John Kennebrew is ready to celebrate everything Black and gay during Black gay pride in Atlanta this week, but he’s interested in more than empowerment panels, poetry slams and dancing.
This year, Kennebrew is helping organizers of the events focus on the emotional well being of those taking part in the annual celebration.
“We want to create awareness around mental health,” said Kennebrew, founder of Success Brand Counseling, which will be offering free consultations to participants of Black gay pride.
Also Success Brands wants to “be a beacon of hope to show that we have a hub of professionals that you can come to for specific needs,” he said.
The mental health of the Black LGBTQIA+ community has increasingly become a topic of discussion as recent research has found troubling trends in the well being of its members, health experts say.
According to a Trevor Project National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health from 2020, 44% of Black LGBTQ youth reported they had seriously considered suicide in the past 12 months while 71% of Black transgender and nonbinary youth reported symptoms of major depressive disorder.
And 95% of the Black gay community reported that discrimination has negatively impacted their psychological well-being, according to the African American Behavioral Health Center for Excellence.
The inclusion of mental health during Black gay pride comes as Atlanta also hosts the nation’s first Global Black Pride event this weekend, where discussions on human rights and health are expected to be part of the featured line up.
Success Brand staffers will fan out to events throughout the pride week sites, including conference centers, hotel meetings spaces, night clubs and Piedmont Park, Kennebrew said. At least 10 people will be part of the initial distribution of staff, but he hopes to have more by the weekend.
Credit: SUCCESS BRAND
Credit: SUCCESS BRAND
Their pitch: a free, private sit-down consultation that could lead to future therapy sessions or coaching on how to deal with mental stress.
Kennebrew said the outreach is critical. Like the general LGBTQIA+ population, Black gay people may struggle with issues such as coming out to unsupportive families, substance abuse, HIV, restrictions on gender affirming care, isolation and homelessness, Kennebrew said. But they do so while simultaneously facing homophobia and sexism in their own community and often racism and exclusion from white LGBTQIA+ people.
“We haven’t always been welcomed” by either, said Tim’m West, executive director of the LGBTQ+ Institute at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in downtown Atlanta. “Black gay pride is an effort to acknowledge that intersection.”
The LGBTQ+ Institute is hosting a “Youth Belong: Writing For Our Lives” youth panel on Saturday as part of Black pride so that young gay people can see themselves and their sexual orientation as assets, not a reason for anxiety, West said.
Gay people also struggle with being their authentic selves, which can lead to mental challenges, Kennebrew said. This is especially true in rural communities, where the pressure to conform to societal standards boxes in those who don’t fit.
“Often times people just have trouble being who they are because we live our lives according to what we think people think our lives should be,” he said.
Bishop O.C. Allen, founder and senior pastor of the Vision Church of Atlanta, said Black gay pride provides the perfect occasion to discuss mental health because the event is about learning as much as it is about celebrating the community’s uniqueness.
“When you’re talking about health disparities … whether it’s poverty, whether it’s unemployment, whether it is self-acceptance … at the root of it is how does it impact our mental health,” said Allen, whose Vision Community Foundation hosts the annual Atlanta Black Pride Pure Heat Community Festival, which will take place Sunday, Sept. 1.
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