To My Black Girls and Women Mentally Struggling Because of the State of the Country

No one has asked you, “How are you?”, have they? No one has checked up on you, and the Black Women and Black People in the LGBTQIA+ Community are actively being excluded from the mass conversations about police brutality on social media.

This is me asking you how you’re feeling. No matter if you feel angry, indifferent, numb, heartbroken or depressed; violent, bored, or woeful; your feelings are valid. And I love you.

I want you to take this time to really sit in the way you feel. And to shower yourself with love and comfort in ways that you never have before. Loving yourself in this world — in this country that endorses your destruction— is a revolutionary act in itself. I want you to spend a few hours, or days, or weeks if you can handle it, off of social media. It is draining in every way: mentally, emotionally and spiritually. And you don’t have to put yourself through endless trauma and pain to feel like you’re helping the movement. You’re helping the movement by preserving and supporting Black Lives, and you’d be doing that by making your mental, emotional, spiritual and physical well-being a priority.

I’m not going to lie to you all, it’s been hard for me to check out as well because I feel like I have a personal responsibility to fulfill; but then I realize the first responsibility I have is to myself.

In addition, the constant circulation of Black Suffering and dead Black Bodies and Black Men on Twitter attacking the Black Women standing up for them, doesn’t inspire me to constantly sacrifice my health and wellness.

So again, to my Black Girls and Women who are not doing well during this time: how are you feeling? No matter how you’re feeling, I love you and I understand you and your feelings are valid. Please, even if it’s just an hour each day to close out all your social media and just listen to your favorite music, or stretch, or watch Netflix or write poetry, take care of yourself. Love yourself how you’d want someone else to love you.

I’m also holding a livestream on Sunday for Black Women and Girls to come together and speak about how they’re doing. I think it’d be great to create a virtual space for ourselves where we can just be who we are, without judgement, and talk about how we’re coping and taking care of ourselves. Please join! You can stay updated about this on my instagram, @aze.will.

Love and Light,

Azé