The #YouGoodMan? men’s group is a safe space for all identifying men to come and discuss their wellness needs openly and honestly with each other. Phillip J. Roundtree has facilitated the group since its beginning in 2018.
Roundtree, raised in the neighborhood’s Brickyard section, brings 19 years of experience as a licensed clinical social worker. As a Black man who has struggled with depression and anxiety but “didn’t always have the language to put behind it,” he knew when he obtained more understanding, he needed to share it.
“Once l really started to understand how I’m showing up mentally and emotionally, which impacted me physically and spiritually, I realized I had no choice but to really be in
community. And really share not only my experience but the professional experience that I’ve accumulated to [the] community,” he elaborated.
What led Roundtree to want to start this group? It was partially a recognition of societal pressures and roles commonly associated with gender, playing a huge part in the ways mental health manifests in a person’s life.
He gave the example of how men are expected to “chase a bag” and get money, leading them to business, law, and other male-dominated career fields. With all the success they obtain, he says many can still be quite unfulfilled and may not be able to actually understand why.
But, as a Black man, there’s also the Black mental health component, which is the collective Black experience of trauma in America that is commonly and deeply understated.
He recognizes that Black folks are expected to perform happiness and joy through any societal and historical factors, like poverty, food deserts, and racial oppression, even though they severely impact our well-being every day. Roundtree details this experience, and his own, in his 2018 TEDx Wilmington talk, which still holds true presently.
And in these group talks, Roundtree looks to support fellas in whatever way he can, mentally and emotionally, by letting them talk about what is impacting them. But he also wants to be sure they’re aware of the things positively influencing them.
“It’s so easy to talk about all the negative things that’s impacting us,” Roundtree said. “But when we start to focus on the healthy things, those are gonna be the things that sustain us. Those are gonna be the things that bring us peace.”
And he’s under no disillusionment, nor wants anyone to be, that people are happy 24/7, but rather that people should be able to feel a variety of emotions and sit with and process them the most effective ways they can.
He also hopes to check in with them physically, sharing a prior experience where he called in a favor from a friend to bring nurses in to do some wellness checks, leading one young man to learn he had dangerously elevated blood pressure levels that prompted an emergency hospital visit.
Roundtree used that moment to help underscore the point of needing to check-in with yourself in a variety of ways. He said, “It’s important for these various needs that we don’t consider because we’re used to just ‘endure, endure, endure,’ which is negatively impacting us.”
From these sessions, Roundtree just hopes all who come feel heard and validated, but also that they can be in a space with each other without judgment.
The #YouGoodMan? men’s group meets on Wednesdays from 6 to 8 p.m. at Umoja House Bookstore, 6338 Germantown Avenue. All men, cis and trans, are welcome. The group will run through the summer. For updates, check out @phil_roundtree and @umoja_house on Instagram.
You May Also Like
