Every now and then, there
is an increase in awareness of
mental health and wellness
issues.
These
spikes
in
attention occur after events
such as World Mental Health
Day or a highly publicized
incident
of
suicide.
Thus,
it’s extremely important to
advocate for mental health but
there are times when people
fail to be compassionate or
understanding.
On
Nov.
12,
writer
and
singer
Summer
Walker canceled most of her
North
American
tour
due
to her struggles with social
anxiety.
The 23 year old had been
receiving
backlash
from
some fans who had criticized
her for not interacting with
them
during
the
concert
meet and greets. She has
a
strict
no
hugging
or
touching policy when fans
meet her which left some
feeling unappreciated and like
they were not getting what
they paid for.
Walker defended herself on
Instagram and said she avoids
contact with others due to
her experience as an empath.
Being
an
empath
means
absorbing
other
people’s
energies and feelings, so if
someone is stressed, she gets
stressed, and if someone has
negative energy, she can feel it
too. Despite this explanation,
people are still saying that she
is “scamming” or invalidating
her mental health issues and
telling her to do her job.
Some
fans
may
not
completely
understand
her
reasonings for cancelling the
tour, but this situation brings
up an important dialogue
about the pressures artists,
especially Black women in
the
music
industry,
face.
Black
women
in
America
are often not taken seriously
in so many aspects of life,
especially considering artists
like Selena Gomez and Ariana
Grande have canceled tours
and
meet
and
greets
for
mental health reasons and
were met with understanding,
not anger. Similarly to the
terrifying discrimination we
face when going to the doctor’s
office and being told our pain
is just an over exaggeration,
the dismissal of our struggles
with mental health is summed
up to being a ‘scam.’
Why can’t other people
trust us when we say enough
is enough? Why is it that we
have to prove our pain and
struggles for other people to
sympathize? I want to know,
would they feel the same way
if she cancelled her tour due
to a broken leg or a bad case
of the flu? I doubt it, because
as a society, we do not look
at health holistically. Taking
care of yourself is more than
drinking water and eating
vegetables. It’s also knowing
your limits and taking a step
back when things become
overwhelming.
There
needs
to
be
an
understanding
of
personal
boundaries
that
people
create to protect themselves.
Although being a celebrity
is known as a position of
privilege, and in many ways
it definitely is, there is a lot
of pressure to open your life
to the world and accept any
criticism that comes your way.
Personally, I’m very proud
of Summer for knowing when
enough is enough and making
changes in her life to protect
her own mental health. What
is the point of anything in life
if you’re not doing it for your
own growth and happiness?
Many people can take a play
from her book and reevaluate
what you can cut out of your
life to make it better for you.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan in Color
Monday, November 25, 2019 — 3A
Summer Walker and
Black mental health
CAMILLE MOORE
MiC Blogger
Hey Black child
Hey Black Child,
The one that still lingers in
the body of a twenty-one-year-
old young woman, struggling
to find her place, do you know
who you are? To the nine-year-
old girl who struggles with her
natural hair, do you know who
you want to be? And to the one-
year-old little girl, still fresh
and innocent, do you know who
you can be?
If you’re listening, I want to
share something with you.
My mom made me read a
book called The DNA Field
and The Law of Resonance,
and from viewing the title of
the book my initial reaction
was disappointment. The title
screamed pretentious scientific
theory, which decreased my
level of interest. Ever since I
was young, I never really liked
science. For me, learning the
concepts always seemed too
complicated and I always ended
up feeling dumb afterward. I’ve
felt like this for a long time,
until I gave the book a chance.
To my surprise, I learned
something I did understand. I
learned about the heart.
I learned that the heart is
the most powerful generator of
energy in the human body. The
heart has an electromagnetic
field that is 60 times stronger
than the brain. So corny cliche
sayings
like,
“follow
your
heart,” are actually valuable,
and not just filler lines for the
endings of Disney movies. The
book says the power of your
heart is so strong that if you
really trust your heart, if you
really wish with your heart,
then the things you deeply
want to manifest are not so far
behind or out of reach.
Initially I thought this was
so cool, but then reality settled
in. The soft voice that grew up
but remained tied to my being,
asked me a question. The Black
child within me asked, “Why
did we stop trusting our heart?”
That was a valid question and
called for a moment of self
reflection. Black child, we grew
up. We started trusting our
brain over our heart.
But that’s not all we did.
We were forced to grow up.
Black child, we were forced
to recognize our place in the
world. And by place, I mean
the place in which society has
tried to keep us stagnant. We
had to learn how to conduct
ourselves in a society that
continuously
monitors
and
judges our behavior. We had to
learn how to breathe in a world
where the air is so heavy and
polluted with stereotypes. We
had to learn that no matter the
complexion of our pigment, we
were still beautiful, no matter
what the world said. We were
so preoccupied with learning
how to heal the wounds that cut
through our melanin, we forgot
about our heart. We were so
busy growing up and learning,
we simply began relying on
our mind. We forgot about our
heart.
But Black child, it’s okay.
Self-reflection
is
good
and
leads us into a moment of self
enlightenment.
I told you in the beginning I
was going to share something
with you.
Black child, I want you to
know your heart is so strong.
I hope you never forget that.
We become so consumed in
growing up and trying to
become what we want to be,
we’ve settled with the power
of our minds. But the same way
your mind can help you finish
an exam and write a paper, your
heart can help you manifest
anything you want.
Black child, remember the
cliche disney lines that tell you
to be true to your heart, because
this world is tough. Sometimes
remembering
to
love
your
melanin is tough and that’s not
something the mind can teach.
Keep your heart close because
it’s been scientifically proven
that its the strongest force in
your body. Black child, your
heart can help you manifest
who you want to be.
Black child, we were born
in this skin for a reason. Your
skin is divine. The way your
hair kinks, coils, and curls in
its own order is divine. The way
your skin glistens boldly under
the sun, is divine. The way you
rise like the sun time and time
again, is the heart of a divine
child.
You’re going to learn that
there are stereotypes about you
that aren’t true. You’re going to
learn to navigate this world that
feels like it loves the aesthetic
of your culture, but couldn’t
care less about you. But Black
child, as you learn with your
mind I want you to remember
that your heart is your greatest
power.
When they call you ghetto
for dancing the way you dance,
it’s easy to let those words
marinate in your mind. But
remember the sacred rhythm
between you and your heart.
No one hears it but you, so keep
dancing. Let that remind you
of who you are. When they tell
you you’re too loud and you find
yourself trying to be quieter,
don’t let it consume you. Don’t
let it marinate your mind. Sing
your song from the roof to the
mountain tops. You are not
loud, you are not ghetto, your
heart is just creating a world
where you can be who you want
to be. You are your own order
and you are divine.
Don’t think what you can be,
feel what you can be.
Black child, it’s okay to
grow,
it’s
okay
to
flaunt
your
intelligent
mind,
but
please remember your roots.
Remember your heart and that
it is full of life and nutritious
like fruit.
Hey Black child, one last
thing,
In the words of Countee
Cullen, “Hey Black child, do
you know who you are? Do
you know who you really are?
Do you know you can be what
you want to be?” Just ask your
heart, not your mind, and your
manifestations will come easily.
With the release of Marvel
and DC movies, superheroes
have experienced a meteoric
rise in popularity. Since the
reintroduction of comics into
mainstream pop culture, the
superhero
genre
has
been
subject to all the usual questions
of diversity. (Notably, it wasn’t
until 2018 that Marvel finally
introduced its first film to star a
non-white superhero.)
Comics
giant
Marvel
attempted to address this issue,
with new, diverse characters
taking on the names of iconic
heroes. After Carol Danvers
took on the moniker Captain
Marvel, a Pakistani American
teen becomes the new Ms.
Marvel. When Bruce Banner lies
dying from radiation poisoning,
a
Korean
American
named
Amadeus Cho turns into the
next Hulk.
However, all this progress
seemed doomed to come to
a grinding halt. Marvel had
been
accused
of
pandering
in
their
creation
of
these
new superheroes. In a 2017
interview with ICv2, Marvel
sales executive David Gabriel
said, “What we heard was that
people didn’t want any more
diversity. They did not want
female characters out there.
That is what we heard, whether
we believe that or not. I do not
know that that is really true, but
that’s what we saw in sales.”
“We saw the sales of any
character that was diverse, any
character that was new, our
female
characters,
anything
that was not a core Marvel
character, people were turning
their nose up against. That was
difficult for us because we had
a lot of fresh, new, exciting ideas
that we were trying to get out
and nothing new really worked,”
Gabriel said
Gabriel’s statements sparked
much backlash, and it seems,
two years after the interview,
that Marvel has reversed its
stance. As part of a storyline
event, Marvel released a series
called The New Agents of Atlas.
The comics star an unlikely team
of Asian and Asian American
heroes who team up across
several Asian metropolises to
save the world.
Agents of Atlas demonstrates
what representation can be:
Their identity is an important
part of their character, but is
not the only thing that defines
them and often presents subtly.
The team challenges the myth
of the monolithic Asian and
combats the oft-cited criticism
that casting a person of color is
merely a cosmetic choice. Their
individual ethnic identities can
be essential to their character. In
the case of White Fox, her name
isn’t just a colorful moniker:
she is a kumiho, a magical
nine-tailed fox straight out of
Korean mythology. Meanwhile,
Shang Chi and Crescent are
masters in martial arts from
their respective countries. And
Luna Snow is a double threat,
working as both a K-pop singer
and a superhero.
As a Chinese American, I was
thrilled to finally be able to see
parts of myself and my friends,
especially
in
the
smallest
things. From mentions of lack of
fluency in the “mother tongue”
to popular dishes, the comics
serve up an authentic depiction
of Asian and Asian American
culture. One great example is
when the team goes into hiding,
all they have to eat is spam.
They eagerly make good use
of it, making spam fried rice,
spamsilog, and spam musubi –
dishes that are popular in the
Philippines and Hawaii.
After New Agents of Atlas,
Marvel brought the heroes back
in a five-part series Agents of
Atlas. Now, we’re nearly at the
close of that series. (Issue #4
was released on November 13.)
So, what’s next?
I’m
hoping
that
Marvel
will make Agents of Atlas a
permanent part of their lineup.
It’d be a good opportunity to
explore the new characters
it’s created, like Wave, its first
Filipina hero. And these two
series have already successfully
brought niche characters – like
White Fox, who was created for
Marvel’s foray into webtoons,
Korean webcomics – into the
main Marvel universe.
Most importantly, Agents of
Atlas has proven that a win for
representation can be a win for
Marvel, too.
Agents of Atlas as
Agents of Change
YASMEEN LUDY
MiC Blogger
ELIZA HO
MiC Blogger
Yasuke
Black
history
does
not
begin
with
commodification.It has existed and thrived in
many parts of the world before the Trans-Atlantic
Slave trade. This is more evident with people
such as “Yasuke,” otherwise known as the first
Black Japanese Samurai. Arriving from Kyoto,
Japan in the year 1579 as a servant for European
missionaries, Yasuke gained the attention from the
Japanese warlord Oda Nobunaga. The warlord was
so impressed by his charcoal skin, beautiful features
and physique that Yasuke became Oda Nobunaga’s
Samurai uniting Japan until 1582.
KEVIN MOORE
Featured Artist
ILLUSTRATION COURTESY OF KEVIN MOORE