GRAMBLING, La (KTVE/KARD)– Grambling State University partnered with The Boris L. Henson Foundation to bring a mental health day to its students. The day included activities like yoga, dancing, and meditation.
Dr. Kevin Washington, an associate professor of psychology at GSU, told us more about the event. “The day focuses on African American college students that are experiencing a great deal of duress around the country. This was an idea of having 10 sites across the country in the 10th month of the year. So they recognized that HBCUs were under bomb threat earlier this year, so they said, “Why not have a day where students can pull back.”
Washington also told us about ways you can work on your mental health. “There has long been a stigma associated with mental health in the black community.” So this is one of those ways to eradicate that particular stigma by showing that mental health occurs on multiple levels. One is, of course, taught in therapy. I am also a licensed psychologist, but also through movement and through the process of having psycho-educational discussions.
Ka’le Hogue, a Grambling student and African dance teacher, told us about how dance helps her mental health. “It really frees your mind because you’re learning how to do something different that probably a lot of people have not learned yet, so you’re not really thinking about things that are going on or a class you have to take or tests that are coming up.”
The University does plan to make this an annual event.
