Kofi Siriboe Dives Into The Issues of Mental Health

Often times the topic of mental health within the African-American community is not brought up or discussed until a tragedy happens. "WTF is Mental Health" is produced by Queen Sugar Actor Kofi Siriboe and definitely gets the ball rolling  regarding the  conversation about mental health issues faced in the African-American community. So many people with mental health issues suffer and deal with there issues by themselves and often in solitude. Common symptoms that people described in the video of going through mental health issue were pushing loved ones away , feeling as though that person that nothing else to give, and even feelings of loneliness. In the video, a woman also talks about how she equated having mental health issues with weakness. Which is not uncommon in the African-American community, young boys and girls at an early age are taught to be strong.

Women are taught to be strong and be self reliant. Men are taught to be strong , so that the can grow up and one day be the leader and provider of their own household someday. However, in today's society as seen in the video more people are less afraid than before to now speak up and ask for help. This is a constant recurring theme now as well in today's society where it is more socially acceptable for men to vulnerable and for people to truly live in there own personal truth. The newer generations are much more diverse and inclusive in terms of ways and thinking and also in terms or representation on and off the big screen.

Overall, the short film was very informative and highlighted a lot of key issues regarding the stigma of mental health issues in the African-American community. It was also great to hear from diffrent people perspective abou ttheir own personal stories and journeys. Furthermore, it is also great to see and hear about the steps that people are taking to more forward and to help with their issues. This issues need to be dissccuesed because the still heavily plague the African-American community. Let’s get talking before , so that we can prevent the tragedy instead of patiently waiting for something bad to happen.  Check out the film below.