Self-care includes mental health maintenance skills
July is recognized as BIPOC Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to highlight the unique mental health challenges faced by Black, Indigenous and People of Color.
For Adrianna Willis, promoting mental health isn’t limited to a single month. It’s a year-round mission she carries through her business, Mind the Crown.
Mind the Crown offers a curated line of self-care products, including affirmation cards, adult coloring books, mugs, purses and candles with positive messages. The brand also hosts special events focused on “restoring peace with fun and self-love.”
One standout product in Willis’s collection is a tote bag embossed with the message: “This Bag Carries Boundaries.”
“It resonates,” she said. “I personally am a pleaser, but glancing at that message reminds me to stay true to my boundaries. Carrying that purse makes women feel more powerful. We don’t always communicate or maintain our boundaries, but when we do, it’s the greatest form of self-care.”
Willis said she hopes BIPOC Mental Health Awareness Month continues to reduce the stigma around seeking therapy, particularly in Black communities.
“In the Black community, people can be penalized or called crazy if they go to a therapist,” she said. “And we don’t want to look like we don’t believe in God or that He can’t heal everything. I believe in God, but I needed someone to talk to who wasn’t in my family.”
Mental health experts agree that BIPOC individuals, couples and families face unique challenges related to systemic racism, microaggressions, and generational trauma.
“The well-known, sobering mantra that ‘you have to be twice as good to get half as much’ unfortunately conveys that any less-than-ideal display of mental health proficiency could result in an unacceptable personal or communal setback,” said Lambers Fisher, a licensed marriage and family therapist, DEI trainer, and host of The Diversity Dude podcast.
Fisher said he’s encouraged to see growing awareness around the issue.
“It’s encouraging to have a specific month to spotlight an often unacknowledged or under-acknowledged experience in the BIPOC community,” he said. “We can use this time to empower and equip the community with mental health maintenance skills. Skills that can be nurtured, maintained and not just modeled but taught to the next generation.”
Willis agrees, adding that there’s no time like the present to encourage people of color to consider the benefits of therapy. “It’s okay to seek help and balance,” she said.
“I’ve been at low points in my life when I needed a therapist. We have to normalize this. We only get one vessel, and our mind controls our body. Therapy, along with prayer and community, will protect our peace.”
After 27 years working for a Fortune 250 company, Willis pivoted from her corporate career to launch and lead her own full-time business. Mind the Crown is designed especially with Black women in mind.
“We carry a lot of people with our incomes. We hold a lot,” she said. “I’ve known too many women diagnosed with cancer in their 40s. We as women have a hard time being softer and letting our guard down. We need to rest and be in the moment, and we need help for that.”
Learn more at mindthecrown.com.
Sheletta Brundidge is a children’s author, an Emmy Award winning comedian, and a local activist. She is also a contributing writer for the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. For more information, visit www.shelettamakesmelaugh.com.