Dear Friend,
The response to The Stay Strong: “Healing Starts With Us” campaign launch, at the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Educational Center on Tuesday, March 18th was truly overwhelming. Thank you for coming out to learn about the mental health crisis in our community—and congratulations to all of you who came to learn what to do about it. You are to be commended for honoring yourself.
We are also extremely grateful to the esteemed moderators Susan L. Taylor and Geoffrey Canada and our celebrity friends: Ruby Dee, John Amos, Mo’Nique, Terry McMillan, Jamie Hector, and Felicia “Snoop” Pearson. Each of them made time in their busy schedules to participate with us, to help bring awareness to the topic of depression and how it is linked to the high rate of violence on our streets and in our homes; to child abuse, rape, suicide as well as other heinous acts committed in urban communities around the nation. We extended to them a call to action and they answered, because they are equally concerned about how many of us are hurting ourselves and killing one other.
The Stay Strong Foundation’s, “Healing Starts With Us” event was offered as a free community event and we wanted our guests to have a copy of “Black Pain,” to learn more about depression from the book in the days to follow. However, due to the large turnout, it became impossible for us to seat some of our guests upstairs, as originally planned. As a result, some of you who purchased the book have expressed your disappointment. We had monitors set up in the downstairs lobby and the vast majority of guests were content. Still we honor the fact that your expectation was different.
We stand behind our belief that it’s important for you to have a copy of Black Pain that can be used as a personal resource tool. In the spirit of our message that “the healing starts with us,” we will refund your money to you and you may also keep the book as our gift. Our hope is, that it serves to help you as it has thousands of others so far, or that you identify someone in need of healing and pass it on to them.
The refund offer was made at the event on Tuesday and Hue-Man Bookstore began the process the following day. The deadline to receive a refund is Thursday, March 20th, from the Hue-Man Bookstore & Cafe, located at 2319 Frederick Douglass Blvd., between the hours of 10:00 am and 8:00 pm.
Again, we thank all of you for coming. Let’s focus on the daunting task at hand, roll up our sleeves and do this important life transforming work. All of us at The Stay Strong Foundation and Hue-Man Bookstore look forward to building this healing movement together with you. To repeat the words of Malcolm X, which were delivered at the end of our program by beloved matriarch, the incomparable Ruby Dee, “we must take back our community and it’s well being…by any means necessary!
Stay Strong,
Terrie M. Williams Xavier Artis
Co- Founder Co-Founder
