From left, clockwise: Jordan Christie, Andee Arches and Atari Gems of the Black Minds Matter Project (Photo courtesy Black Minds Matter Project)
Mental illness doesn’t discriminate, but access to treatment varies widely among races. Black patients are less likely to be offered psychotherapy or medication, and those with symptoms of schizophrenia or bipolar disorders are far more likely to be incarcerated than whites with similar conditions, according to a 2017 report by the American Psychiatric Association. In some communities, even discussing mental health problems is considered taboo.
In March 2018, the Black Minds Matter Project premiered on Richmond community radio station WRIR 97.3 FM (where, full disclosure, I’m a volunteer) to address this issue and start a dialogue about race and mental health. The show’s guests talk about their experiences with self care, toxic masculinity, faith, trauma, sex and other topics.
“For you to be able to move on, you have to face a lot of these mental issues you’re dealing with, instead of denying it and running away,” says producer Andee Arches, “and that’s pretty much what the radio show encourages people to do — to talk about it and face those issues, and feel OK about it.”
Arches and Jordan Christie edit the half-hour program, hosted by Atari Gems. It airs on the second and fourth Fridays of the month at 11 a.m., and it can be found online at soundcloud.com/blackmindsmatterproject. All three young women — still in school or recent graduates — are new to radio. They’ve learned how to edit audio, interview panelists and make field recordings by doing it.
In May, the killing of Marcus-David Peters — the Virginia Commonwealth University alumnus and public school teacher who was shot by a Richmond police officer during what appeared to be a mental health crisis — was a turning point for the show. The team put asideits schedule and addressed the local tragedy through interviews with community members.
“I had met the family,” Gems says, and her former resident adviser at VCU had been friends with Peters. “A lot of times when we think of Black Lives Matter, it’s something in the news. He was a Richmond native. It humanized it.”
In the coming year, Gems wants to interview more people one on one, and address traumas specific to Richmond.
What’s the best decision you made?
“For me, it’s producing it, because I’ve learned a lot. I think it was really cool that [the] main purpose was to educate.” —producer Andee Arches
What would you do differently?
“I wish I’d remembered to put the general intro at the start of the show last week [laughing],” —producer Jordan Christie
“There’s one person I haven’t gotten back to. I just checked my inbox.” —host Atari Gems
