“We Went to a Support Group for Black People in America” — Vice News, 2020, 11:07 — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7Z3YyHR7vs

NOTE: The main story ends at 11:07 and extra footage is shown afterward.

People of color face greater stress and trauma in a racist society, and at the same time, they are underserved by mental health services. This is partly due to a viewing help-seeking as a sign of weakness, but it is also important to keep in mind that mental health and related services are largely Western (i.e., white) constructions. For example, this video encourages us to think of white supremacy and capitalism as diseases that cause collective trauma to non-white groups of people. Mainstream mental health services work within a paradigm of treating the individual in light of their individual experiences, but as a consequence, they may be inadequate for dealing with the collective trauma of racism. 

Emotional emancipation circles are a product of black psychology where participants are urged to clean themselves of the oppressions they’ve internalized. These self-help programs operate outside of the Eurocentric white psychology establishment—Indeed, the organizers explicitly reject mainstream measures of legitimacy when evaluating the efficacy of these circles. Participants discuss their experiences with racial devaluation and are encouraged to imagine a world disconnected from the white power structure. This style of “spoken medicine” has historically happened in informal settings like faith groups, barber shops, and other black spaces. Black psychology works to provide therapeutic evidence and to formalize these powerful discussions.

From the video’s description: Alzo Slade participates in an “Emotional Emancipation Circle,” an Afrocentric support group created by the Community Healing Network and the Association of Black Psychologists. It’s a safe space for Black people to share personal experiences with racism and to process racial trauma. This is the latest episode of the VICE News Tonight series, "Trauma: Black Mental Health."