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

Terrie M. Williams

Jan 2008 · Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

A Black woman shares her battle with depression and explores how it affects the entire Black community—and how the healing can begin.

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.

For thirty years, Terrie Williams hid a constant pain she couldn’t identify, waking up in terror, overeating in search of relief, and neglecting herself to serve her high-profile clients’ needs. Finally, she collapsed. Then she learned her problem had a name—depression—and that many suffered from it.

This emotional pain, which uniquely and profoundly affects the Black experience, is at the root of desperate acts that threaten the community: crime, violence, substance abuse, eating disorders, and addictions. In Black Pain, Terrie shares her story, inspires others to speak out, and encourages mental health professionals to offer solutions.

The help we need 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.

“Outstanding. A call to action within the Black community.” —New York Amsterdam News

“Black Pain is a fascinating read . . . and offers hope. I highly recommend this book.” —Bishop T.D. Jakes, New York Times–bestselling author of Reposition Yourself

“Black Pain begs us to snatch off the suffocating ‘everything is okay’ mask that hides real emotional pain, allows us to take a deep breath of honesty, and then frees us to confess our fears and face our issues.” —Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Grammy Award–winning rapper and actor

“Using her piercing societal flashlight and courageous self-disclosure, Terrie Williams has blessed us with her wonderfully liberating book.” —Annelle B. Primm, MD, MPH, director, American Psychiatric Association

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.