By Efua Andoh — 2021
Psychology has an opportunity to continue evolving and meet the needs of a changing U.S. population—starting by countering the pervasive and damaging effects of racism.
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CLEAR ALL
The United States is going through a national examination of conscience on the question of race, and the Latino community is no exception.
So many of the little rituals I have each day—like my makeup or skincare routine—do help soothe and/or rejuvenate me. For me, any type of solo practiced routine is good. But I’ve learned that self-care does not, and cannot, sustain me. And I believe that this may be the case for many of you.
“I still eat rice and beans. I just use brown rice now,” said Annya Santana of Menos Mas, a wellness company that speaks to African-American and Latinx communities.
The Latinx community is just as vulnerable to mental illness as the general population, but faces disparities in treatment.
Eso es para locos. Esta generación... siempre inventando. These are the words I’d hear anytime I mentioned therapy or mental health growing up.
The pandemic was rough for Black and Latina families, but many women in these communities met the challenges head on.
I’m learning that my challenge isn’t just to unlearn what my family has taught me, but to put myself in situations that would reaffirm the new lessons I was trying to replace the old ones with.
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Sustainability is often discussed in a high-level, conceptual way as the connection between people, planet, and profit. But in practice, it can be deeply intimate—a relationship to what nourishes us and enables us to thrive.
“In Latin America, there’s been a great deal of progress around gay and lesbian identities,” Ortiz says. “But with being transgender and non-binary, a lot of people are still unsure what it all means and I believe it’s connected to the words we use.”
In the late ’90s, television was my greatest source of comfort—the place were I went to to find versions of myself reflected back at me. The only queer woman I ever saw on screen, however, was Ellen Degeneres.