Editorial: Mending the Melanated Mind by Tennile Friday
Reason vs Ordinary
In the melanated community, we see many instances where a person’s mental state has made them unreasonable. In today’s world, what was once reasonable is not even ordinary. I feel walls are closing in on me, and I want them to. Going to therapy has been a conscious decision and a daunting task in my busy life. Yet, I am thankful for each session and the lessons gained from my sixty, sometimes one hundred and twenty-minute evaluations.
Therapy should be acknowledged and accepted as a source of help in the black community. We often pray and go to church for our mental healing and planning. I pray frequently throughout the day. Prayer without work is fruitless. I implore my friends and community to plant a seed of mental clarity and pray as they see it bloom. Put in the work going to therapy and developing methods that allow oneself to accomplish dreams. Being in a space that allows us to take accountability for our actions without falling into a cycle of self-pity or hate is the most important result. Therapy allows one to change the inner voice that speaks of self-worth and love.
Accountability of Our Actions Through Words
We must admit that at one point or another, our lives have been encapsulated in the imposed political climate. Daily reports of the black community circulate around police, racial or trans-related killings. Gun violence needs to be in focus. We need this discourse to heal. Chakras align to our circulatory, digestive, endocrine, immune, and lymphatic system. The inevitable bondage of unaddressed stress and trauma creates confusion within our bodies. The confusion causes disease and disorder. Too many times, this leads to death, either by the hands of non-empathetic and ill-trained officers or by our own.
I hear people in my community say “I can’t do it,” or “that won’t work,” when it comes to therapy. They sound like protestors shouting “I can’t breathe” down the same blocks. Therapy will show us that we have breath, and will until we don’t anymore. Let’s speak life into ourselves and with our voices as influence, our energy will be the catalyst for the healing and change we need.
KWABS - Last Stand (Session Version)
Drawings by Arinze Stanley - Photography by Ashley Thomas - Music by KWABS