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“The most disrespected person in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America is the black woman.” -Malcolm X, 1962
Project Description and Purpose
What is Sista's Serenity?
Sista's Serenity is not only a mental health safe-space, mobile application for Black Women. It is a much larger project that is focused on eliminating the "Strong Black Woman" schema stereotype. The creator of Sista's Serenity hopes this project can become more of a movement for Black Women taking control of their mental health and taking the proper steps to do so. This stereotype needs to be put to rest because of the negative effects it has on the mental health and overall well-being of Black Women. The main purpose of Sista's Serenity is to cause Black Women to start thinking and asking themselves "What about me?". This is said because the "Strong Black Woman" schema is all about Black Women placing the well-being and happiness of others before themselves. “This stereotype binds Black Women to the confines of emotional invulnerability, self-reliance, self-sacrifice, and care-taking, causing them to neglect their own needs and exacerbating negative health outcomes (Jackson-Bartelmus, 2017). Why is Sista's Serenity a mobile application, instead of a website? The inspiration for the mobile application came about from interacting with the "Better Help" application and noticing the missing elements that should be included in a mental health application. Also, Sista's Serenity's creator acknowledges the fact that not everyone owns a laptop, but almost everyone owns a smartphone and is more than likely on it at least 85% of the time. When someone is a crisis, they need immediate help. One should not have to search through a busy website when they are in mental or emotional distress. For example, when there is a medical emergency, the average person reaches for their phone and not a laptop or tablet. Sista's Serenity, the mobile application strives to be a place where Black Women can express themselves without judgment and without the cultural stigma that surrounds the subject of mental health within the African American community. According to "The Science Behind Cultural Stigma", stigma is defined as characteristics that are devalued in a particular social context. In other words, being depressed in public is prohibited within the African American community. Sista's Serenity was also created in hopes of normalizing the use of mental health therapy in the African American community. Too often, then none, those who seek or receive mental health therapy are seen as something being wrong with them. And when the subject of mental health therapy is brought into the conversation, a lot of African Americans shun the idea of even participating in such a thing because "nothing is wrong with them". The creator hopes that African Americans specifically African American Women begin to find normality in therapy sessions with licensed mental health therapists. Due to the existence of the "Strong Black Women" schema, Black Women are more likely to struggle with mental health ailments such as Depression and Postpartum Depression. With Sista's Serenity, Black Women can begin to become "Strong Black Women" but more healthily.
The Story Behind "I Uplifted a Black Man" and How Its Related to The Purpose of Sista's Serenity
"I Uplifted a Black Man" began as a simple poem and nothing more. The poem was inspired by a comment a family member made to the author's mother. The comment or statement, rather was "We need to uplift our Black Men". The comment was made in response to a reaction the author's mother had to a male friend's negative actions. Therefore, "I Uplifted a Black Man" was born because the author realized how negative and harmful this mindset can be to Black Women. What is "I Uplifted a Black Man" related to the mobile application, Sista's Serenity? "I Uplifted a Black Man", the animation, was created as a marketing piece for Sista's Serenity. The author thought that since the creation of Sista's Serenity was inspired by the "Better Help" application and its marketing animation. It only made sense to create a marketing animation to go along with Sista's Serenity. The use of the text messages was also inspired by the "Better Help" marketing animation. The initial purpose of "I Uplifted a Black Man" is to highlight the endless toxic masculinity that exists within the Black Community while also emphasizing how it directly affects Black Women in various negative ways. According to the psychiatrist, Terry Kupers, toxic masculinity is defined as "the constellation of socially regressive male traits that serve to foster domination, the devaluation of women, homophobia, and wanton violence (Kupers 2005)". There are countless examples of this, one of the hottest buttons and arguably one of the most extreme examples of this is the R. Kelly (Robert Kelly) case. In the documentary series, "I Survived R. Kelly", several of Kelly's alleged victims speak about the mental and emotional damage R. Kelly caused them. To add insult to injury, several individuals were apart of Kelly's inner circle who just stood by and watched as countless young Black and Brown girls were mentally, emotionally, and physically abused by Kelly. One of the most memorable comments of the interviewees of the documentary made was, "Everyone knew, but no one cared because we were Black Girls". Another thing that is stated by the alleged victims in this documentary is how sorry they felt for Kelly because of his harsh childhood. Often, the alleged victims would excuse Kelly's unacceptable behavior because of the childhood he experienced. The subject of Domestic Violence is mentioned in both "I Uplifted a Black Man" and Sista's Serenity. This is because Black Women are more likely to experience Domestic Partner Violence than other races. Domestic Violence in return cause Black Women to experience mental health issues such as depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This is how "I Uplifted A Black Man is related to Sista's Serenity.
Technology Used
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Adobe Illustrator (For all design layouts)
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​Adobe XD (Prototype)
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Adobe After Affects (Animation of I Uplifted a Black Man)
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Adobe Audition (Audio for I Uplifted a Black Man)
Audiences
The target audience for Sista's Serenity as a project and movement is all Black Women. However, the mobile application is targeted to Black Women ages 18 to 35. Why is 18 to 35 the targeted age group for the mobile application? I believe this was a good age group to target for this mobile application because I feel that this generation will be more open and proactive to healing and eliminating the "Strong Black Woman" schema. This is said because I have always heard the phrase, "when you know better, you do better". Therefore, I believe this generation of young Black Women know better. I believe this generation of young Black Women know that it is important to partake and self-care and eliminate anything in their lives that are not good for their mental health or overall well-being. If there are some young Black Women, who do not feel this way, I feel Sista's Serenity can start the movement and normalize the act of Black Women taking the necessary steps to ensure that their mental health is the utmost importance and should be cared for as such.
Resources
“Red Flags For Abusive Relationships.”
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“Red Flags: Warning Signs of an Abusive Personality.” USAFV, Squarespace,
www.usafvshelter.org/red-flags-warning-signs-of-an-abusive-personality.
Jackson-Bartelmus, Zora. “The Strong Black Woman Schema: A Cultural Contributor to
Depression.” The Colorado College, 2017.
Miles, Angel Love. “‘Strong Black Women’: African American Women with Disabilities,
Intersecting Identities, and Inequality.” Gender & Society, vol. 33, no. 1,
2018, pp. 41–63., doi:10.1177/0891243218814820.
Okeke, Alexandria, "A Culture of Stigma: Black Women and Mental Health" (2013).
Undergraduate Research Awards. 13. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/univ_lib_ura/13
Emba, Christine. “Black Women and Girls Deserve Better.” Https://Www.thelily.com, The Lily, 13
Jan. 2019, www.thelily.com/black-women-and-girls-deserve-better/.
Jamar, Rabi'ah S., "Stigma, race and mental illness : African-American clinicians' perceptions of
how these factors influence help-seeking behaviors in African
Americans" (2013). Masters Thesis, Smith College, Northampton, MA.
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