You’re OK, I’m Not. Black Men & Therapy

Truth Be Told Presents: She Has A Name

American Public Media

True Crime, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.2 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 27 January 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

We’re talking about therapy a lot more than we were when we taped this episode five years ago, but there’s still a lot more to talk about. Black men are still four times more likely to die by suicide than Black women. This week’s episode revisits our powerful 2020 conversation that delves into this question:

Why is therapy so taboo in the black community, especially amongst black men?

Poet and writer Prentice Powell kicks off the episode by performing a poem he wrote in 2014 after the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

GUESTS:
Karamo Brown — Talk show host and host of Netflix’s Queer Eye.
Bakari Sellers — attorney, politician and author of “My Vanishing Country: A Memoir”
Ron Finley — artist, designer and gangsta gardener

INSTAGRAM:
@karamo
@bakarisellers
@ronfinleyproject

LINKS:
deartbt.com
Instagram: deartbt
TikTok: tonyatbt
Email: [email protected]

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey, welcome to Truth Be Told. I'm Tanya Mosley. You know, when I started this show in 2019,
0:06.4	talking about therapy and mental health was still pretty new. It kind of felt revolutionary
0:11.5	to discuss our mental health needs in such a raw and candid way. Well, thankfully, we're talking
0:18.0	about it more now, but there is still a lot of work to do.
0:22.6	Black men are still four times more likely to die by suicide than black women.
0:28.3	This week's episode revisits our powerful 2020 conversation that delves into this question.
0:35.4	Why is therapy so taboo in the black community, especially among black men?
0:41.6	Poet and writer Prentice Powell kicks off our episode by performing a poem he wrote in 2014
0:47.8	after the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
1:02.9	My name is Prentice Powell from Oakland, California,
1:05.3	and this poem I wrote is entitled Being a Black Man in America.
1:08.5	Being a Black man in America means being my brother's keeper. Being a black man in America means being my brother's keeper. Being a black man in
1:14.0	America means being my brother's keeper while keeping a distance from my brother because I don't trust
1:19.0	him further than I can see him. It's believing the cops don't care about you. It's learning how
1:24.3	not to doubt yourself because when you're born, everyone else already does.
1:28.1	It's a love you have for your mother regardless of her flaws in dealing with your daddy issues so your son doesn't have to.
1:33.4	Being a black man in America is a gift.
1:36.2	A blessing.
1:37.4	A blessing God chose for me to receive because he believes I can handle it.
1:41.3	It's also a gamble.
1:42.7	It's knowing every time you step outside, the world is a
1:45.4	poker table, and whether you like it or not, your chips are all in. It is a grin you put on your
	...

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