Hope
Dear Community,
This has been a very tough time for many of us, especially for our African American members, listeners, and leaders that have been suffering for far too long. Like many of you, my mind has been in a state of turmoil over the last 10 days. I feel like I cant keep my footing. I keep slipping. I work hard to get to a good place and then before you know it Ive fallen again. I imagine many of you are deeply suffering right now. My heart goes out to you.
I think many of us will be slipping and falling for a while, but we will keep getting up. It may take us a little longer to stand back up after getting knocked down, but we will keep getting back up. I believe, with time, itll be easier for us - arms locked - to stand up, keep standing, walk, and then run. For now, though, I understand, that it takes a lot to simply get back up.
I owe a lot to our African American community. They have had my back many, many, times. Ive had African American supervisors who have looked out for me. Theyve helped me when I was clumsy. They worked patiently with me to help me better understand things. Ive also had the honor of mentoring African American clinicians in largely white settings. Ive seen these young professionals struggle due to systemic racism. They were kind enough to also let me into their world. They gave me the honor of walking alongside them. They helped me see what they see. And what they showed me was not all pretty. What they showed me was a lot of pain, a lot of suffering, a deep sense of community, and a lot of hope.
Yes, they helped me see hope.
15 years ago my twins were born 10 weeks premature. I was a very difficult space. I didnt think they were going to survive. I was in crisis mode. These young professionals had my back. They cooked meals for me, sent me encouraging emails, stopped by my office. They prayed for me and they prayed for my kids and my family. They helped me get through one of the tougher times in my life.
Im forever thankful for all of the lessons that they taught me. God knows I have much, much, more to learn. I still make mistakes regularly. I realize that I am in a privileged position. I see a bias here or something Ive missed there. I ask my African American brothers and sisters to point things out to me that Ive missed. I do not want to be a source of any increased suffering. I want to be a source of love, support, and hope.
I want 7 Cups to be a place of love, support, and hope for the African American community as well. We work hard to make 7 Cups a welcoming and inclusive place and know we have a lot of work to do. People still hide behind anonymity and say harmful, racist things. We make additions to our word filtering continuously where we add **** to any hateful speech, but some of them get around it. I am sorry if you have experienced any racism on 7 Cups. I very much wish we could eradicate it. We are working with some researchers and I hope that their efforts will increase our ability to predict racism and stop this language from being used in what should be a safe haven for us all.
I also understand that we need to recruit more African American therapists (12.5% of our US based therapists are African American). I am making it a priority and will update you all on progress in our next community update. If you have African American contacts that are therapists, then please refer them our way. We will do all that we can to support them and their work here on 7 Cups.
The African American community has taught me a lot about what it means to be there. What it means to show up and to keep showing up, especially when it is hard or challenging. Let me know ways in the comments that we can be there and show up for our community. These can be tech ideas (increase word filtering with these specific words), training ideas (increase training on these topics), or emotional support ideas. We will gather all of the ideas and ask people to vote and prioritize them. We will then get to work on implementing them.
The word that kept surfacing for me this week was hope. It seems like hope is important right now. Hope and the will to believe that we can work together, we can change, and we can make things better. Hope to point to a better world and hold one another accountable to make sure that we get there. Hope to have the difficult conversations and hope to know that we will be more empathic on the other side.
In the comments below, please highlight examples of hope that we can point to, learn from, and emulate. Point to people and leaders that are showing us the way. These can be articles, videos, or images. Id like to find the hope champions out there right now and amplify their efforts. At the end of the year, we can vote and select one hope champion and send them a plaque and nice card from our community to celebrate them and their leadership.
Im thinking of you all. We will focus here first with ideas we can implement to make a measurable impact. We will look to other examples of hope and generalize what we can to our community. In the meantime, please remember that empathy is what 7 Cups is founded on, and that now more than ever we need to band together in the spirit of compassion. I also want to remind you to take self-care whenever you need to, as I know its easy to forget in all of this.
I would also like to make a company and personal donation on behalf of our community. Post below or PM me with recommendations. We will send it to the one with the most upvotes or mentions.
Let me close with a few Martin Luther King Jr. quotes on hope.
The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace, and brotherhood.
Everything that is done in this world is done by hope.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that."
With hope,
Glen
*Ive had a few people review this post and mention to me that this post seems pretty US centric. I understand that feedback and it makes me realize that we need to have a way of highlighting events and issues that happen around the world so we can collectively better understand and help.
@GlenM
Thank you for sending this wonderful message to us all! As for me, it's great that I see our founder cares about the struggles of all of us. Of course, so many struggles happening for so many irl and of course we all feel it too here on 7 cups. We all have struggles, challenges. We show up as listeners and help others too that are going through things, no matter what is happening in the world. No matter who we are or what we are, people are here, well, helping people. And so, it's a beautiful union. I have a passion for compassion and I think this is paramount to be a part of 7 cups, no matter what role you are in, member or listener.
Ultimately, it's the message of "hope" that I carry in my heart. My understanding is that once you have lost hope, well, you've lost everything. Clinging on to the "hope" is what keeps us all moving forward and searching for the promise of a brighter tomorrow! 
@SparkyGizmo thank you, Sparky! Yes, holding onto hope will help us here and future crises as well. I appreciate your positive presence and encouragement!
@GlenM
@SparkyGizmo
@poncipunch334
Insightful post, Glen!
Here is a collection of links I found from an article by the Cut. I linked the article at the end for anyone who would like to read more.
The Minnesota Freedom Fund, the Brooklyn Bail Fund, the Northstar Health Collective, and Free Them All for Public Health have recently begun asking donors to redirect their funds to other non-profits amid an outpouring of support: check to make sure your organization of choice is still soliciting donations beforehand.
Direct aid for victims families:
• George Floyds family has started a GoFundMe to cover funeral and burial costs; counselling services; legal fees; and continued care for his children. Theres also a GoFundMe to provide for his 6-year-old daughter, Gianna Floyd, and a GoFundMe to support peace and healing for Darnella Frazier, the woman who filmed Floyds death.
• Another GoFundMe is raising money for Ahmaud Arberys mother, donations to which will similarly fund the familys legal battle.
• Theres a GoFundMe for Breonna Taylors family, to help with legal fees and offer extra support.
• Theres a GoFundMe for David McAtees mother and family: McAtee was fatally shot just after midnight on June 1, after police officers and National Guard members fired into a crowd of people who were not taking part in the evenings protests.
Bail funds: ActBlue has a page that will let you split your donation between 38 community bail funds, or if youd like to focus your donation directly, here are some options.
• The Bail Project, a nonprofit that aims to mitigate incarceration rates through bail reform.
• The National Bail Fund Network also has a directory of community bail funds to which you can donate, along with a COVID-19 rapid response fund.
• Another list of bail funds is available here, and another list of bail funds by city.
Support for protesters:
• A Gas Mask Fund for black youth activists in Minneapolis is raising money to buy gas masks for demonstrators whove faced tear gas during protests.
• The Black Trans Protestors Emergency Fund is raising money for physical resources, bail, and medical care for black, transgender protesters, which will be redistributed to black, trans-led organizations in the event these funds dont need to be used.
• The NAACP Legal Defense Fund, which supports racial justice through advocacy, litigation, and education.
• The Legal Rights Center is a non-profit law firm based in Minneapolis, offering legal defence, educational, and advocacy services.
• Black Visions Collective, a black, trans, and queer-led social justice organization and legal fund based in Minneapolis-St. Paul.
• The Know Your Rights Camp, an organization founded by Colin Kaepernick that provides education and training in black and brown communities, set up a legal fund for Minneapolis protestors.
Organizations working against mass incarceration and police abuse:
• Communities United for Police Reform is an initiative to end discriminatory policing in New York, helping to educate people on their rights and document police abuse.
• Showing Up for Racial Justice works to educate white people about anti-racism and organizes actions to support the fight for racial justice and undermine white supremacy.
• Communities United Against Police Brutality, which operates a crisis hotline where people can report abuse; offers legal, medical, and psychological resource referrals; and engages in political action against police brutality.
• No New Jails NYC aims to keep the city from constructing new jails and to instead divert funds that currently go toward the police and incarceration toward housing, ending homelessness, mental health, and other community support systems.
Quoted from an article by The Cut
@LexIris Thank you for sharing these great organizations we can support during this time!
@LexIris thank you so much for this-especially with all the links and being able to summarize so much so well! (thanks again!)
@LexIris Thank you wow what an awesome post !!!
@LexIris thank you for sharing such a comprehensive list! There are so many I hadn't heard of yet and want to learn more.
@LexIris great post Lexi! Thank you for sharing. I hope everybody does check these resources and support.
@LexIris thank you so much for linking everything and sharing all these resources. this is amazing!
@LexIris very much appreciate you making this list! Okay, so we need to select one. Can you take the lead on helping us figure out main one?
@GlenM
The main one is the official GoFundMe set up by his family: https://gf.me/u/x4xyax
@LexIris appreciate it! Okay, I just sent $500 on behalf of 7 Cups. You can find it here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=m_pd+share-sheet
Thanks for posting , all the best today and Hope was used and I like that too.@GlenM
I know, its just hard to be hopeful when many horrible things are out of control, thanks for the message!
Is there a way to sign up as lisenters of color so people can specifically acess us?
I'm a POC and I'd like that to be accesible.
hey there @BrokenButBueatiful ,
Thank you so much for your implication and dedication to want help people !
Have you visited our Young People of Color subcommunity yet? The subcommunities are a great place to meet other people with same interests, and members seeking listeners on this specific topic can find more easilly listeners that fit their needs by checking the subcommunities associated with their needs.
There is also many ways to get committed in projects for better help those people, including forum supporter role, to make the subcommunity stronger and supportive for those in need. If its something you may be interested in, as a teen, you may message @Tazzie about opportunities.
@GlenM Thank you Glen !
@GlenM
My first therapist on 7 cups was very good. I am Caucasian and live in an area where 90 percent of the people look just like me. Before the therapists used a photo of themselves I had no idea what my therapist looked like. I liked the pretty flower she used as a profile pic, but I imagined she looked something similar to me. I was surprised when she began using her photo as her profile pic that she was African American. I thought about whether that would have influenced my choice of therapist based on appearance. Would I have had a bias? Maybe I would have assumed that someone who was different from me in that way would not understand me or maybe I would have worried about accidentally offending her and been uncomfortable because of that. She was such an excellent therapist and I was her client off and on for several years. I cried every time I had to take a break from therapy and was especially emotional when she stopped working with 7 Cups. It was a great experience because I was able to recognize that I had made an automatic assumption, i realized thst the fact I was surprised that her race (and from her picture, perhaps youth?) were factors that might have influenced my choice of therapist and I would have missed out on truly the best one I ever could have had!!! After she left 7 cups I was more open to choosing a new therapist who was very different from me. I really miss her though.
@GlenM
A great message Dr. Glen. I just wanted to point out one minor thing in your vernacular, as you are a respected mental health psychologist.
As I've learned from fellow POC (people of colour), some may not like the moniker "African American."
For example, a fifth generation POC of bl*ck heritage is sometimes called African American, despite being removed from Africa by many generations. This individual might culturally identify more as American. Meanwhile, a non POC who is also fifth generation gets simply called "American." A first generation non POC might easily be called "American" simply as well.
In Canada, we sometimes use the label of "bl*ck Canadians", especially for include persons who might culturally identify more as Canadian or from a geographic landscape other than the continent of Africa.
I censored part of the word "bl*ck" as I'm unsure if the word verbiage is accepted in the USA or on 7 Cups. Anyways, I appreciate your post and I appreciate your honest intent. <3
@SynSavory
Very well note and exactly what was on my mind, since FOREVER.
@SynSavory Well spoken.
@SynSavory I appreciate the feedback. Thank you!
Ta-Nehisi coates' book betwen the world and me has won a national book award and garnered international attention. The book explores systematic racism and violence towards people of color, race as a socially constructed concept born through racism, and documents coates' own life journey as he discovers and experiences the vulnerabilities of his own body. No book is fully shielded from criticism and this book was no exception but one persistent and unfortunate critique is that coates does not offer enough hope of a better future for his readers or provide a tangible solution for solving America's racism. This argument fails to listen to coates on his own terms and says more about the reader's own feelings, desires, and preferred narratives than a true understanding of the substance of book. Indeed such a critique is akin to knocking Shakespeare's Romeo and Julie the because it doesn't have a happy ending. There is also a political element to this hopelessness critique in that many of the people levying this charge believe that racism is a thing of the past, or at least an overblown distraction utilised mostly for political profit and not grounded in practical reality. Philosopher Andre Archie, for example, laments Coates' politics as hopeless and asserts that the status of blacks and their cultural products has risen so much that even the most dysfunctional aspects of black culture have been embraced by whites.
@fruityPicture4336 In a recent follow up essay for The Atlantic coates rightly asserts,in my opinion, that good art concerns itself more with enlightenment and understanding than making people feel good. Hope is merely one emotion in a spectrum of emotions the good art intends to highlight. To demand a happy conclusion and boundless hope at every corner is to demand immunity from the emotional hardships of life itself. Indeed hope should not hide the reality. Expression of real life indeed gives us the hope.
@fruityPicture4336 thank you for recommending!
@GlenM I am glad!!😊
@GlenM
I can understand what you are feeling now.if I were you I would face the same problem.you should not be worried about the problems.Keep in mind everything in this world is a game of light and shadows.your problems is also a game of light and shadows.While handling problems,Just be calm and always believe yourself.Parenting and moreover the problem can be managed with self confidence.give me feedback after trying this.
@DOCHAMMADSHAFIQ111 I am fail 😥
@calmLand7391 what happened??
@DOCHAMMADSHAFIQ111
