Mental Health and Social Injustice Are Connected

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]Our people have always carried pain and the power at the same time. Something right there that's not [music] new to us. We made rhythm out of survival. We made home out of what was left over. We made faith out of fire. And we built culture out of what was [music] meant to erase us. That's not just something to put on the wall. That's our blueprint. So, we don't get to disappear inside our exhaustion.

[00:00:26]We don't. We need to take care of our minds.

[00:00:29]>> [music] >> Check on our people. Check our peace.

[00:00:33]And then we show up. Not because the system is fair. And not because we owe it anything, but because our absence is too expensive to give up. Voting's not just about a candidate. And clearly it's not just about a party. It's not even about a single election cycle. But voting is one way we tell the world we're still here. Our families are still here.

[00:00:58]Our neighborhood still matter. Our children still deserve better. And our elders didn't [music] sacrifice for nothing. And our voice is not something you get to cut into pieces and expect us to not notice [music] it. We're not here to tell anyone who to vote for. That's between you, your values, your research, and your conscience. But what I'm saying is know what's happening.

[00:01:24]Know your district. Know who you represent. Know who represents you.

[00:01:29]Know what change and when it change.

[00:01:32]Know who benefits when our communities get divided. Know who gets quiet when our pain becomes someone else's policy.

[00:01:39]And know that your mental health and your civic [music] power are not separate conversations, cuz they are the same conversation. Cuz that feeling, that feeling powerless, will break you down.

[00:01:52]But remembering [music] that you still have agency that could bring life back into you, they can draw the lines, but they don't get to define our world. They can move the map, but they don't get to move our memory. They can try to divide the power, but they can't break what we remember together.

[00:02:13]So, with that said, protect your mind, people, and your vote.

[00:02:19]And ask yourself [music] this, if our voice didn't matter, why [music] has history worked so hard to try to silence us?

[00:02:29]Think about that, and sit with it, and then decide what you're going to do with that.

[00:02:36]Who is DC?