Black Pain: It Just Looks Like We're Not Hurting

Terrie M. Williams

Jan 2008 · Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

Black people are dying everywhere we turn,in the faces we see and the headlines we read, and we feel emotional pain, but we don't know how to tackle it—it's time to recognize it and work through our trauma.

Terrie had made it: she had launched her own public relations company with such clients as Eddie Murphy and Johnnie Cochran. Yet she was in constant pain, waking up in terror, overeating in search of relief. For thirty years she kept on her game face of success, exhausting herself daily to satisfy her clients' needs while neglecting her own. When she finally collapsed, she had no clue what was wrong or if there was a way out.

She learned her problem had a name—depression—and that many suffered from it, limping through their days, hiding their hurt. As she healed, her mission became clear: break the silence of this crippling taboo and help those who suffer, especially in the black community.

Black Pain identifies emotional pain—which uniquely and profoundly affects the black experience—as the root of lashing out through desperate acts of crime, violence, drug and alcohol abuse, eating disorders, workaholism, and addiction to shopping, gambling, and sex. Few realize these destructive acts are symptoms of our inner sorrow.

In Black Pain, Terrie has inspired the famous and the ordinary to speak out and mental health professionals to offer solutions. The book is a mirror turned on you. Do you see yourself and your loved ones here? Do the descriptions of how the pain looks, feels, and sounds seem far too familiar? Now you can do something about it. The help the community needs is here: a clear explanation of our troubles and a guide to finding relief through faith, therapy, diet, and exercise, as well as through building a supportive network and eliminating toxic people.

Black Pain encourages us to face the truth about the issue that plunges our spirits into darkness, so that we can step into the healing light. You are not on the ledge alone.

Ratings and reviews

As a psychotherapist, I found the book important to the conversation of how clinical depression looks in the Brown community. Few books speak specifically to depression in people of color. I am grateful for the book and it has impacted how I provide treatment for depressed patients.

About the author

Terrie M. Williams is a licensed clinical social worker with a BA in psychology and sociology from Brandeis University and an MS in social work from Columbia University. She is the author of Black Pain and The Odyssey of KP2. She is the founder of the Terrie Williams Agency and has served as public relations adviser to clients such as Janet Jackson, Russell Simmons, the NBA, the NFL, and many corporations.  Her Stay Strong Foundation is dedicated to youth advocacy and mentoring. She lives in New York City.