After the hustle of the holidays and into the new year lies a bleak, liminal time until Spring. The date that marks the beginning of this period is known as Blue Monday, the most depressing day of the year. It’s the time when seasonal depression dominates the population atop of a slew of other issues such as the cost of living crisis, political uncertainty, common bigotry, and much more. 

In the face of these issues, Black people are always expected to persevere and be strong. We are taught to do our hardest to be the odds raised against us while dealing with simpler things that make us human. Black people lack safe spaces, especially spaces to be emotionally vulnerable. According to the NCHS (National Center of Health Statistics), even though race does not matter when it comes to rates of mental health, Black and Hispanic men under 45 are less likely to report feelings of anxiety and depression. Within the men who do, less than 27% who share that they experience these feelings would pursue professional counseling. This has much to do with the stigma against acknowledging men’s mental health due to the hypermasculinity actively imposed onto Black men. 

Safe spaces in the Black community are introduced to us from childhood. These spaces include the churches, the local restaurant, the school of people who look like us, the beauty salon and the barbershop. One of the things that unites the Black community and our shared experiences is routined self care. Everyone likes to look good. Every 2-3 weeks, the trip to the barbershop shears our woes and hair away. There’s no better feeling than getting that final look of your new familiar face, seeing your scraggly beard shaped up, your hairline straightened out, and bonding with your community in the process. The barbershop is essentially a community center for Black men to debate, relax, celebrate, and create and share art. 

The Therapist, a short film directed by Akwasi Poku and starring Top Boy’s Ash Barba, captures how much Black men need these spaces within our communities. Barba’s character is a barber who helps his regular navigate his own life, including work life and relationship issues. The film shows how barbers could be our friends, or that neutral voice we need to hear when we’re going mad, sad, or down bad. Not all heroes wear capes, but these community heroes wear aprons.