By S.Tia Brown — 2021
Black women have to give themselves permission to simply be. To be more than just a fierce powerhouse, but to tap into all identities and needs, including those that make us vulnerable.
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CLEAR ALL
There is a belief among some African-Americans that to defeat racism, they have to work harder, be smarter, be better.
Americans say whites are the most common race they see in advertising, and they say the dominant gender role is male. But as the saying goes, Madison Avenue is not Main Street, nor is it the Appalachian Trail or the Pacific Crest Trail.
Black women are 37 cents behind men in the pay gap—in other words, for every dollar a man makes, black women make 63 cents.
In the documentary “The Weight of Gold,” Phelps presents a stark picture of the mental wear and tear Olympians endure.
Osaka’s mental health challenges are nothing new in her isolating sport. What is new is the acceptance she’ll face—and the paths back—if she takes a prolonged break.
In the past few weeks, my journey took an unexpected path but one that has taught me so much and helped me grow. I learned a couple of key lessons.
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Through the size of her platform, however, and her decision to choose well-being over pursuit of a Grand Slam title, Osaka offers the promise of bringing mental health awareness—both inside and outside of sports—to an entirely new level.
Michael Phelps, the most decorated athlete in Olympic history with 28 medals, has acknowledged that after the 2012 games, his longtime depression was so overwhelming he thought about killing himself.
Experts I spoke with for this story pointed to a couple of reasons professional athletes are particularly susceptible to mental health issues.
Research shows exercise can ease things like panic attacks or mood and sleep disorders, and a recent study in the journal Lancet Psychiatry found that popular team sports may have a slight edge over the other forms of physical activity.