The (Black) Struggle That Must Be: Black Masculinity, Black College Athletes, and Black Mental Health Through a Looking Glass

Abstract

In this article, the author describes their mental health struggles tied to Black Masculinity as a (former) Black athlete. In particular, the author focuses on the stigma surrounding mental health in the Black community and the ways in which Blackness, Black masculinity, and mental health battles emulate the (Black) struggle that must be. The author attempts to highlight the complicated nature of mental health struggles, specifically the ways in which suicide is handled in the world of sport and the ways in which the narrative can have juxtaposed racial frameworks. The author moves into and through their own personal experiences with mental health as a Black man, both in present tense and including personal journal entries, to make sense of “the (Black) struggle that must not be ignored.”