Today I am joined by 1/2 Co-hosts of Thinking Out Loud Podcast, Ben Acquaah.

Thinking Out Loud is a podcast that explores the unspoken truths about grief, mental health, masculinity and much more from the perspective of Black British male voices.

Representation in the bereavement and grief space is very low so when i stumbled across Ben and Jermaine I just knew I had to get them in the room. 

Ben joins me to talk about his mum who died in hospital from Kidney failure in 2015, he opens up about the impact grief has had on him as a young man studying at College at the time and now as he co-exists without his mum in his 20s. 

We discuss the need for increasing conversations around grief within the school environment so that there is a wider awareness of grief starting from a young age. 

Ben reflects that there is nothing wrong with men talking about their emotions and mental health, being vulnerable is a good thing but it is important to choose carefully who to be vulnerable with as not everyone can hold a safe space when it comes to grief.

Today's food for thought, are our white counterparts better at talking about their emotions in comparison to black communities?  This is something we have explored in series 1 that has popped up again. You might want to consider the following aspects culture, systemic racism, faith, heritage, lack of opportunities and representation, as well as poor access to therapy and mental health support. 

You can listen to Thinking Out Loud Podcast on Spotify or Google.

You can also find Thinking Out Loud on instagram. 

As always thank you for listening.

Your host

Callsuma Ali