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May is Mental Health Awareness month. American deep culture—I learned this term when a friend asked my opinion and he used this term. I told him to use another word or expression because I wasn't familiar with that term. He said: Oh Cheryl you know what American deep culture is—the institution of marriage, family dynamics, and attitudes towards authority. American deep culture is rooted in binary concepts which lends itself to exclusionary philosophies and subsequently potential sinister sanctions (think the state of Florida, Gov. DeSantis or GOP presidential candidate Vyvek Ramaswamy). Binary concepts create a narrow sense of normalcy or acceptance. So yes I said sinister. Pivoting to May being Mental Health Awareness Month and the lived Black experience. Jordan Neely and Lashawn Thompson had untimely deaths simply because they were suffering from mental health crises and were poor. I just can't get their stories out of my mind. Unnecessary. Horrific. Grotesque condition. Inhumane negligence. These words are all descriptive of the actions and conditions upon which these two men died. No. Actually, they were killed by deliberate indifference, fear, and the need to control. Two other terms come to mind. One of them is hegemony. The other one, overused and possibly losing its power as a descriptor, is white supremacy.. Lashawn Thompson, 35 years old, died in September of 2022 at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta. He was found dead in his cell, literally eaten alive by bedbugs + other insects. He was also held in the jail’s psychiatric wing. Thompson was diagnosed with schizophrenia. It should also be noted that he was arrested in July of 2022 and just three months later he was found unresponsive in his cell. Lashawn Thompson was held without charge, a situation known as pre-trial detention. This was because he could not afford bail. And his family did not know he was sitting in jail. Lashawn Thompson died of neglect by the jail personnel. They did not check up on him every two hours but they did note that he was mentally deteriorating. In the morning he was found unresponsive. Lashawn was to be transported for a psych evaluation. There is so much wrong with the conditions at the Fulton County Jail and their Pre-Trial Diversion program. Lets just say it would be a major digression to delve into that at this moment. Local jails across the nation are fast becoming the place where behavioral health issues (poverty, mental illness, substance abuse and being unhoused) are being addressed albeit on a minimum level. This fact really isn’t news; but it should be upsetting to all of us that a Black man’s life was cut short while his mental health deteriorated when held in deplorable conditions in a jail facility. If Fulton County Jail was a place to house animals, it would have been condemned. Lashawn Thompson’s life was in peril simply because he couldn’t afford bail, was suffering mentally and had no one to advocate for him. Willful neglect doesn't even begin to describe the inhumane conditions of the psychiatric wing of Fulton County Jail. The culture of care was lost in Fulton county, Georgia. Let’s go to the state of New York, Manhattan where Jordan Neely was murdered in a subway station. Jordan Neely, 30 year old unhoused Black man was murdered by Daniel Penny, 24 year old, ex marine because of white discomfort. Jordan Neely was tired, hungry, thirsty and maybe a bit agitated. He asked people for money, he was complaining about being thirsty, hungry and tired. He was distressed and was vocalizing it. It was a plea for help. Jordan Neely did not harm anyone. And the response of the good citizens of NYC who were riding the F train was to watch and to allow Jordan Neely to get choked to death by an annoyed ex marine. Daniel Perry did get charged with manslaughter two weeks after the chokehold murder on the F train in NYC. This is American deep culture, cloaked in hypocrisy while sitting on the coach of an exploitative economic system that is extremely exclusive in its binary norms. To the families and loved ones of Lashawn Thompson and Jordan Neely, may these Black men rest in power and peace. And to the rest of us, there is a myriad of steps and calls to action to abate this seemingly endless lists of hashtags. Always remember, never forget and say their names:. Today is Mother’s Day. To all the mothers who have lost a son or daughter to violence or sickness, I feel for you. To all the mothers who are simply full of joy because they have launched those children and now get to cultivate a different relationship with them, congratulations. To the mothers that are welcoming back those grown children providing safe haven for them because of some difficulties they've had while living on their own, I salute you and praise you dearly. To the aunties, the foster mothers, teachers, guidance counselors/therapists you should be honored too, because you’ve helped shepherd them into their own.To the pediatricians, the activists that are fighting for women to still have the right to decide what to do with their own bodies, keep it up. To those of us who have lost our mothers, hold those memories with care. For those of you who have or had mothers who were not able to be present in your life because of substance abuse, mental illness or incarceration, honor her or not on your own terms. Remember she did what she knew how to do. And to those who’ve had difficult relationships with their mothers and never got to say goodbye or say I forgive you, you can do it now. We all would not be here without a mother. It takes all kinds.
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