First of all when I saw this...I was so happy to see A BLACK MAN speak out about depression. As someone who has battled with depression for almost 10 years (I take medication for it and I'll never be afraid to admit it), this made me happy to see.
Why? Because in the black community, especially as a black man...we're expected to live up to these extreme ideas of manhood and fall victim to this ideal of hypermasculinity. We're supposed to be tough. We're not supposed to show emotion at all or talk about our feelings. We're supposed to be mackin ladies. We're supposed to be athletic and built. We're supposed to be swagged out at all times. With seems futile in a white supremacist society which puts us at the bottom of the totem pole, which blames us for its problems, which makes us feel like we are somehow "lesser than", which hinders our mobility as we are not afforded the same privileges of other races of men...which has a history of brutality, discrimination, dehumanization, and exploitation of black men and women.
One author even described the state of black men and women as those "caught in a perpetual state of depression". This is due with dealing with racism, prejudice, discrimination, amongst other things 24/7.
Now...the moment i really was proud of Jay Pharoah for speaking up about this was when he said that no matter what he never sought help cause he realized he had it all under control.
Let me tell you something about dealing with depression or any mental illness. There is a stigma amongst those that suffer from mental illness that they are "crazy" ie unable to function in society without proper help or assistance. This is absolutely not true. There are many people out there that deal with depression or anxiety that go on to lead fulfilling and productive lives. The stigma is damaging cause it makes that person look weak and somehow just unable to do anything...basically people using that person's mental illness against them to discredit them, or treat them as an unequal in the eyes of those that do not suffer from mental illness, or whatever.
This was one of the main reasons I had to quit using the @*L*E*G*A*C*Y* account. I was 100% sick and tired of people using my illness against me to paint this innaccurate picture of who I was in real life. Basically people saying I was crazy, or "needed help", or was "insane", or in general jsut wasnt afforded the same leeway or pass that other posters got for the same type of behavior or posts or whatnot. At the end of the day, I knew my family friends and associates could not consider me crazy cause they honestly never saw a side of me that was even like that. Even when I was diagnosed for medicine to treat it...they were shocked cause they didn't think I was depressed. I justnhid it very well.
Now...I'm no longer afraid to hide and will openly speak up about my battles with depression in an attempt to help others.
At telling a nikka with anxiety issues to just "man up".
