Today, I prayed for the black community as a whole. It feels as though 2020 is not playing fair. I woke up overwhelmed and a little emotionally dis regulated as I began to play in my head all that the black community has experience since this year has started.
We lost undoubtedly one of the best athletes, Kobe Bryant, along with his beautiful baby girl GiGi. So many young children in the black community aspired to be like him, so much so, that we couldn’t even throw a piece of paper in the trash without yelling, “Kobe”!, whether you liked sports or not, you knew who he was and what he meant to the black community!
COVID-19 came in and sweep so many of our loved ones away, without a simple warning. Due to systemic racism involving the health care system, the black community disproportionately died at an alarming rate!
Senseless killings of unarmed black Americans, along with marches and riots that mirrored the civil rights movement, resulting in injustice and the black community once again being let down by a governmental system that was never designed to protect us in the first place.
Then to lose Chadwick, more than just an actor, but an anchor of hope, through the character of The Black Panther (T’Challa). The movie, The Black Panther was a representation of positivity to the black community, in showing that we are more than the stereotypes that mainstream media has portrayed us to be. We are Kings and Queens, with brilliant minds! T’Challa, was hope and a role model for little black boys and girls. Representation is key!
A lot of times being a part of the black community feels like the rug is constantly being pulled from under us! We take two steps forward to get pulled 5 steps back. Some may say, this isn’t a race issues, but for the Black community, EVERYTHING, is a race issue! It is the only lenses that we have been given to look through!
The black community is 20% more likely to experience mental health problems then the general population, may not sound like a lot, but it is, when Black Americans only make up 14% of the U.S. population, so be kind to yourselves, indulge in positive self care, and take care of your mental health. 2020 has been a rough year thus far, but nevertheless, history has shown us to be people of perseverance!
Unsure of how to help? Check on your black friends, listen to their stories and validate their experiences. Hear their hearts, be nonjudgmental, and have an open mind!
2 Corinthians 4:8-9 King James Version
1.We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
2. Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
Be Encouraged!
TynishaC.