Phoenix mental health advocates take lead in reimagination of Black America

We’re on the verge of something big.

Black women are finding their voices at a crucial moment in history thanks to education, social media and a unique boldness that’s pushing back against generations of oppression, and new leaders in the overdue movement are coming from Phoenix.

Meet Ashlea Taylor-Barber, a 36-year-old marriage and family therapist who helps contextualize the specific problems that have led to the cycles of depression and trauma, holding Black people back for generations.

“The work matters because I don’t think people understand,” Taylor-Barber said.

It’s hard for people to understand. Public schools across the nation are in shambles. Critical race theory — a tool for compassion that shows how abuse of specific people in the past harms all people today — is the subject of a misinformation campaign and a culture war.

And until now, gatekeepers in mass media have made it hard for Black women to speak and be heard.

Helping Black women work past trauma and stress

Taylor-Barber has been featured at a growing number of events in and around the city. I first heard her at a regional conference of the National Association of Black Journalists in Phoenix this year.

Last month, I sat with her family as she spoke to a crowd at the Fresh Start Women’s Foundation, announcing a $1.3 million grant from JP Morgan Chase to help women find a path to financial independence.

She danced around the room and explained how moving the body is good for the brain, encouraging the assembled women to seek tools to overcome the chronic stress that often begins with racism, sexism and abusive pasts.

This month, she’ll be at a Juneteenth event at Grassrootz Bookstore, discussing generational trauma and slavery. Next month, she’ll be at “Meet the Black Therapists in AZ” at the Academies at South Mountain High School.

The strive to ‘normalize having healthy mental health’

Taylor-Barber focuses on helping Black people help themselves. If this is going to change the trajectory of disproportionate rates of incarceration, homelessness and mental health problems among African Americans across the nation, it makes sense Phoenix activists take the lead.

“We must,” she said. “Phoenix is growing so fast and so many people are moving here, including all people of color, especially African American people, (Phoenix) has to be (a focal point) or else we’re not going to survive.”

She’s not alone in this fight.

“There are a lot of amazing African American mental health advocates, therapists and speakers who are out here just tearing it up, trying to educate our people and normalize having healthy mental health and high emotional intelligence.”

Revelations on how Black women deal with depression

Taylor-Barber believes that this is a transformative time in history, thanks to social media, podcasts and YouTube.  

“It’s really given an opportunity for Black women who aren’t famous to say what’s really going on and for us to be multifaceted beings and to change the stereotype that a Black woman is weak if she feels,” she said.

Taylor-Barber’s research (she has a master’s degree from Arizona State University) and experience operating Favor and Grace Under Fire Therapy and Consulting have uncovered startling revelations.

For example, she says that depression in Black women expresses itself differently than in other groups. She said that when Black women are depressed, they keep going and try to do more and more, something they learned from observing previous generations who weren’t allowed to take breaks to deal with their sadness.

“African-American people in this country, we’ve always made it look good,” Taylor-Barber said of the legacy of Black survival, faith and optimism in the U.S.

“Soul food is literally made from scraps. Back in the day, it was literally made from the scraps that our people had, because we weren’t given what we worked for. So, I feel like in every arena, we’ve always taken what we’ve had and made it something amazing with dedication and perseverance, even in the midst of being oppressed.”

‘Time for allies to stop sitting and watching’ on sidelines

But to reach the next level of advancement, including equity in education and hiring, it’s going to take a new level of self-awareness.

“It’s really important that our story is told and told accurately,” she said, “and I have been gifted with the knowledge to do so in the mental health realm. (Black women) are fully multifaceted people, and it’s OK if we have a full range of emotions.”

There’s room for people of other races and Black men to be allies, even if they’ve been part of the problem in the past, she said.  

“When we all work together, we end up getting what we need, but when we’re torn apart, it makes it very difficult … it’s definitely time for allies to stop sitting and watching,” she said.

For Taylor-Barber, that starts with finding the right circle.  

“Get around (people) who exude the moralistic essence that you aspire to,” she said. “That’s going to be the easiest first step, because you’re going to see how it’s done. Our brain is pattern-seeking, if we spend our time around communities and crowds that are like what we aspire to be, we’re most likely to start adopting those same actions, patterns and thoughts.”

We’re on the verge of something big.

Phoenix is at the epicenter of a reimagination of the advancement of Black America.

The overdue movement starts with untangling generational trauma, and it grows every time an advocate like Taylor-Barber speaks out.


From: https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/greg-moore/2023/06/11/can-black-mental-health-advocates-lead-next-wave-of-black-advancement/70303847007/