There’s a reason so many of us keep it all inside. For generations, Black mental health stigma has made it feel like struggles should be hidden, not shared.
DeShannon Williamson, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Alameda County, brings both professional expertise and personal understanding to this conversation.
“Mental health isn’t just about surviving,” Williamson says. “It’s about living fully.”
Roots of the Stigma
The Black experience in this country is marked by struggle and systematic oppression through slavery, Jim Crow laws, mass incarceration, and ongoing discrimination. Still, despite all efforts to dehumanize and disenfranchise Black people, we have been able to thrive and create vibrant communities.
We’re used to being resilient even when everything is set up for us to fail.
We’ve had to be strong.
Showing “weakness” by admitting we’re struggling emotionally can feel like we’re betraying that legacy of strength and letting down our ancestors who set the groundwork for what we now call Black excellence.
The ability to withstand hardship has been necessary for survival across generations. That hard-earned resilience is something to be proud of. But sometimes it makes asking for help seem impossible.
In some Black families, strength was survival. If you could excel in school, at work, and in the world, you could protect yourself and your community. You could build a life in a system that was never designed for your success.
The pursuit of excellence is powerful. But it shouldn’t come at the cost of your mental well-being.
Community Support
Still, Black communities have always supported each other. From barbershop conversations and church groups to aunties who could tell with one look that something wasn’t right, or neighbors who brought food when grief hit a family, these tight-knit relationships have been lifelines.
When someone was struggling, people noticed. They stepped in with practical help and quiet understanding.
When official systems failed us, we turned to each other. We didn’t call it therapy, but that’s exactly what it was.
Breaking the Stigma
Challenging Black mental health stigma requires both individual courage and community action. As Chair of the Mental Health Committee for 100 Black Men of the Bay Area, Williamson is part of this change. By creating spaces where Black men can speak openly about mental health without judgment, he’s tackling the stigma directly while being a resource for healing.
When younger generations see respected community leaders prioritizing mental health, it gives them permission to acknowledge where they might be struggling mentally without shame.
New Attitudes About Mental Health
Whenever we speak up about our mental health journeys, we clear the way for someone else. Each time we reach for support, we demonstrate what healing looks like. The mental health stigma in Black communities didn’t appear overnight, and it won’t disappear immediately either.
But together, we’re writing a new story.
It’s a story where strength includes asking for help, and community openly holds space for mental health and healing.
