A Shape-Up and a Check-In

Black men are crying out. Suicide is one of the leading causes of death for young Black Americans and our young men are at particular risk. Stigmas, health care access, and social pressures to appear hyper-masculine stop a lot of Black men from getting help. But a grassroots program known as The Confess Project is trying to break this pattern. 

The group started in Little Rock, Arkansas in 2016, and now trains barbers across the country to act as mental health advocates by equipping them with strategies to listen and respond to the pain of the men they see in their chairs. 

Trymaine Lee talks to the founder of The Confess Project, Lorenzo Lewis; and Louisville barber J. Divine Alexander breaks down how the program has helped him support his clients, and, been good for his own mental health.

For a transcript, please visit https://www.msnbc.com/intoamerica. 

Thoughts? Feedback? Story ideas? Write to us at intoamerica@nbcuni.com

Further Reading and Listening: 

• Into America: Reimagining Mental Health and Policing
• Arrested, then traumatized: Black people on what comes after police encounters
• Check out these books from The Confess Project’s founder, Lorenzo Lewis