The Suicide of Brown Girls/A Poem for Karyn Washington

The death of ForBrownGirls.com founder, Karyn Washington, has been on my spirit since I found out about her suicide.  Mental dis-ease is a taboo subject in many communities.  However, given the historical and present day oppression and trauma experienced in the African American community, we must begin to take steps to deconstruct the stereotypes of mental dis-ease.  This has to be done in order to have honest dialogues about the effects of mental disorders on our community and how we can begin our healing process.  So I wrote this peace not only for Karyn Washington and every other little girl or boy who has ever thought of suicide or general feelings of hopelessness.  Parts of it, is also my story.