Black History Month 2024

This Black History Month, we’ve collated resources on Black representation in gaming, mental health resources and personal mental health journeys.

Mental Health Resources

It’s important to recognise that due to systemic racism, Black, Indigenous and People of Colour are often misdiagnosed, or underrepresented within mental health conversations and systems across the world. There is also a link to socioeconomic factors rooted in racism that have lead to inequity within the mental health space, including increased levels of poverty, lack of accessibility, and distrust in the systems created without Black people in mind. We must collectively uplift BIPOC voices in mental health. The MHA have an article with more information on racism and mental health here.

USA-based

BlackLine – 1 (800) 604-5841 – 24/7 Text or Call Hotline: a space for peer support, counseling, witnessing and affirming the lived experiences to folxs who are most impacted by systematic oppression with an LGBTQ+ Black Femme Lens.

DeQH – 908-367-3374 – Hotline for South Asian/Desi LGBTQ individuals, family, and friends.

Therapy for Black Girls – run by Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, this support resource includes a mental health podcast, looking to create more accessible information and discussions for Black women. The website includes a welcoming community, and a search function for therapists (both virtual and in-person) local to you.

BEAM (Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective) – national training, movement building and grant making institution dedicated to the healing, wellness and liberation of Black and marginalised communities.

Asian Mental Health Project – educates and empowers pan-Asian communities to seek mental-health services by hosting mostly virtual wellness events, weekly check-ins that function as support groups, and workshops with speakers.

Therapy for Black Men – born from the idea that Black men and boys face unique challenges and stigmatization, and therefore need a dedicated space for seeking and finding mental health support, and has been able to provide $70,000+ free therapy to Black Men in the USA.

Black Men Heal – a 501c3 grassroots nonprofit organization offering up to 8 free therapy sessions for Black men.

National Queer & Trans Therapists of Color Network – a healing justice organization committed to transforming mental health for queer and trans people of color.

The Loveland Foundation – committed to showing up for communities of color in unique and powerful ways, with a particular focus on Black women and girls, with a Therapy Fund for those who need it.

Mental Health Fund for Queer & Trans BIPOC – designed to address the economic barriers inherent in healthcare and the mental health system by providing financial assistance.

Resources to Empower Asian and Pacific Islander Communities – a list of organizations and resources focused on addressing the needs of the API community.

WeRNative – a comprehensive health resource for Native youth, by Native youth, providing content and stories about the topics that matter most to them.

EBONY’s State-By-State Resources – a list of Black owned and focused mental health resources.

Melanin and Mental Health – connecting people with Black and Latinx mental health providers, free resources and BIPOC creators in the mental health space.

UK-based

Black Minds Matter – a charity operating in the UK; connecting Black individuals and families with free mental health services by professional Black therapists to support their mental health.

BAATN (Black, African and Asian Therapy Network) – home of the largest community of Counsellors and Psychotherapists of Black, African, Asian and Caribbean Heritage in the UK.

Rainbow Noir – a volunteer-led social group, we celebrate, elevate and advocate for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer and/or Intersex people of colour (LGBTQI PoC).

Global

ASHA International – founded by Gayathri Ramprasad, ASHA is the culmination of a promise to deliver international information, tools, and messages of hope.

Mendu – an app aimed to empower, boost unique voices and uplift women of colour.

Industry Champions

Safe In Our World’s Leveling the Playing Field in BIPOC Mental Health highlights outstanding individuals creating positive change in the games industry, responsible for founding companies and non-profits aiming to provide more equitable opportunities for marginalized people.

Black Girl Gamers is an award-winning community of over 10,000 Black women gamers, who advocate for diversity, inclusion and equity in gaming and online spaces.

NNESAGA is an award-winning gaming and entertainment company, who worked with Forbes to bring attention to ways to support Black female founders build their legacy. In this article, they share powerful statistics including that 80% of Black women find that their ethnicity has a strong impact on their business and less than 1% of venture capital is invested in businesses that are Black-owned.

Limit Break Mentorship has also taken strides in a more equitable industry, creating an inclusive mentorship programme to uplift marginalized game developers and industry folk.

Theresa Johnson has previously shared her journey with Safe In Our World on conquering her impostor syndrome and embracing her identity as a Black game developer. She shares vulnerable moments in her career pathway highlighting the lack of diversity in the industry as a whole. Read more about Theresa’s journey here.

Mikayla Sinead, a Safe In Our World Patron, also shared her experiences from Develop:Brighton in how industry folk can take steps to be more welcoming and supportive of marginalized people in our industry, detailing her personal account here.

You can listen to our Patron Cassie Hughes, who consistently uplifts under-represented and marginalized creators through her work with Black Twitch UK and Nox Lumina, talk about her impactful work on this episode of the Safe Space Podcast.

Demi Fortson also appeared on the Safe Space Podcast, sharing her work in creating more authentic discussions around therapy, using her app Mendü which was designed and created in mind for diverse women. She talks about the inaccessibility of counselling, and highlights tools in which we can adapt to better suit our needs.

Nigel Twumasi, Patron of Safe In Our World talks here about his campaign ‘Do I Look Like a Gamer’, which challenges the stereotypes of what ‘gamers’ look like, and highlights the importance of representation and diversity in games.

Representation in video games

It’s been a long known issue to many folks in the industry that Black hair is wildly mis or un-represented in video games, and only an estimated 4% of game developers identifying as Black.

Last year, Dove created a new initiative called ‘Code my Crown’ which included an open source afro hair library, as well as a guide to the creation and celebration of Black hair textures and protective styles in video games.

In March 2024 at GDC, Isaac Olander talked extensively about the current state of representation for Black characters, and why it continues to pose a challenge to get right for some developers. Isaac is responsible for having created models for titles including League of Legends and Marvel’s Spider-Man series. Learn more about Isaac’s talk here.

A Patron of Safe In Our World, Danielle Udogaranya, has also made huge leaps in Black representation through her work with The Sims on creating more diverse skin tones, afro hair and nails. We recently spoke to Dani on the Safe Space podcast about her latest work with The Sims; the Urban Homage kit. You can hear more about that here.

There are a wealth of resources and people doing fantastic work to make positive change that uplifts Black creators and industry folk, and would love to signpost more as the month continues.