Episode 17: Black Men, Mental Health, Trauma and Resilience
PART 1:
PART 2:
On May 25 of this year, George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police in South Minneapolis. The protests and ensuing unrest shined a local spotlight on the trauma of police brutality that Black people have endured for far too long and of which Black men have been the primary target.
Black men have endured the multigenerational effects of slavery, lynching, family separation, Jim Crow, poverty, mass incarceration and systemic oppression. The relentless threat to Black bodies – especially Black male bodies – takes its toll on Black men’s physical and mental health, leading to higher rates of suicide, disease and homicide. The life expectancy for Black men in America is 71.9 years, while White men, on average, live 76.4 years.
At the same time, the topic of mental illness, mental health and trauma has been taboo in the Black community. Pleasant Radford, Jr., formerly of the Center for Prevention and now Health Equity Officer at UCare, facilitated this barber-shop style discussion with four Black Minnesota men to talk about mental health, racial trauma and the importance of talking about these issues.
Many thanks to Pleasant Radford, Cedrick Frazier, Vernon Rowland, Sam Simmons and Jalen Travis for their contributions to this special two-part episode.
Cedrick Frazier (he/him/his)
Cedrick Frazier is a father, husband and brother. He grew up in the Englewood community of Chicago. Illinois. Cedrick is currently running for office to represent the residents in district 45A–Crystal, New Hope and Plymouth. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, Morris, Minnesota State–Mankato and William Mitchell College of Law. Cedrick currently practices law as a labor side attorney as well as serves as a city council member.
Pleasant A. Radford, Jr. (he/him/his)
Pleasant A Radford, Jr. is a multidisciplinary healthcare professional who uses his experience in healthcare management, global health, community engagement and racial and health equity to build an equitable, affordable, culturally competent health care system for all. Currently, he is the Health Equity Officer at UCare, where he is developing a robust racial and health equity program strengthening the nonprofit health plan’s work to provide its diverse members with a path to the best health for their lives. Before that, Pleasant worked at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, UnitedHealth Group, University of Chicago, Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health and Peace Corps (Nicaragua).
In his free time, Pleasant is happiest watching Serena play tennis, cooking yummy meals at home, traveling to unknown places, learning new languages (parlez-vous français?) and spending time with his wife, Toni, in Minneapolis.
Vernon Rowland (he/him/his)
Vernon Rowland is an Agile Coach in IT Systems at 3M. There he serves individuals, teams, portfolios, and programs with agile transformation, agile adoption, and agile training. Vernon lives in Minneapolis with his wife and 2 children.
Sam Simmons (he/him/his)
Sam Simmons has over 30-years’ experience as an alcohol and drug counselor and behavioral consultant specializing in culturally sensitive trauma informed strategies and working African American males and their families. He received the 2016 Healing the Hidden Wounds of Racial Trauma award and the Black Tear Drop Award for his vision and leadership in culturally sensitive trauma informed work in the community and around the country. In 2018 Sam received Public Health Hero Award for his innovative, and trauma informed work from the City of Minneapolis. Sam is co-host of “Voices” radio show on KMOJ FM that addresses issues important to the urban community. Sam is co-creator of the Community Empowerment Through Black Men Healing conference called “Groundbreaking and Visionary” and in 2018 received recognition from both Minneapolis and St. Paul Mayors and Minnesota’s’ Governor.
Jalen Travis (he/him/his)
Jalen Travis is from Minneapolis Minnesota and is a recent graduate from DeLaSalle High School. Jalen is currently attending Princeton University to study public and international affairs, as well as playing on the football team. Jalen has recently Co-founded The Just Action Coalition, which is a non-profit centered around youth advocacy in the political process in the areas of racial biases and police brutality. As Co-founder, Jalen has spent much of his summer meeting with local and national political and non-profit leaders in an effort to gain support of his work, as well as to get the youth voice out there. Jalen and his team are currently working on policy and harm reduction reform with the Center for Policing Equity in order to bring about real and lasting change, as well as hosting legislative training events in tandem with the center for African American Heritage.