Photo: Courtesy of Facebook Watch
Peace of Mind With Taraji, the Facebook Watch series dedicated to destigmatizing mental health in the Black community and beyond, premiered its second season on Monday.
Per a press release sent to The Root, this season will see host Taraji P. Henson and her best friend, executive director of the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation and co-host Tracie Jade continue conversations about mental health with a variety of special guests, including Chlöe of Chloe x Halle, Megan Thee Stallion, Chance the Rapper, G Herbo, Karl Anthony-Towns and Nicole Byer.
Ahead of the second season, Henson and Jade sat down with The Root to discuss the importance of cultivating community as it relates to productive conversations around mental health, combating social anxiety and imposter syndrome, and the one thing that has brought each of them peace during the pandemic. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
The Root: One of the things I’ve found when it comes to conversations about mental health and the personal challenges we face as individuals is that, in addition to creating a safe space, it also helps if you know there’s a community behind you. If you know that someone’s been there before and they can relate and empathize. Why do you think having that sense of community and commonality is important and how can we continue to build that community during this era of COVID?
Tracie Jade: Humans are socialized to be a part of a community, so whenever we’re isolated, it’s a natural, instinctual thing for us to begin to feel lost. We’re socialized to be within reaching distance of each other and for Black people especially. That goes way back to the villages in Africa, everybody was everybody’s child, there were mamas and babas. You didn’t throw grandparents away in an old folks’ home because we understood that those are lifelines that we need.
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So I think having a community and what we’re creating with the show has really opened up to the greater community and seeing what they instinctually remember and what they instinctually need: which is to be around people who are there to support you. And that’s what we’re hoping this show offers.
Taraji P. Henson: When you know you’re not alone, especially when there’s a voice in …….
Source: https://www.theroot.com/taraji-p-henson-traci-jade-on-the-importance-of-commu-1847838795
