Terrie M. Williams: Shining Some Light On "Black Pain"

1. Of all the talk show mavens, one especially comes to mind but, I promised my Honey I wouldn't mention her for one week. All the self help gurus, and scientists, and astrophysicists, and brain surgeons etc., in America. They all seem to miss this topic. Black Americans who have inherited the depression of 400 years of evil directed at them based on their skin color. The one thing that no one seems able to invent a viable form of instant gratification for.
Even the man with the dirtiest job realizes and will discuss the fact that to be a minority part of the total population, but a majority part of the penal system has more to do with depression than anything else. Consistent bad mood equals consistent bad decisions, period!
But, those who can build schools in foreign countries (I mention no names here, you are my witness) cannot broach such a none paying subject. Unless it concerns her paying audience in some shape or form.
Who gives a fuck who Thomas Jefferson was making it with. He probably part nicca hisself.
But let one of us write a poem that might scratch the sensitivities of those fine folk and she will certainly do a show on this. Will definitely put a stop to this matter. Will even ask for an amendment to the constitution so the words used to get their attention will be outlawed, help us!!!
If you try and rate the rest of us by the Michael Jordans and the Charles Barkleys you will not get an accurate picture of us. People like those stars and champions and entertainers have special talents, and will put on their game faces a lot more than us normal folk will. And even some of them are prone to great bouts of depression.
In the old days even the stars wouldn’t take it anymore, and many left the country. Josephine Baker comes to mind, and Jack Johnson. Many, many went down the road of alcoholism, sex, drugs and whatever form of debauchery could provide temporary relief from this condition of the soul. And here it was depression all the time.
As I write this post I notice a photo of Chaka Chan here on this site, one who suffered great bouts of depression even though she seemed as talented and happy as famous people get to be.
There are some of us who put a great face on being an African American but, the rest of us know well the pain and suffering that comes with being a perpetual second class citizen in your own birth right country.
I personally think that reparations for slavery will go a long way in alleviating this pain. Or at least take away a little of my desire to own me a barn full of white people. A very little.....
Or we can just go on feeling like we're never going to be equal, until the purveyor of our pain allows a viable target for compensation, or a clear shot at his back. In which case asking for reparations will be moot. Happy Days!!!

Elmo Jones at 2:19AM on Jan 13th 2008

2. ...And so are the Polish People and the Jewish People, etc. It it about all of us. Can you think about getting a little bit of help so your life isn't so depressing? Wouldn't you love to be happy? Time to quit with the depression thing and start out a new year feeling soooo good about yourself!!!!! You are a Rock Star in God's Eye's...he has you in his telephone book!

Lydia Lyewski at 3:17AM on Jan 13th 2008

3. Depression Is A Psychiatric Disorder From Which No Race Is Immune! Many Of Us Suffer From Mild States Of Depression Resulting From "Life Events". Characterized By A Condition Of Sadness, Emotional Dejection, And Withdrawal; This Condition Sometimes Leads To A Clinical Depression Which Is A Prolonged Depression So Severe That It Is Considered Abnormal. The Clinically Depressed May Exhibit Signs Of Extreme Sadness, Guilt, Helplessness, Hopelessness, And Have Thoughts Of Death. As The Phrase "Clinical Depression" Implies, Medical Intervention Is Generally Required! My New Book Entitled, 'Pain Is Color-Blind', Is Currently In The Works.
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JC at 5:51AM on Jan 13th 2008

4. Depression Is A Psychiatric Disorder From Which No Race Is Immune! Many Of Us Suffer From Mild States Of Depression Resulting From "Life Events". Characterized By A Condition Of Sadness, Emotional Dejection, And Withdrawal; This Condition Sometimes Leads To A Clinical Depression. A Clinical Depression Is A Prolonged Depression So Severe That It Is Considered Abnormal. The Clinically Depressed May Exhibit Signs Of Extreme Sadness, Guilt, Helplessness, Hopelessness, And Have Thoughts Of Death. As The Phrase "Clinical Depression" Implies, Medical Intervention Is Generally Required! My New Book Entitled, 'Pain Is Color-Blind', Is Currently In The Works.
Instantly Turn your Computer into a Super TV!
http://www.television-on-internet.com/

JC at 6:14AM on Jan 13th 2008

5. I am sure there will be an overflow pretty soon of all kinds of people saying they are depressed and telling what their race is and when their ancestors came to America and how hard it was, but the difference in this is that black people came here a different way. Not by choice. There seems to be hundreds of years of longing and weeping that has been repressed and has taken on the form of "looking" okay when there is deep and ever present sadness. I live in Minnesota and I see it in the eyes of Native Americans, and people say, "Oh, get over it". It is hard to "get over" what is genetically inside of you and you are not aware of it. So you keep trying to medicate it, or scream and shout so that the noise of it does not consume you. I am glad that every now and then, someone addresses this pain and tries to find non destructive ways to deal with it.

Zenobia at 11:12AM on Jan 13th 2008

6. Don't worry my beautiful black people, I just went on some random white blog, and told them that one of their spawn has gotten away from them and found itself here on BV. They didn't even know he/it was missing. Maybe they'll even come get it.

some people are so pathetic at 1:02PM on Jan 13th 2008

7. I just read a comment concerning depression by a member of another ethnic group making negative statements about the poverty and criminality of our people. This I will not deny nor approve of it either. What I will comment on is how the opressor will always blame the victim for his own barbaric tactics. When you retaliate, the true criminal claims innocence and victimhood. These are the tactics of a deviant savage mind.Remember this and study those who abuse you,learn their tractics in order to defeat them, Then you will rise above them. Never let your guard down again.He is always lurking in the shadows to defeat you.

Michael Tate at 2:12PM on Jan 13th 2008

8. first of all depression has nothing to do with oppression, race, or anything else. it is not a state of mind but a state of body; depression occurs when the brain is not producing enough of certain hormones. it is not a matter of "cheering up" or "gaining faith"- and i'm so sick of black people being ignorant about it. when our people are hurting we dismiss them as 'crazy' or 'foolish'. we stroll around like we are impervious to certain things. newsflash: we're not. depression is deadly, an d just like any other disease, it doesn't care what color your skin is. it doesn't care about your socioeconomic status, or what family your ancestors were forced to serve way back when. quit crippling yourselves with ignorance and learn something! stop making it shameful to seek help- and quit blaming everything on slavery. the cycle breaks when one chooses to break it... but thats a whole 'nother rant. and yes, i was a diagnosed major depressive, and yes, i was suicidal, and yes, i (finally) sought help. had i not, i wouldn't be here today. i wouldn't be getting my masters, i wouldn't be blessed as i have become, i would never have learned the difference between life and simple existence. if you need help, go get it, f___ what other people have to say- life is too short to be suffering.

angelfire at 2:22PM on Jan 13th 2008

9. and p.s.- nathan forrest should really look into statistics. there are more white people on welfare than black. why don't you save your bitterness for your white mormon s who intermarry and live on settlements subsidized by the government? why don't you go to their support sites and ask them why they marry five women and send all of them to the welfare office? and as far as crime, black people alone are not the main contributors- last time i checked, white collar crime is still crime, and lets face it- your people have the patent on that. never speak unless you know what you're saying- someone smarter than you may be listening.

angelfire at 2:40PM on Jan 13th 2008

10. Hey Mary J WHO DON'T YOU MEAN AMY STEVENS WHO REALLY SINGS THE SONGS A WHITE 37 YEAR OLD HOOKER FROM mi. who is now in prison for killing a father of three children and a loving wife driving under the influnce of drugs and liquior like drunk running a stop sign. Their is your AOL Star real smart Cox Enterprises and Dayton Daily News and Time Warner now move on with your dope dealer Scott Monte aka Scott Storch aka Joe Bendon Rolling Stones Mag. you idiots rock on!

dodacrazy at 2:51PM on Jan 13th 2008

11. and while i'm on a roll, let's talk about who's really ruining this country. who owns all the companies that are shipping jobs overseas, causing the american dollar to be worth less than every money except the peso? who owns the companies that, by removing these jobs, has caused the slow elimination of the middle class? i don't see black people doing those things. when i tune into the news, i dont see black people being dragged out of meth labs. i see white people heading the largest growing, most lethal drug currently on the market. it is your people who drain the economy, mr. forrest, because the meth that your people keep manufacturing causes police forces to be stressed to breaking points, without enough manpower or rescources to handle the situation- in short causing higher taxes so they can hire more task personnel to deal with it. where do you think those lttle white drug babies go after mommy and daddy o.d. or go to jail? they go into the system. the taxpayers are now responsible for them. as well as for whichever meth-head parent is incarcerated.
you say we are the problem? i don't see us shooting up our schools. walk into a school and about half of the pregnancies are white girls- more welfare mothers in the making. your people? may not commit as many car jackings, but make no mistake, mr. forrest, your race harbors as many criminals as mine. and next time you decide to comment on matters of race and statistics, do it in the company f people as stupid as yourself. otherwise, you will be made a fool of again. and it will be you who needs six other people to help you do what i just did- chop your ignorant behind down to size.

angelfire at 2:55PM on Jan 13th 2008

12.
This is the place to be. Make a fool of yourself by spewing forth ignorance. When you speak, prove what you say and not with some dumb statement to back up another asinine remark.

Henry Ballard Sr. at 3:18PM on Jan 13th 2008

13. Okay since you chose to use this forum to advertise your master's degree, I'm going to show you where you might have been smarter to keep your money in your pocket.

OPPRESSION- The exercise of authority or power in a cruel or unjust manner.
The use of oppression against Black Americans as an institutional tool of class distinction for almost the entire life of America as a country, has led to the long term DEPRESSION of the general psyche of African Americans.
DEPRESSION- Sadness, gloom, dejection. A low state of functional activity.
Black Americans (if you notice I did not mention Jews, Pollacks, Indians or Mexicans. Reason being, I have never been nor do I ever intend to be a Jew, Pollack, Indian or Mexican. And since this is a Black Voices Blog then I will only speak on what I know. And I don't need a master’s degree from Online U to know who I am as a Black man.
Black Americans have dealt with SADNESS over their lack of being able to take off the shackles in their minds. This has been made very difficult by a society that constantly reminds us that we are less. No amount of education will take that thought out of our minds that this one or that one thinks that I am somehow less “based on the color of my skin, and not the content of my character.” (That's Not mine, and his degree was in the unselfish field of Theology)
This has understanderbly led to hundreds of years of GLOOMY outlook by most Blacks. And especially in those less fortunate in the area of finances which comprises the great majority of African Americans. As America is a well organized capitalist society, finances are like the PROZAC that you need so you’ll stay off roof tops shooting at people. Or, coming on this blog calling people you do not know, ignorant. While waving your master’s degree around like some certificate of release from the home.
We are in a DEJECTED state, and a great number of us are led to take the extremes in areas that we feel will take us out of this state as expediently as possible.
Some take another path which is really the sum of the three states mentioned before, which equal total depression. This is a low state of functional activity. Which is characterized by those who will not even attempt to seek employment in the normal work force. Most cannot get out of bed in the morning. They will seek the financial relief that is so necessary for life in a capitalist society, in ways which require that they have as little contact with the general mixed public as possible. And if welfare is available, then that’s where they will go.
This outlook affords them the most free movement in the underworld. Where they can operate in a state of mental flux which is on par with those around them.
No one mentioned Clinical Depression , which is what you suffer from. This explains your frothing at the mouth. Clinical depression is based on actual observation and treatment (PROZAC) of disease in patients or individuals such as yourself, rather than the experimental theory to which I allude.
Now usually I don't respond bluntly to the mentally ill, but you can better deal with ol' Nathan Bedford Forrest since he is, or was as mind fucked as you are.
Next time try a billboard for that masters degree, it'll serve you better. A master's degree, and they couldn't teach you to capitalize an I. Give it back.
And for those in the peanut gallery with no original thoughts, try talking about the issues at hand son, not the people discussing the issues.
if you can muster the mental dexterity.

Elmo Jones at 6:25PM on Jan 13th 2008

14. Angelfire, I agree with most of what you said, except when you say that depression has nothing to do with opression and race. Yes, there is an undeniable genetic component to depression (hormonal imbalances and such)and yes, depression does not discriminate and affects all races. It has been scientifically proven and there is no arguing that. However, opression brought about by socio-economics, racism, family abuse, violence or intergenerational trauma from our history certainly CONTRIBUTES GREATLY in EXACERBATING this debilitating condition. Every illness has exacerbating factors/conditions and depression is not immune to that rule. For a lot of illnesses, it's not either nature or nurture. There's an interplay. If there wasn't, all one would have to do is gobble antidepressants by the fistful and skip therapy. As black people, our particularly painful and unique history and all of its consequences certainly weigh in heavily to exacerbate an already harsh medical condition. All trauma does that. Do you really think that it's a coincidence that people who have suffered through physical, sexual abuse or emotional abuse have a harder time with depression in general, regardless of race? That the conditions that native americans are forced to live under have had zero influence on the pathologies that plague these communities (alcoholism, for instance, abuse...) Then, how could it not exert an influence when you have a people who have suffered through over 400 years of physical/emotional abuse (to put it mildly), socio-economic tyranny, a culture of hatred for our BEING, self-hatred as a result of it, intergenerational traumas being passed down, and some of the same ongoing problems even to this day? That doesn't hold up to logic. As for everything else you've stated, I'm in total agreement and I applaud your comments. Black people need to stop stigmatizing others facing depression and other mental illnesses. Saving face is counterproductive (even though it's not hard to see why we've been conditioned to deal with it that way, our history forced us to adopt a lot of self-preservation strategies). As for that forrest idiot, he doesn't even deserve any more replies (yours was pretty good at demonstrating his ignorance and stupidity). Let's all ignore him if he continues posting. He needs to go to the KKK's website instead.

Josephine

Josephine at 6:49PM on Jan 13th 2008

15. As for the comments from #7, you fit the perfect psychological profile of someone who is morbidly obese, grotesquely unattractive, absolutely no self-esteem and completely unable to utter a single word of intelligence.  My guess is, it's not your fault.  You can't help it that your parents are brother and sister.  Don't you have a cousin somewhere you should be kissing?

ReddRobin at 7:29PM on Jan 13th 2008