Terrie Williams at the Doles Center with her mother Marie Williams
By Deena Parham
I have a vivid recollection of when Terrie M. Williams, made her public admission of living with depression, in ESSENCE Magazine in June 2005. It startled me, because it is rare, for a high-profile member within the Black community, to disclose a medical condition, which has been unjustly stigmatized. Far too often, it is uncommon, for many African Americans to divulge their mental health issues, in an open forum.
Recently, Ms. Williams released her fourth book, entitled Black Pain: It Just Looks Like We're Not Hurting, published by Scribner. It’s an obvious labor of love, born out of the determination, to have an open dialogue about a disease that she could have easily been treated for, without ever revealing it to anyone outside of her inner-circle. Instead, she has selflessly given her time, strength, and an energetic commitment, to establish a healing circle, to make depression the focus of a national conversation. Below is a video, where she explains what led her to write Black Pain:
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