the colored boy

Monday, September 23, 2019

I'm teaching a free Mental Health First Aid training @ GMAD in Brooklyn on 10/5

Oh, hey there.

If I had my way and Saint Damita Jo Jackson was president of the world, rice-on-demand, housing, and access to therapy and other forms of healing would be free for all. Even the Taylor Swift fans.

In the meantime, I’m teaming up with the folks at Gay Men of African Descent (GMAD) to offer a free Mental Health First Aid training for members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Aside from learning an action plan to help recognize signs and symptoms of someone developing a mental health disorder or substance/alcohol use disorder, we’ll address stigmas and the emotional impacts of institutional melanin envy & homo-/bi-/queer/transphobia & structural hateration in the dancerie, our language around mental illness and explore local and nationwide resources available to community members and Mental Health First Aiders alike.

Because compassion is free and each of us has the ability to be of service to and potential lifesaver for someone. Especially Taylor Swift fans.

REGISTER HERE

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is an interactive 8-hour training course that presents an overview of mental illnesses and substance use disorders in the U.S. The course introduces participants to risk factors and warning signs of mental health problems, builds understanding of their impact, and reviews common treatments. Similar to traditional First Aid and CPR, MHFA is help provided to a person developing a mental health problem or experiencing a crisis until professional treatment is obtained or the crisis resolves.

After reserving your spot, you’ll receive an email with instructions for registering with ThriveNYC prior to the course. This is important as the certification you’ll receive lasts 3 years and the folks at the National Council for Behavioral Health will hit you on your two-way pager about recertification and other opportunities. (And registering ahead of time will save us valuable classroom time, plus paperwork isn't good for anyone's mental health.)

Refreshments and free participant manuals will be provided. Hope to see you there.

Sidebar:

I wrote about teaching twice.

Monday, August 5, 2019

I wrote about the rice struggle for Food & Wine

Making rice is stressful as shit. In my first piece for Food & Wine, I wrote about the stress of making a good pot of grainy goodness and trying not to dishonor my foremothers as part of a ricemaking dynasty. Taddow.

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When I think back to my earliest childhood memories, three things stand out: Anita Baker, "The Electric Slide," and rice. So much rice. As the halfro-Panamanian son of a Panamanian immigrant and grandson of the Janet Jackson of rice, it's long been understood that aside from acquiring at least one gold tooth, being able to produce a respectable pot of rice is part of my destiny. But it took me a minute to embrace it.

In the time before, my rice typically came out in mushy soul-deflating clumps that I would suffer through in private, but would never serve loved ones. Sure, rice sounds easy enough in theory: grains, water, heat, love. Knowing how much of each is the work. Making wretched rice for a rice-based meal? The horror.

Read the rest over on Food & Wine.

Tuesday, April 30, 2019

12 Extraordinary Books on Mental & Emotional Health by Blackety Black Folks

Life for Black folks in the age of dumpsterhearted presidential swampdonkeys ain’t been no crystal stair. It’s had hate in it. And macroagressions. And hope burned up. And cretins with no seasoning on their food—Bare. But all the time, we’ve been a-Harlem shakin’ ahead, and agin’ gracefully*, and spreadin’ joy, and somehow thriving in the wilderness where there ain’t been no light…

With the hateful unmoisturized masses, the price of oxtail, and taxes growing more aggressive by the day, we need every tool we can gather for the Great War against Spiritual Ashiness.

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Oh snap. I'm teaching Mental Health First Aid classes in Spanish now.

On yesterday, I taught my third Adult Mental Health First Aid course in Spanish for an agency of home health care workers in el Bronx on behalf of the enrichment and education arm of the 1199 National Health Care Workers’ Union, the 1199SEIU Training and Employment Fund.

I’ve been teaching these classes, in English, for adults and those working/living/interacting with adolescents across NYC (and a few hospitals, offices, and schools elsewhere) since the spring of 2017. But since December, I’ve been zooming back and forth recharging with and supporting my family in Virginia and teaching in various 1199 sites around New York City, getting my body and my life back together, and not relaxing enough.

I appreciate and enjoy teaching the Mental Health First Aid course because it offers an approachable, non-clinical way to dive into the mental and emotional health and substance abuse challenges that affect every one of us in some way. Though we follow a comprehensive curriculum, every class is different because each participant brings a unique perspective, es una clase súper interactiva, and cathartic tangents rain from the sky.

And I learn just as much as the participants.

Read the rest over at The Extraordinary Negroes.

Two years ago: So I Just Became a Mental Health First Aid Instructor And Here Is What I Learned (Very Smart Brothas)

WANT TO TALK ABOUT A YOUTH OR ADULT MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID FOR YOUR OFFICE/ORGANIZATION/COMMUNITY/SCHOOL?

LET'S TALK OR WHATEVER.

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

19 Extraordinary Wellness Resources

When life gets unjiggy, even the most Janet Jackson-like among us can use some help being our most spiritually moisturized and extraordinary selves. Here are a few extraordinary wellness resources to help you (or someone you know) in the battle against spiritual ashiness.

Get into the goodness over on The Extraordinary Negroes.

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