“Hood Wellness” shows how community care heals Black mental health

Tamela Gordon authors “Hood Wellness” to help other Black and brown people who are searching for answers regarding their mental health. (Tamela Gordon, Abbey Crain) Self care it’s very limited. But with community care, suddenly there are doors where there were once walls because now you’ve got that help. —  Tamela Gordon Tamela Gordon was in her early-30s when she realized how the self-care trend was quietly killing her mind. While living in New York, she was using a couple of different methods to nurse her addiction, low self-worth, body image issues and other problems. But activities like hot yoga and hiking were bandages that barely kept her mental health together. She was enduring the traumas of sexual assault, homelessness and health concerns. It wasn’t until she voiced her struggles that a village of Black women got Gordon to a headspace where she could access resources to care for her mental health. Gordon shares her healing journey in her book “Hood Wellness: Tales of Communal Care from People Who Drowned on Dry Land,” which was published in June. Society’s version of self-care won’t save the minds of Black, brown and queer communities who face danger in multiple ways, she said....