The Work is Mine.

For Us - By Arielle Deseré

I grew up being told not to tell all our family business

And when mama said what she said, when she said it she meant it.

So forgive me if it takes a while for me to tell you who all I live with

And all of the things that happened to me in the house that I lived in.

It’s not that I don’t believe in mainstream therapy.

I just feel more comfortable relating amongst the people that have been there with me

Because to talk healing you must understand what I deal with.

Being profiled, discriminated, kids losing friends in the trenches.

Parents that don’t live to see old age

Due to stress, addiction, and sickness

My mama died at 47

I’m here to stand as her witness

I come from a beautiful Black people

both vulnerable and strong

We have been used and manipulated breaking our trust for so long

But we are the epitome of resilient

Because despite years of trauma and neglect,

we remain the innovators to contend with

To influence, change, encourage, and nurture

Out here Fighting our own demons while still pushing forward the culture

We’ve learned to cope by linking arms with our brothers

We may not have access to mental health resources

But we have each other

We push church every sunday to repent the error of our ways

And when one of us falls sick, we all kneel down and pray

We sip wine with our sisters as we wind down from our day

Or gather in hair parlors to laugh and relate

These are our safe spaces

Where we’re safe to dream

So building our trust means strengthening our community

Creating programs to not only listen

but prepare and Uplift.

That address our immediate needs

Then push for progress

Here,

within our own community walls

Not always on a couch

Or on a hotline call

Yes we need to talk through our healing

But an emergency session’s not enough

Because when I go back home

My life is still tough

To fully heal, we need our neighbors to do the work

And we can do that by using our gift of innovation to make mental heath centers FOR US

Imagine if we had funding for the things that we need

Support groups for those who’ve lost loved ones to the streets

A smash room to get out frustrations, fears, and anxieties

More Boxing gyms than liquor stores on the corner of our streets

Mentors walking not just preaching put the guns down and fight

Places to release our emotions over an open mic

Meditation rooms for prayer and to find inner peace

And centers treating gun violence victims for PTSD

They say we should seek therapy

That’s the first step, I agree

But We have to all come to the table if we desire to be free

Cuz we can heal on our own

But what’s the use when you keep getting beat down by a broken community

Without all of us

our communities will continue to grieve

So as cultural innovators, this is our opportunity

to build safe places to heal that WE can trust

So as we look to the world’s picture of mental health

lets rewrite healing and therapy for us