#freediegray

First, thank you all so much for bearing with us during our hiatus. What started off as a small blog to entertain our classmates and fellow Loyola students has turned into something so much greater; we love the community of psychologists in training that this blog has created. So, thank you.

We wanted to publicly address a comment that we received while we were posting about the Freddie Gray case and the protests in Baltimore. Frankly, it did not sit well with us and we wanted to address how we perceived the comment and publicly provide our reaction, as we felt some others may have similar opinions. It stated:

“I am disappointed with all the violence in the world, but would look to this page for some relief while in school..now it seems as if every time I look, it is a sad reminder of the violent world we live in…can you guys find a better balance better the sad nature of the news and funny struggles of being a grad student? thanks…”

We truly appreciate everyone who has supported us while we have taken breaks from making jokes about our graduate school lives to recognize some of the current events that are taking place in the world. With that, we also knew that some others would not appreciate us commenting on current events, as that was not the original purpose of the blog. However, as we love joking about our circumstances, we could not simply focus on the “struggle” of being a graduate student, particularly when injustice is staring straight back at us, influencing our personal lives and the lives of the clients that we serve; joking about being a student, a privilege we have, was very trivial.

Throughout the years, we have posted almost 4,000 posts. These posts are humorous and the blog has truly allowed us to endure some pretty stressful situations. We have, maybe, posted 30 posts on current events, and I am confused as to how this “balance” is inexcusable to some.

In addition, as a person of color, I don’t have the privilege of just ignoring what is going on, particularly in regards to racism and discrimination. While I can imagine it is painful for others to recognize it and view it, and I am sure continually viewing being exposed to certain issues are a “sad reminder” of the violent world for some, it is a constant reality for many people…myself included. I cannot just turn off the television or hope to visit a blog when I decide I am done viewing and experiencing the pain felt from certain situations; I cannot just go about my life as if some things and some issues are not occurring.

As someone who is white, I recognize that I have the privilege of turning off the TV and choosing not to think about the injustices that so many people face every single day. It is far easier and more comfortable to ignore or deny that my friends and clients might live such painful realities. But it isn't right, and therefore I do not want to ignore it. It is my responsibility (everyone's responsibility) to pay attention, speak up, and stand up. And this blog has been one venue where I've been able to do that, albeit in a small way.

So, our blog may not solely focus on joking about various situations faced in graduate school (which we love doing and will continue doing, by the way). If that offends any of you or you do not like what we have to say, then please feel free to unfollow us. While we LOVE all of our followers and supporters, we are not going to sit and ignore certain issues, regardless of how difficult it may for some of you to be “reminded” of certain things that are happening in the world.

We are psychologists in training, and that means we need to continually strive towards being culturally competent clinicians. To me, that also means that I use my knowledge, and sometimes this forum, to bring awareness to certain issues, particularly as they affect certain cultural groups. Personally, I work with many African American clients that live in Baltimore city, and aside from affecting my personal life, the current events affected their lives as well; this was discussed daily amongst various individuals in my personal and professional life. It was nothing we could ignore, and not posting about it felt so inconsiderate to what was going on all around us.

So, we say all that to say, we will continue to post about current events, also being open to accepting  submissions from you all. We cannot keep track of everything that is going on, and we would love to bring awareness to a variety of issues and injustices going on across the country and world. We thank you for those who have supported us throughout the years, and if individuals decide to no longer follow our journey, then we thank you for your support as well.

Thank you for being patient with us, and we will continue with our posts tomorrow.