The Validating Voice Newsletter

Happy Pride Month! ????

And happy Men's Mental Health Month!

As a teenager and young adult, June was my second favorite month out of the year (behind October, my birthday month ??). My friends and I would post up on Broadway, or Cal Anderson Park in Seattle, or Volunteer Park. We would dance, picnic, people watch, lay out together, and my girlfriend at the time even proposed to me during the pride parade! That didn't work out, but the point is that I?love Pride and June and wish everyone safe fun and the company of?healing community. I hope you have time to reflect on our LGBTQIA+ and QTBIPOC (Queer and Trans BIPOC) forefolks in the process who fought then and now to make our communities safer for people to be their amazing selves.

And, this month on the podcast we turned our attention to Black men's mental health. June is Men's Mental Health month and although we can and should focus on men's mental wellness all year long, we took the last several weeks?to highlight Black men advocating for mental wellness and awareness in their communities. These conversations offer insight into the cultural, community, and systemic barriers facing Black men as they navigate their mental health. Not to mention racial trauma and the role this plays for an individual and for their family and community.?These conversations are necessary.?

The data on Black men and mental health is stark. According to Therapy for Black Men, Black men are 20% more likely than white men to have "serious psychological distress." Death by suicide is a growing reality. African American teenagers are more likely to attempt suicide than other racial groups, and death by suicide is the third leading cause of death for Black males ages 15-24. THIRD!

So, please let the episodes highlighted below be a resource to you and the men in your life. And take from these conversations this question: are the men in my life able to be vulnerable and emotionally free with me?

Next week is our season 2 finale with a special Juneteenth episode! If you have enjoyed this season, please leave the show a review and five star rating on the podcast player you use (Click here for?Apple Podcasts, and here for Spotify). That is how we grow and get in front of more ears! We appreciate you.

Be validated!

Creator, Producer, and Host

Whitney Knox Lee

P.S. This newsletter is sent weekly via email! If you want it on time (instead of two weeks late) Subscribe here!

What's New on Impostrix Podcast?

S2E17. The Throughline: Trauma Healing with Somatics and BDSM, Accessibility at Work, and Increasing Capacity to Thrive

Explicit content not for listening in the car with your young loved ones. We talk about BDSM and healing trauma ??.

S2E18. Breaking the Stigma: Black Men and Mental Health Advocacy

Brock shares his story of working within mental health during COVID, and realizing the need to care for his own health.

Black Men Navigating Emotional Freedom and Mental Health

What if societal expectations and past traumas were the silent barriers holding Black men back from true emotional freedom?

Collaborations and?Impostrix Podcast Out In The World

Just Roots Consulting Presents: What Now? Sustaining Anti-Racism at our Organization 2024 Onward

So many of us find ourselves asking this question as we try to recover the momentum for race equity our organizations were championing in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder. Join me and my colleagues in this 4-part series to discuss and learn about next steps we can take to push onward. Descriptions of our first two discussions are below!

Register Now at https://www.justrootsconsulting.com/what-now

Get Resourced

There are so many great resources on navigating imposter experiences and healing from racial trauma. In this space I will share with you some resources provided by our guests, and the resources that I am leaning heavily on. I hope you find this content supportive and impactful in your personal growth.?

1) Therapy for Black Men.?Therapy for Black Men is a great resource for the men in your life! In partnership with licensed mental health professionals and coaches in private practice throughout the fifty states, TherapyForBlackMen.org provides proactive, multiculturally competent care to men of color.?

2)?Black Men Heal?is a non-profit founded in 2018 to support the mental health needs of Black and brown communities, with particular emphasis on Black men. Recognizing the lack of resources available to Black men, and a culture that believes vulnerability in Black men is weakness, Black Men Heal has a variety of initiatives and resources to eliminate barriers to help. One such resource is their offer to receive 8 free therapy sessions!

3) Men Are The P.R.I.Z.E. Podcast. This is the podcast show of our featured guest this week, Harvey Laguerre!?I love Harvey's show because it's all about normalizing men talking about their feelings, mental health, and embracing vulnerability. Tune in!

4) Shake the Dust Off Your Soul. Impostrix Podcast guest Brock Williams authored this book after his personal battles with mental health. This book is intended to help men of color overcome obstacles pertaining to mental health.?

5) Free Palestine Resource?

An Open Letter From Jewish Donors and Jews in Philanthropy

Read this letter from Jews in Philanthropy who wrote an open letter to fellow funders asking that they?stop withdrawing funding for and/or delaying payments to organizations that advocate for the lives and safety of Palestinian people.

We've reached the end of this issue of the Validating Voice Newsletter; that was a lot!?Thank you for your continued support. There remains plenty of opportunity to support our work (and help pay for those audio/video editors I was mentioning earlier!).?You may donate to Impostrix Podcast via our Buy Me A Coffee page or our become a paid member of our Patreon community! Thank you!

Catch ya' in 2 weeks!

Whitney Knox Lee

[email protected]

About the Newsletter

The Validating Voice is a twice-monthly email newsletter of Impostrix Podcast. The newsletter is meant to be shared, so please forward it along to a friend! Your email?will never be shared with a third party without your permission, and we promise not to flood your inbox. Occasionally, the newsletter will include links for surveys, links with discount codes, affiliate links, and the like. This newsletter?is not SPAM! Please make sure to update your inbox settings appropriately so that you can receive this content.