Meet Morris.

My name is Morris. I am active duty military, about to retire next month. I was raised that you do what you got to do. Because the world don’t care about anxiety. The world don’t care about depression. The world is going to keep going with you functioning or you not functioning. So take care of your family. Take care of yourself.

Iron sharpens iron.
I come from a very proud, masculine family where not only the guys were tough, the women were tough, too. What’s the old cliché? Iron sharpens iron. They weren’t always positive, but they definitely prepared me to handle adversity. That’s what I grew up with and realized that that’s the best approach for some things, but not the only approach.

You never know what a person’s situation or what their breaking point is.
There’s still a part of me that — I’m not saying is good — there are certain situations where I don’t understand why a person can’t just rise above. And that’s not always right, because you never know what a person’s situation or what their breaking point is. But I was conditioned that things just happen. And how you come out of it is dependent solely on you. You might have people to come to. But only you can pull yourself out of your situation because there are people that are there to support you.

 I’ve lost two family members from COVID.
One was 27 years old, no prior existing things. He got sick and three days later he was gone. The other was slightly older, had health conditions. They got sick and they were gone. It was just shocking. And isn’t fair. A person that was doing the right thing gets it and isn’t one of the ones that makes it. To lose him so young was devastating.

I’ve gotten better at showing my emotions rather than holding it in.
I think as a Black male in today’s society, we have to get rid of that taboo of “if you show emotions, you’re a punk.” I think you’re more of a man to show your emotions rather than letting your emotions control you.

As far as us as a Black male community, instead of tearing each other down or calling each other soft, I think we need to get rid of the “crab in a barrel” mentality. We tear each other down faster than white people do. That’s something that has always been there before I was born, is going to be there after I’m gone unless we start having more Black role models that aren’t athletes or rappers. It starts at home. If a child starts getting in trouble, you can connect. Like, “If you need me, call me. Don’t lash out. Don’t attach yourself to gangs or the streets out there because you don’t know how to deal with what you’re dealing with.” It takes a village.

If you notice someone not acting the same way, all you have to do is just say, “Hey, is everything okay?” And that might keep that person going. Or you might get them to open up because they’re bursting at the seams.

Every day that you open your eyes, you have a chance to make it better.
Every day that you take a breath, that’s a new day. Every day that you hurt, that means that you’re still alive. Don’t give up. Because you’re important to someone. They might not have told you, but you’re important to your family, a friend, a coworker. You are loved and you will always be loved.

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