Every summer, we hear a few buzzwords about Mental Health Awareness Month. Then, the conversation fades away. But the pain doesn’t just disappear. It lingers for those affected, leaving deep scars behind.
I’m Ayo Banjo, a 26-year-old Black man, and I lead a youth mental health initiative in California. My journey started young; at 12, I lost a sibling to suicide. That moment taught me the harsh reality of silence surrounding mental health.
Today, in California, youth aged 10 to 24 only make up 21% of the population, yet they account for 57% of emergency room visits due to self-harm. That statistic is staggering.
For young men, particularly Black and brown men, the pressures are intense. We face over-policing and are often pushed to suppress our feelings. Society tells us to be tough but seldom offers real safety.
Conversations about men’s mental health too often twist into justifications for violence or dismissals of vulnerability. Social media algorithms favor anger, while mainstream narratives often reduce our stories to simplistic tropes.
Many men today carry grief disguised as anger. I’ve seen firsthand how healing can start when we create spaces for young people to express their emotions. They begin to realize that feelings aren’t weaknesses; they’re signals guiding them back to themselves.
But healing goes beyond hashtags. It needs genuine safety, effective tools, and the cultural permission to take a pause.
According to a 2022 report by the California Department of Public Health, almost 30% of young adults reported feeling depressed regularly. Addressing these feelings requires proactive measures like teaching emotional literacy in schools. We can’t just respond to trauma; we must prevent it.
We also need healing spaces founded on cultural understanding, free from law enforcement’s influence. What’s essential is a narrative that values emotional safety as part of our community’s backbone.
This isn’t just about raising awareness. It’s about building a future where emotional safety is standard, not optional. A future where boys learn to express grief without shame or fear.
Men aren’t broken; the system needs to shift to recognize new forms of strength.
Ayo Banjo is the founder of Banjo Strategies Consulting Group and has been involved in youth mental health initiatives in California.
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