Black Pain: Real Talk for when there’s nowhere to go but up. This month the book club had a therapeutic session with the subject of depression as the main topic. Terrie M. Williams a well known public relations advisor and social worker reveals her personal struggles along with the struggles of popular celebrities with depression. The book is called Black Pain, describing the hurt that Blacks go through on a regular basis which is often ignored or put aside.
The book opened eyes to the fact that depression is really a disease and not just a condition. The book showed that there is a depressive element to black people on a whole. We have suffered greatly the pain has stayed with us over generations. We began the discussion with the question ‘what emotions did this book stir in you as you read?’ Some members said that it reaffirmed the pain of our people and how we’re just expected to be strong at all times. Others confessed to seeing themselves in the stories which were presented and could identify some of their personal pain and moments of depression. This book forced many of the members to do a self-diagnosis.
The members admitted that the book was a little difficult to read at times. Aside from the heart wrenching stories, the dialogue boxes on each page were distracting to the overall read. Some members felt that there were too many testimonials. Some wanted to see a chapter on getting over the stigma of depression. Others really enjoyed reading the stories and felt that they illustrated the many different sources of depression.
We learned that we are all have some element of depression. It may not have affected our parents or those of us who had lived in the Caribbean or in Africa because of the support systems, which we do not have in this country. As a result we are voicing the depression more now. Most of the members confessed that they did not like the idea of medication for depression although they did recognize the need for it in some cases. The author spoke about having a balance and researching the medications before using them.
Overall the book club members enjoyed this book. The author captured the fact that we hide our pain it will come out eventually, whether in conversation or by acting out.
