Courtney Vance brings Black men’s mental health issues to light – The Bay State Banner

For Black communities, and especially Black men, mental health can often be a taboo subject, but actor Courtney Vance is fighting to bring the issue out of the shadows. A May 8 webinar, hosted by the Give Black Alliance — formerly New England Blacks in Philanthropy — featured the award-winning stage and screen performer along with psychologist Robin L. Smith as they discussed their book “The Invisible Ache,” which was published in November. The book — part memoir of Vance’s own struggles with his mental health as he coped with the death of both his father and godson by suicide, part psychology guidebook — is a tool that both authors said they hope will guide people to take the first step in addressing mental health challenges. “We have to be encouraged to go down this road. I would hope it wouldn’t take a suicide, like it did for me, to go down this pathway,” Vance said. Part of that work, he said, is figuring out how to fit mental health care into a day-to-day routine like any other kind of personal care. “The hardest part is beginning,” he said. “Figuring out what the rhythm is to work out, what the...