By Holly White — 2019
More insights on a positive side of a “disorder”
Read on www.scientificamerican.com
CLEAR ALL
Battling stigma is nothing new in the ADHD community. In Black and other marginalized communities, it abounds—outside and, even worse, inside Black families. But reducing stigma in BIPOC communities is not all on us.
Who gets to be diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and who gets left out? You can probably guess the answer.
“My work never adequately represented my effort or my intelligence. No one saw how often I stayed up late to finish projects or how many used sticky notes were pasted all over my room and planner to remind myself of tasks.”
From songs referencing grandma’s backyard garden to lyrics ripping government for destroying the water supply, many hip hop artists seamlessly weave climate justice into their sounds. After all, being sustainably savvy is how their grandparents and great-grandparents survived.
It’s hard to be a joyful Black creative on a good day; to pour your being into beautiful work amid ongoing injustices is already taxing. And during the current unprecedented and uncertain times, reclaiming and protecting that Black joy may feel particularly difficult.
Kerry Washington on Beyoncé, Ta-Nehisi Coates on Kendrick Lamar, Oprah Winfrey on Toni Morrison, Issa Rae on ‘Scandal,’ and 31 other prominent black artists on the work that inspires them most.
A few months and many deaths ago, I woke up exhausted, again. Every morning, I felt like I was rebuilding myself from the ground up. Waking up was hard. Getting to my desk to write was hard. Taking care of my body was hard. Remembering the point of it all was hard.