As we continue honoring Minority Mental Health Month, two Guidance Center clinicians sat down together and had a hard conversation on the racial injustices the Black community endures. Current events have been highlighted in the news lately, but these experiences are not new to Black individuals. However, there is hope that more conversations will lead to better understanding, and in return, will create change.
Angelina Palma-Williams, LSCW is the Program Manager of the Long Beach Outpatient program at The Guidance Center. In this discussion, she shares what is going on in her spirit and her mind. “In my spirit, I am heavy,” said Angelina. “There is just so much going on in our world that is impacting me as a leader, as a woman, as a mother that I don’t know how to feel sometimes. I fluctuate between feeling hopeless and helpless, and feeling activated and encouraged.”
Stevie McBride, LMFT is a Trauma-Informed Consultant with The Guidance Center’s It’s About T.I.M.E. program. In this discussion, he shares how as a professional, his job is to be hopeful and always look toward the future. However, in his heart are feelings of weakness, powerlessness and devastation. “It’s more than just an awakening, it’s something that’s deep. It hurts,” said Stevie. “It’s a pain that I can’t describe.”
This conversation between Stevie and Angelina will be shared over three parts. The first part of their discussion is in the video below. We encourage you to listen and learn from their reflections. In part two, you will hear Angelina’s experience protesting with her family and what it was like for Stevie to watch the video of George Floyd’s death.
These conversations are always difficult and uncomfortable, but at The Guidance Center, we see value in learning from one another. We also seek a world where our differences don’t divide us, but bring us together. A world where all children and all families are safe, healthy and happy.
*A special thank you to Eric Tucker (Vocals, Producer), Jay Vincent B (Vocals, Rapper), Whitney Porter (Vocals) and Stevie McBride (Songwriter) for providing the music for this video.
Resources:
If you would like to learn more, here are some recommended resources from staff:
Movies/Shows:
- 13th
- Just Mercy
- When They See Us
- When They See Us Now (Oprah Interview)
- I Am Not Your Negro
- Time: The Kalief Browder Story
Books:
- The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
- Between the World and Me by Ta- Nehisi Coates
- White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
- How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi