In honor of Minority Mental Health Month, two Guidance Center clinicians sat down together and had a hard conversation on the racial injustices the Black community endures. Last week, Angelina Palma-Williams, LCSW and Stevie McBride, LMFT shared their heart-felt emotions on these issues and how these conversations are not always comfortable, but important. If you missed part one, please click here to watch the video.
In part two of this three part series, Angelina shares what it was like for her and her family to protest and the overwhelming emotions she felt. “I have my mask on, I have my sign, and I am walking down the street with my husband and one of my really good friends, and I’m just crying,” said Angelina. “I looked to my husband and I’m like, ‘I cannot stop crying, I don’t know where this emotion is coming from.'”
She later reflects on the amazement of the number of people protesting and their diversity. “There was this one African-American woman, she had to be at least in her 80s or older, and I think that was the moment when the tears really started,” said Angelina. “I just thought, through her eyes, she has seen so much, and she’s still seeing us fighting for equality and equity today.”
These protests traveled throughout the world after a man named George Floyd was tragically killed by a police officer in Minneapolis. On May 25th, a video showing an officer kneeling on George’s neck for over eight minutes until he could no longer breathe quickly circulated throughout social media. The video left those who watched it feeling many different powerful emotions, including anger and pain.
In part two, Stevie shares what it was like for him to watch the video and how he felt a pain that can’t be described. “When I watched the video of George Floyd, I was in shock. It didn’t seem real,” said Stevie. “I couldn’t talk about what I had seen to my wife, I couldn’t talk to my mom about it, I couldn’t talk to my brothers about it.”
It wasn’t until Stevie spoke with the Principal at Barton Elementary, the school he is currently consulting with for It’s About T.I.M.E., that he was able to share how he felt. “That was the straw that broke the camel’s back for our people,” said Stevie. “It caused a movement that can change history, which I’m praying for because it was very hard to watch.”
You can hear more of their conversation by watching the video below.
*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