Ask Beatty – 05.11.21

1.  GOOD NEWS!!   Research is telling us that more and more people are turning to therapists and asking for help.  In fact drugstores around the country including CVS, Walmart and Walgreens are setting up walk-in sessions for mental health treatment.   And in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last year, mental health experts across the country say they have seen African-Amerians, whose skepticism of therapy has been documented by research, seeking it in growing numbers. 

    

SO IF YOUR DEPRESSION, ANXIETY AND OTHER MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES ARE GETTING IN THE WAY OF YOUR LIFE AND RELATIONSHIPS, DO WHAT'S IN YOUR BEST INTEREST AND GIVE YOURSELF PERMISSION TO REACH OUT AND ASK FOR HELP.

2.  AFRICAN AMERICANS ARE EXPERIENCING A TSUNAMI OF INFORMATION AND NEGATIVE IMPACTS ON THEIR MENTAL HEALTH.   THERE ARE SIMPLY TOO MANY TRAUMATIC, VIOLENT AND RACIALLY CHARGED SITUATIONS IMPACTING AFRICAN AMERICANS MENTAL HEALTH.THE PANDEMIC HAS FURTHER IMPACTED MENTAL HEALTH CONCERNS THAT INCLUDES DEPRESSION, ANGER, ANXIETY, LONLINESS AND ISOLATION.

 

MY GUEST ON THE ASK BEATTY SHOW ON THE PROGRESSIVE RADIO NETWORK IS COLETTE WINLOCK.   COLETTE IS A PUBLISHED AUTHOR, HER 1ST NOVEL UNDOING CRAZY DEALS WITH THE EFFECTS OF RACISM AND DEPRESSION ON AN AFRICAN AMERICAN FAMILY LIVING IN OAKLAND AND IS CURRENTLY WORKING ON HER SECOND NOVEL.

 

SHE HAS WORKED WITH MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION AND EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES FOR OVER 40 YEARS.  FOR 10 YEARS SHE WAS THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OAKLAND, CA. HEALTH AND HUMAN RESOURCE EDUCATION CENTER'S BLACK WOMEN'S MEDIA AND WELLNESS PROJECT AND WORKED FOR 5 YEARS AT THE NATIONAL BLACK ALCOHOLISM COUNCIL, CA. CHAPTER. 

 

COLETTE SERVED AS THE HEALTH DIRECTOR FOR THE BAY AREA BLACK UNITED FUND FOR 8 YEARS, WHERE SHE HEADED UP THE HARRIET TUBMAN CRITICAL MASS HEALTH CONDUCTORS AND THE BAY AREA AFRICAN AMERICAN HEALTH SUMMIT.  COLETTE HOLDS DEGREES IN KINESIOLOGY AND CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY.  SHE IS IN MULTIPLE SPORTS HALL OF FAMES FOR TRACK AND FIELD AND AN INDUCTEE IN THE WOMEN'S HALL OF FAME. 

 

THESE ARE SOME OF THE ISSUES THAT WE WILL BE DISCUSSING:

 

1.  HOW DOES SYSTEMIC RACISM AFFECT AFRICAN AMERICAN INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES ON A DAY TO DAY BASIS? 

 

2.  WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE PULLED OVER AND STOPPED BY THE POLICE BECAUSE OF THE COLOR OF YOUR SKIN?  LET'S TALK ABOUT THE IMPACT THAT THIS HAS ON PEOPLE'S MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING. 

 

3.  WHAT DO YOU FEEL ARE THE MENTAL HEALTH BENEFITS OF THE BLACK LIVES MATTER SOCIAL MOVEMENT?  DO YOU FEEL THAT PEOPLE ARE STARTING TO FEEL A SENSE OF EMPOWERMENT!!  

 

4.  SOME PEOPLE FEEL THAT USING THE PHRASE BLACK LIVES MATTER INSTEAD OF ALL LIVES MATTER NEGATES THE FACT THAT INDEED  ALL LIVES DO MATTER.  HOW DOES USING THE TERM BLACK LIVES MATTER  FURTHER THE STRUGGLE FOR RACIAL EQUALITY?

 

5.  WE ARE FINALLY SEEING MORE BLACK AND BROWN FACES IN COMMERCIALS, ON TELEVISION SHOWS IN THE MOVIES AND IN POLITICS.  DO YOU THINK THAT THIS IS MAKING AFRICAN AMERICANS FEEL MORE HOPEFUL ABOUT BEING ABLE TO 'MAKE IT' IN WHAT HAS BEEN A TRADITIONALLY WHITE MEDIA AND POLITICAL WORLD?

 

6.  DO YOU THINK THAT BOTH BLACKS AND WHITES ARE STARTING TO WANT TO COME TOGETHER AS HUMAN BEINGS OR DO YOU FEEL THAT THERE IS AN INCREASING DESIRE ON ALL FRONTS TO CONTINUE TO WANT TO LIVE SEPARATELY?

 

7.  NOW THAT WHITE SUPREMACY IS BROADLY EXPOSED IN THIS CENTURY, WILL IT BECOME NORMALIZED AND DECONSTRUCTED?

 

8.  WHAT IS VICARIOUS TRAUMA AND CAN YOU INTERVENE?