Truthfully, mental health hasn’t always been something that I’ve always thought about or given complete attention to for most of my life. It was almost taboo growing up to talk about mental illness, which resulted in me bottling up tons of emotions for the majority of my life. As I got older, and through personal experiences, I started to realize how important it is to honor your mental state and to find balance in the chaos of our realities. Mental health is just as, if not more, important as other aspects of health.

I’ve partnered with Custom Ink to create a custom printed t-shirt to raise awareness for mental health. Through this partnership, I hope to bring awareness and normalize talking about and seeking adequate help for mental health issues. As someone who became humbled,  transparent, and honest with myself and those around me about how I’m personally dealing with my own battles, it’s important for me to raise awareness for those that can’t or don’t know how.

The symbols represent the four classical elements: fire, earth, air, and water. On their own, each element can create a whirlwind of chaos, but one cannot exist without the other. The semicolon  represents suicide prevention and awareness. The combination of the two is a tattoo that I personally have that serves as a reminder to the mental health challenges that I’ve faced and of those that I’ve witnessed from people close to me. The final message of this tattoo design is: in the midst of chaos, we eventually find our balance. but you have to keep going.

From now until October 10, 2020 (World Mental Health Day) all proceeds from t-shirt sales will be donated to the Austin Justice Coalition. The Austin Justice Coalition is a Racial Justice Group that educates and builds community power for people of color who live in Austin, Texas that need support, community, and liberation during a time of systemic injustice in America.

Click this link to purchase a shirt of your own or to make a direct donation to the Austin Justice Coalition on behalf of this fundraiser. Keep keeping on and let’s not forget that Black Lives Matter.

Additional Mental Health Resources:

• Black Mental Health Resources - this website contains resources to therapists, hotlines, and more for Black African Americans struggling with mental health

• Suicide Prevention Hotline

• The Trevor Project - A national 24-hour, toll free confidential suicide hotline for LGBTQ youth

• Crisis Text Line - free, 24/7 support via text message. Text “HOME” to 741741