both their illness and their racially oppressed status” (Christmas 33). Society has proven to be unreliable when it comes to aiding Black issues, conveying that it is up to the Black collective to open our perceptions of mental health and trauma in order to cope, revitalize, and transform our identity.
We remain in a survival headspace, that is not meant to healthily sustain us through life. “Survival. While it’s necessary, it was never intended to be a long-term solution. The body is not meant to stay in that state of arousal” (Agnew 2:14). Physiologically, the strain of ignoring chronic stress and anxiety leads to a detached mental state. As a community we have detached from prioritizing mental care, but when we each individually acknowledge when we are not ok or see the symptoms of someone else who is not ok, we can take pride in healing ourselves.
Black pride is the celebration and joy of the achievements the Black community has accomplished, and there is great achievement in bettering our emotional wellness. We fail to realize that there is a new sense of empowerment in dismantling our generational trauma and unpacking the mental health and psychological behaviors that are specific to those of us coming into society.
When we find ourselves in the situation of having to be a representative factor for our community, we have to recognize that our mental health also has to be cared for. We do not have to fight our individual and universal needs in remaining at peace of mind and sustaining a healthy mental state. The Black community carries so much soul in every aspect of our culture, and putting that energy into caring for our minds and mental health is just another revolutionary step that we have the power of claiming.
Works Cited
“Black Folk Mental Health: Generational Trauma, Traditions & Truth | Jelan Agnew | TEDxDelthorneWomen.” YouTube, 17 Dec. 2021, https://youtu.be/B1Bn9OWDqF0. Accessed 18 Sept. 2022.
H., Griffith Ezra E, et al. Black Mental Health: Patients, Providers, and Systems. American Psychiatric Association Publishing, 2019.
Wade, Carol Veronica, and Njoki N Wane. “Understanding Parenting in the Black Caribbean Population within the Context of Historical Trauma in Toronto.” Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Toronto (Canada), 2018. APA PsycInfo®
