Read on Twitter
A lot of brands will be making statements today about what happened at our nation's capital yesterday. Most will run the range from "insincere" to "oblivious."
We debated if we should. But as a mental health platform, we feel we have a responsibility to say a few things.
We debated if we should. But as a mental health platform, we feel we have a responsibility to say a few things.
1. White supremacy is not a mental illness.
The attempted coup that happened yesterday was not the product of mental illness.
We cannot deflect the responsibility of those involved by labelling them "unhinged," "crazy," or "sick."
The attempted coup that happened yesterday was not the product of mental illness.
We cannot deflect the responsibility of those involved by labelling them "unhinged," "crazy," or "sick."
As a platform that is dedicated to unpacking ableism when we see it, we feel a strong responsibility to name this quite clearly: a legacy of racism, woven through and through in this country, is not the product of mental illness.
It may be unfathomable to those of us who have had the privilege of not seeing it. It may be shocking to those of us who had more faith in our democracy than this.
That does not mean we should label what we do not understand an "illness." It means we should educate ourselves.
That does not mean we should label what we do not understand an "illness." It means we should educate ourselves.
2. Yes, what we collectively experienced is trauma. If you find yourself struggling to "go back to normal," that is understandable.
It is our hope that you will extend grace to yourself, and to those around you who are having a hard time today.
It is our hope that you will extend grace to yourself, and to those around you who are having a hard time today.
3. We understand that this trauma is not new to people of color in this nation. It is not new to Indigenous peoples, for whom history is simply repeating itself. It is not new to Black people, who live in fear of this kind of violence every day.
4. We understand this statement will feel provocative to some. But as a platform dedicated to having important conversations about mental health, we MUST acknowledge how the political and cultural climate we live in impacts the mental health of vulnerable people.
