Protests – Write 2 Be

I want to talk today about mental health and caring for oneself. With everything that has gone on since the year 2020 has started and the outcry the nation has had recently calling for change and equality, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to think that there aren’t some people feeling some deep emotional pain right now. I’ve seen many posts and statements being made about people feeling as though if someone is being silent and not saying anything than they are a part of the problem. Here’s my issue with that thought process.

For one, everyone’s way of resisting or standing up for change may not look the same. Sure there are those that are the one’s that march and shout with their signs rallying together. However, there are also some that use their art as a way of protesting and speaking up as well and it may not be as loud as others want it to be, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t standing with the movement in their way. There is also the small chance that if people are silent, it is because they are not okay right now.

There are those who have fallen into a deep depression because they feel the pain so deeply that they just can’t pull themselves out of bed. There are some who, just looking at the news these days fills them with such anxiety that they can’t manage to do anything productive. Then there are those who are just traumatized by it all and are legitimately suffering from PTSD, simply from the fear of stepping outside their door and having to wonder, because they are black, if they will even make it back home.

So I just want to tell anyone out there who is struggling mentally, I’m with you. I am right there with you, trying to figure out how I can play my part and still protect my mental well being. I too don’t want people to think that just because I’m not down somewhere marching with a sign and protesting that I don’t feel the pain of the struggle. I feel it, and because I’m an emapth I feel it deeply. I have my own way of making my voice heard while still taking care of my mental health.

For those of who suffer from mental health issues who are trying to navigate a way to make a difference and still keep their sanity, I see you. And even though you are not okay, I know that you still care and I acknowledge that you are struggling too and need to take care of yourself. Don’t let anyone bully you into a place that would be mentally unsafe for you and that would put you in harms way emotionally. If you aren’t okay then you reach out to someone and let them know that you need to talk. Don’t let it just fester inside of you. As for wanting to make a difference, do what you can and when you can but only if you can. Until next time… #BeMindful #BeCautious #BeAware

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

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I struggled with what to write about today because I like to keep my content here positive, mostly, or at the very least, I like to be able to take something negative and put a positive slant on things in the end. I don’t know how to do that with the events that have taken place over the last week. However, as a black woman, with a black daughter, and close friends who have black sons, I didn’t see how I could really avoid addressing it at all. Let me start off by saying that I don’t condone violence in the name of justice and I don’t condone looting and the destruction of people’s property for the sake of justice either. Nevertheless, I get it. Black people are tired.

All black people have ever wanted was to be afforded the same opportunities and the same rights as any white person has in this country without having to explain why we deserve it. We want to be able to just exist in our own skin, in our own beauty, without having to be afraid that we may not make it home JUST because of the skin that we are in. Black people want to be able to trust that the police are really there to protect and serve them too and not just their fellow white Americans. We want the words “All men are created equal” (in the Declaration of Independence) which we understand were written in a time where black people were still considered property, to be upheld as what is true about the America we live in TODAY.

This is not an attack on white people because I don’t think that it is all of white America. This is an acknowledgment that the systemic nature of racism has not gone away it has just been lying dormant. Where we thought there might have been some change, with the current administration the racists who have been hiding in their closets for the last couple of decades have come out in droves. Now if you are a white person who is and has been an ally, this post isn’t about you. In fact we could use more people like you standing with us.

I am not one of the many people who think that it is a hopeless cause to find equality and peace in America for ALL of us. I just have too much optimism in my spirit and in my soul for that. I do think that it can’t just be US Black Americans who are fighting for us to be able to freely exist in this country. We need more of our white brothers and sisters because frankly, much like in the days of Martin Luther King Jr., it is going to take white America to be just as outraged at the treatment of Black Americans for there to be any kind of REAL change.

There needs to be a change that happens. This can’t keep going on. We can’t keep having this same fight, century after century, decade after decade, year after year. If you, white America, would not want to be judged based on the color of your skin everywhere you go, looked at as if you’re going to steal something just because you are white, repelled against when you walk down the street by everyone thinking that you’re going to harm them because you’re white, or afraid to even call the very institution that is supposed to be there to protect you because you are white, then why do you think that way of life is okay for someone who is black? Why do you think that it’s okay to treat a group of people in a manner in which would never be acceptable for you? The Black Community is TIRED and we just want to be free to exist and breathe the same way in which you are free to exist and breathe. Until next time… #BeCourageous #BeMindful #BeAnAlly