"Dear Black Folks" Mental Health Campaign

Our "Dear Black Folks" initiative is an art and affirmation campaign designed to disrupt public space. These loving messages challenge stigmatizing narratives and affirm Black people's wellbeing. This year's campaign is accompanied with the framing #YouBelongHere coined by our Director of Training and Programs, Natalie Patterson, to affirm that Black people of all identities are worthy of dignity and belonging. The lead writers for the campaign were our Executive Director Yolo Akili Robinson and Director of Training and Programs Natalie Patterson, who collaborated with the team (Amanda Poole, Uzo Seymour, Donnie Hue Frazier III and Imani Bashir) to complete the affirmations. The project was led by Skye Barclay. All designs were created by Richard Ford III.

The campaign this year is displayed in bus shelters and subway posters in BEAM's hub cities- Los Angeles, CA and Atlanta, GA as well as in Oakland, CA and New York City (Harlem/Brooklyn), NY. The campaign runs during Mental Health Liberation Month, a renaming of Minority Mental Health Month mandated by BEAM, that reframes July as a time to reimagine and decolonize mental health care systems.

#YouBelongHere was chosen as the hashtag to affirm that all Black people belong here, in all identities, even in the face of continued discrimination and anti-blackness. As we are in an ongoing mental health crisis, it also serves as a life affirming message.