What It's Like to Be ADHD and Black

There are many factors that affect our lived experience of ADHD. This is the first in a series of videos that will explore what it's like to be ADHD *and.* Given what's going on in this country, I thought it was important to start with what it's like to be ADHD and Black.

00:00 Intro
01:57 Meet The Brains
05:42 Mental Health And The Black Community
10:00 Masking and Code-Switching
12:32 Dealing With Discrimination
19:09 Moving Forward
24:04 Outro
25:03 Endcard

LINKS (in order of introduction):

Romanza McAllister, LCSW Social Action Influencer
ADHD Coach & Race Equity Advocate
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Diyah Najah
Artist & Educator
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Roxanne Jarrett
Creative Productivity Facilitator
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Joseph Gitau
Writer/musician/blogger
@MisWiredKE
--
Loucresie Rupert MD
Child Psychiatrist/ blogger /consultant
--
Michelle Ford
Geek of mythic proportions
@mythicgeek
--
Junotta, BSc Nutrition
@ADHD_JC
--
Stacey Machelle
Comic/ADHD Advocate
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Autistic Tyla
Autism Advocate / Founder B+ND
--
Corey T Queen
The Dad Bod Podcast creator
@CoreyQ_2point0 (IG and Twitter)
--
Inger Shaye
ADHD & Executive Coach
--
Kini Foster
Software Engineer
--
René Brooks

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For more education on racism, as suggested by our community:
YouTube

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Music for "What It's Like to Be ADHD and Black:"
"The Show Must Be Go”
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

[PinkyToeThief]

Before I even watch this video, I just want to say I teared up seeing the thumbnail and title. As a black girl who's been misunderstood for all 20 years of my life, I never thought I'd ever see a video like this in my subscription feed.

Thank you.

[clayb.]

I'm a Black man and I've struggled with severe inattentive ADHD my entire life. Before diagnosis, earning my degree felt like crawling over broken glass toward a goal that was seemingly always *just* out of my grasp. I thought I was stupid; I believed I was lazy and incompetent.
About two years ago, my therapist, in an attempt to help me better understand what I was up against, emailed me a link to YouTube channel that was dedicated to ADHD and how to live alongside it. I've been watching these videos and attempting to implement these skills and new thinking ever since. Eventually, I earned that degree and even landed a job working for the first Black Mayor of Saint Paul, MN.
I cannot overstate how significant and deeply validating it is to see other Black men and women facing what I'm facing. My sincere ask is that you continue to raise up people of color and allow more people to experience what I just did.
Representation matters. Thank you for sharing these stories, Jessica.

[ahmedoluwa]

As a nigerian, the hardest part was that the people doing the labelling were my parents

[lee-sqob]

Black girl with ADHD here who would not have survived grad school without this channel. FYI, also, both Solange and SZA have ADHD! So black women with ADHD, we're in great company. Don't underestimate your own brilliance. 💕💕

[frequencyreached]

I’m not even 2 minutes into this video and I’m tearing up because I feel less alone dealing with this. I didn’t get diagnosed until I was 30 because Black girls are under diagnosed. This made life so much harder. Ugh I can’t explain the joy it gives me know there are other that look like me and have the same experiences.

[mayanightstar]

"literally forgot I had an ADHD diagnosis"
THAT IS SUCH AN ADHD MOOD THOUGH

[lance]

I would 100% watch a 5 hour version of this. No question about it.

[smrobot]

Thank you. I am tears. As an African American man I feel alone with these issues. Glad to hear that I am not alone. It’s been real hard these past few months. Thank you

[AUnicorn]

Jessica: "I wanted to Include more but it would have honestly been 5 hours long"
Me: 5 HOURS OF THIS? GIMME!

[splash]

It’s almost as if black parents think mental health doesn’t exist. I’ve literally had my aunt say “why would anyone in our family be depressed? that’s white ppl issues”

[AUnicorn]

Jessica: "we will be donating all proceeds throughout july to organizations that specifically benefit mental health and the black community"
Me: proceeds to play her videos all the time for the rest of the month

[aliyaha]

when she said “how many streets am i at the intersection of?” that hit hard man

[Kpop]

As someone who just discovered this channel and a possible diagnosis, this couldn't have come at a better time.

[jacquelinevictoria]

This is a fantastic example of how white creators can leverage their platforms to elevate the voices and experiences of POC. Great stuff as always, Jessica!

[renegarza]

This is really cool. In Latino culture, ADHD and mental illness is not taking seriously. I was told that It’s all just in your head and my experience was never taken seriously of given the attention it deserves. That’s why this channel is so valuable to people who live in cultures like that. Thank you for using your platform to be more inclusive! We need more of this in the world

[RubixPsyche]

The visual of ADHD being "white boys only" hurts those that don't fit that visual. So far we've seen either the gender or age difference preventing people from being diagnosed and recieving help, so I'm incredibly happy that we now have a video addressing how *race* also affects this.

Exposure and spreading awareness can only help us, those of us that have been diagnosed, and those that have yet to.

[priyas]

I have adhd and aspergers and I'm so happy you're having this conversation with the black community. Maybe one day you can have this talk about neurodiversity in the Asian American community

[tbaby]

This made me cry, as a black female it’s hard because black culture just doesn’t recognize ADHD

[mr_mykal]

I didn't even think to think I had ADHD my whole life because I always did pretty well in school, until I hit a wall in my third year of college. I didn't even realize all the support systems I had set up before then, and they all came tumbling down because I didn't have any close friends in my classes anymore, didn't have my parents to rely on for reminding me and keeping me accountable either, and I just spiraled because I was too afraid to reach out to help from my counselors or professors.

It was then I found Pina's ADHD comics and your videos and went, "uh oh", when I resonated with me, I took a couple (several, really) online evaluations, and I've just been kinding ignoring them all telling "uh, you really should get that checked out" because I'm incredibly afraid I don't have ADHD and I'm just and lazy, flakey, and have no passion. I struggled so hard with this because I've always been incredible insecure about my intelligence and struggled with being "amazing" because it felt like it was the only way to be perceived as valuable as a black person.

[veronicaaragon]

"Literally forgot about my ADHD diagnosis" the most ADHD thing I've ever heard