Hip-Hop Lab Earshot Blog The Silence We Inherit: Black Men's Mental Health Matters
- Eryk Moore
- Jul 2
- 3 min read
There is a silence that too many Black men learn early in life. It's the silence that says, "Be strong." The silence that whispers, "Handle it yourself." The silence that convinces men that vulnerability is weakness and that asking for help somehow diminishes their masculinity. That silence is costing lives.
As someone who experiences seasonal depression,
I know firsthand that mental health doesn't always announce itself in obvious ways. Sometimes it arrives quietly. For me, there are seasons when my energy shifts, motivation fades, and even things I love require more effort. Those moments have taught me that acknowledging what I'm feeling isn't weakness it's honesty. One of the ways I've learned to cope is through music.
Writing songs from my point of view has become more than a creative outlet it's become a form of healing. When I put my thoughts, fears, and emotions into lyrics, I'm giving a voice to feelings that might otherwise stay trapped inside. Music allows me to process what I can't always say in conversation, and I hope that when someone hears those songs, they realize they aren't alone in what they're feeling.
I know I'm not the only Black man carrying invisible weight. Many Black men navigate the pressures of providing for others, dealing with racial stress, supporting family, overcoming trauma, and living up to expectations that leave little room for vulnerability.
Too often, we're taught to endure instead of express. But depression doesn't always look like sadness. Anxiety doesn't always look like fear. Sometimes it looks like isolation, irritability, overworking, or simply going quiet. There has been many times that I've tried to share how I felt with a girlfriend etc. but it was often characterized as weak but vulnerability is our superpower. The tears that are inside of you belong to you to use as needed and if someone doesn't understand that than we have to recognize that it is not up to us to make anyone else understand. We often also have allowed the female gaze and stigmas to define what it means to be a black male. It doesn't mean to reward toxic behavior but to be teachable and to be tender and to look inward.
I had recently celebrated what would've have been my brother's 41st birthday but unfortunately I lost my brother to suicide. I often wonder what he had bottled up inside of him because sometimes things seemed ok but obviously it wasn't. I go to therapy myself to strip back these feelings that I am left to navigate. I am left with an emptiness and some abandonment from unresolved answers from this and other traumatic things.
We've inherited a definition of strength that often tells us to suffer in silence. I think it's time we redefine it. Strength is saying, "I'm struggling." Strength is asking for help.
Strength is going to therapy if you need it. Strength is checking on your brothers and allowing them to be honest without judgment. Strength is creating art that tells the truth. For me, that's what the Earshot is about. It's about listening not just to music, but to people. It's about making space for stories that often go unheard. Every song, every conversation, and every shared experience reminds us that healing begins when we're willing to be heard. If you're a Black man reading this, I want you to know you're not alone. Whatever season you're in, you don't have to carry it by yourself. Your mental health matters. Your story matters. Your voice matters.
Maybe your healing comes through therapy. Maybe it comes through prayer, community, journaling, exercise, or creating something meaningful. Mine often comes through writing. Every lyric I write is a reminder that even in my darkest seasons, I still have something worth saying. And if my words help someone else find the courage to speak their own truth, then every song has served a purpose. Because healing begins when the silence ends and every voice deserves to be heard.
~ Bryan "Harvest Blaque" Hancock
Harvest Blaque "Mr. Nobody" Slam Poem
television interview Below about my work on this subject:
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