#michell c. clark

You didn't decide to silence yourself—somebody made you feel like speaking up for yourself was unsafe. Be kind to yourself as you rediscover your voice.

I’m tired of conversations about mental health that ignore the impact of surviving a world where healthcare can bankrupt you, wages can’t cover rent, and climate change threatens your future. Individual solutions can’t fix collective problems. Without proper nuance, ‘self-care’ rhetoric shifts blame for systemic problems onto individual people. You can’t meditate your way out of medical debt. Positive thinking won’t raise the minimum wage. Sometimes the most caring thing you can do is get angry at the right systems.

I don’t want wellness practices that teach me to be at peace with an inequitable world. I need practices that help me to stay sane while doing my part to fight against it. If it makes you compliant to injustice, it’s not healing—it’s sedation.

“Healing or Hiding?”