I’m feelin’ a way. You feelin’ a way? Grief, Mental Health & Black Communities
The bereavement crisis amongst Black folks/African Americans has always existed, but it’s reached unsurpassed levels in two years of intensive, multi-layered losses resulting from COVID, social determinants of health, racial violence, suicide, and more.
It’s time to reimagine new ways of addressing this emergency.
- How is it possible to assess how we feel, to process and contain our grief, and to remain sensitized?
- Where can we find resources – by and for us – to navigate health care and take steps towards healing and transformation?
Mental health advocates Dr. Karinn Glover and Dionne C. Monsanto will lead a conversation about breaking through barriers, achieving wellness both in our minds and bodies, and maintaining balance in this hot mess of a world.
Dr. Karinn Glover
After graduating from Howard University with a BA in History, Dr. Karinn Glover worked at Essence Magazine and as an Account Executive for Verizon. She followed her curiosity about medicine and ultimately attended SUNY Downstate College of Medicine and obtained an MPH from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. Currently Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Dr. Glover teaches psychopharmacology and psychotherapy to Psychiatry and Family Medicine residents. Her career as a consultant and educator have informed her expertise in the fields of health equity, workplace mental health, and organizational success. Follow her on Twitter @drkarinn
Dionne C. Monsanto
Dionne C. Monsanto, Chief Joy Connector and Founder of Joyous Ocean LLC, connects people to their joy. As a bestselling author, coach, speaker, mental health advocate, and performer, she creates the space for her clients to safely realize their goals and build better versions of themselves.
Dionne's belief is that we can collectively change the world if we each build a joy-filled healthy body to support the lives we want to live. In short Dionne helps people Live Life INjoy! With her support, her clients create their "right-size" bodies and lives.
Dionne sits on the National Chapter Leadership Council for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and is an active volunteer with her local AFSP NYC Chapter as well. She is a native New Yorker but a global citizen and has been on TV, radio and in print. Her most recent features were on CBS, PBS and Time Magazine. She is a helper who loves cooking, music and laughter. She sees them all as moving meditations. She blogs on INjoy! and her website is www.joyousocean.com.
About Table Talk
We recognize that marginalized communities and cultures -- Black, Indigenous, Latino/a/x, Asian American, Disabled, LGBTQ+, etc. -- have their own unique perspectives and shared truths. All of these groups face tremendous challenges in dealing with serious illness, dying, grief, discrimination. And there is a shared need for platforms to talk about these issues freely in order to connect, learn, heal, remember, and take action.
While individual Table Talks are developed by and for specific communities, we recognize that often these groupings are permeable. Many of us describe more than one group as “home,” and many of us have experienced oppression based on multiple aspects of our intersecting identities: race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability, and more.
Reimagine invites people of all backgrounds to join us to witness, listen and learn at Table Talk. Ultimately we are creating space rooted in the principles of Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion in order for everyone to thrive.
Table Talk is made possible with support from the Fetzer Institute and the John and Wauna Harman Foundation.
