When Kid Cudi announced his checkin to a rehab center for depression and suicidal thoughts, it brought a tidal wave of other black men coming forward and sharing their experiences of depression and anxiety under the hashtag #YouGoodMan.
Kid #Cudi sparks #YouGoodMan to encourage black men to speak about mental health… https://t.co/z80o9LMRkf pic.twitter.com/DwOYZxY3Yk
— Trending Drugs (@TrendingDrugs) October 6, 2016
Black. Gay. Military Life. PTSD. Oppression. Where do I begin to express my feelings? Who will understand? @KidCudi #yougoodman #Respect — Brandon Marté (@bmamba_) October 6, 2016
@KidCudi Im going thru the same man with this Anxiety and Depression you not alone man. Good luck and Thank you. #Yougoodman
— SoloDaProducer (@SoloDaProducer) October 5, 2016
Black men feel anxiety. Black men feel depression. Black men feel sadness. Black men feel rage. Black men feel and that’s ok. #YouGoodMan — Jeffery Allen (@PsychoBabble_06) October 5, 2016
As Black men we’ve been taught not to talk about mental illness or express our emotions. Glad we’re having the conversation. #YouGoodMan ?
— Dakari A. Barnes (@dk_barnes1) October 5, 2016
While these are just a sample of some of the tweets, there all have a common theme at their core and that theme is:
1) Black men have suppressed an incredible amount of anger over their lives, and have probably had some passed down to them as well. None of this anger has been addressed and has finally come out in the form of Depression & Anxiety.
2) Black men have been socialized by the main society, & their community to not express that anger because an angry Black man is very scary to most non Black people and also Black parents want to protect their children from societal dangers and know that an angry black man is more likely to be killed or injured (passed down from the Jim Crowe era).
Add this to Black men seeing themselves killed by police on a daily basis, being locked up and being unemployed adding even more anger and finally causing the cauldron to boil over where it can no longer be ignored.
So what is the answer? Well the first thing is for Black men to realize that they are more powerful than they realize despite the systematic programming that goes on that says the opposite. They can begin to heal themselves without having to have anyone outside of them to do anything. Once they remember that they can take the reigns in their own hands when it comes to their mental well being, the can address the tremendous amount of anger that has been bottled up and held down.
The best and fastest way to do this is to acknowledge when your angry. And how do you know when you are feeling anger? Anger disguises itself in many other emotions that include the following:
Denial
Tension
Reaction
Shame
Malice
Jealousy
Anxiety
Envy
Betrayal
Having hang-ups
Frustration
Dishonoring
Repression
Defensiveness
Attachment
Greed
Possessiveness
Pity
Doubt
Making Excuses
Intimidation
Inhibition
Disease
Phobias
Illness
Struggle
Vanity
Holding back
Lying
Volatile
Depression
Hatred
Resentment
Stress
Hopelessness
Lack
Irrationality
Arrogance
Selfishness
Rejection
Insecurity
Confusion
Victim-role
Addiction
Reacting
Basically, anytime you are not feeling Joy or feeling lighthearted, you are feeling Anger. In the moment you first feel the anger (as you practice this you become more and more aware of it), you acknowledge it in an unconditional & responsible manner (meaning you don’t judge yourself that you are feeling anger in the moment, and you don’t make it about anyone else – no one can make you feel anything that you don’t already feel yourself), and then you replace it with an unconditional (non-judgemental) thought and feeling.
The more you do this, the more anger you transcend. The more anger you transcend, the healthier, happier, more stress-free, abundant, graceful and content you become. You will notice this in ALL areas of your life. You become more connected to the Love of who you are and are able to use your powerful mind in a constructive way to support yourself, your family and your community.
Here is the really wonderful thing. With the tremendous amount of anger that is carried by Black Men, when all of that is transformed into Love, then that means that the Black Man can become a tremendous source of Love and become a great leader and transformer of his community. The most interesting part of the current societal dynamic is that the systemized supremacy that is currently in place can be used to speed up this transformation because it is in every part of the Black Man’s life. Every time a perceived injustice is observed/experienced, allow the anger to come up and then replace it with an unconditional thought/emotion.
To empower yourself by living in a supremacist system, you have PLENTY of opportunity to transform that anger into Love. Use the supremacist system in your favor and allow it to speed up your transformation. With the right tools based in unconditional responsibility, it CAN be done, and done quickly. The power of this transference and why it can happen so quickly is that it is done in the moment the feeling first comes up. That is when the anger can truly be transcended and transformed.
How are these destructive and disempowering thoughts replaced? There are special tools (Keys) that support the person in replacing anger with a thought that truly is unconditional and responsible, which is what causes rapid transformation. An example of one of the Keys is the understand of the Ego in knowing that we ARE supposed to have an Ego. This Key is the foundational understanding that empowers the other Keys to effectively transform angers/fears into Love.
You can get a sample of the Keys and get the 1st Key here:
Remember: You are more powerful than you know, and the great amount of anger you carry can transform itself so you can be a great amount of Love. Love is above all else the most powerful force in the Universe. Why do you think that all of our news focuses on struggle, strife, hate, conflict, etc? Because if everyone was operating out of their Love, they would not be able to be controlled and manipulated with impunity. The great news is you can rise above the system and live a completely different kind of life… the life that would serve YOUR heart and soul, and the kind of life that would allow you to bring your gifts to the world.
Black Men are uniquely in the position to be powerful leaders and transformative forces in the world because of the potential capacity to be Love. Will you step up to your calling or not? Heal yourself and you heal your family, community and ultimately the world.
Join the newly formed Facebook Group #Yougoodman for support in unconditionally transforming that Anger into Love… sooner rather than later™