Why This Work

It all started with an Instagram page. A space curated with the sole purpose of Afrikan descended people in our community to share their stories regarding mental health. At a time when the only people “coming out” were celebrities, it was important to me to remind our people that we go through this too—we just don’t get the same empathy and care. More and more, my peers, neighbors, classmates, friends and family were sharing their stories. That’s how the conversations truly began. 

But as time went on and we were hit with a global pandemic, I recognized that it just wasn’t enough. It was time to heal beyond simply sharing our stories through social media or the mystical couch. In tapping into more ancestral and soul centered work, it was clear as day that the answer to our healing was within. It wasn’t enough to talk about our stress or our traumas, we had to be able to feel it within ourselves so that healing could be truly what it was supposed to be–a holistic and spiritual act.

Melanated Masks centers on the holistic mental health of BIPOC peoples. Through trauma centered yoga, integrative mental health coaching, herbal solutions, psychotherapy and genuine care for our skinfolk, liberation from within while centering self allows us to take these masks off and walk through life as light as a feather. 

Dwennimmen is the Adinkra symbol that inspired the logo. It reminds us that even when we are strong, we should also show humility. For Melanated Masks, that humility comes with being vulnerable, courageous and inquisitive with ourselves and remembering that it is ok to not be ok, even when we carry the world on our back. I invite you to choose you, be curious with your body and see what change can look like.