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“Just breathe,” they say.
How do you breathe when the weight of racism, expectations and survival sits heavy on your chest?
For Black youth across Canada, stress isn’t just about grades, social life or future goals. It’s also about being misunderstood in classrooms, by police, in public spaces, overlooked in healthcare and tokenized at work. It’s the tool of microaggressions, generational trauma and constantly being expected to “rise above”. That kind of pressure doesn’t just affect the mind; it lives in the body.
So how do you care for yourself when you’re carrying so much?
The answer isn’t always easy, but it begins with this truth: You deserve rest. You deserve joy. You deserve a space to be well even in a world that often tells you otherwise.
Why self-care matters for emotional resilience:
Research on race-based traumatic stress reveals that repeated racial trauma can produce symptoms similar to PTSD: chronic anxiety, hypervigilance, depression and lowered quality of life. Coping mechanisms that buffer the impact include social support, ethnic identity, mindfulness and problem focused coping strategies.
Toronto based initiative, Catharsis, a culturally responsive program, showed promising results. Black youth participants reported enhanced emotional intelligence, better coping mechanisms for systemic stress and stronger overall mental health thanks to trauma-informed culturally aligned programming.
Here are a few evidence informed practices rooted in mental health research and culturally responsive youth programs:
- Strengthen your support network
Studies consistently highlight social support from family, peers and mentors as a key moderator against the negative effects of discrimination. Seek out trusted friends, community groups or cultural mentors who understand your experiences.
- Practice problem-focused coping
Rather than avoidance, frame distress as something you can act on. Whether it’s asserting boundaries or speaking up, problem-focused coping is linked to better emotional outcomes.
- Cultivate ethnic pride and cultural identity
A strong ethnic identity serves as a protective factor, reducing the psychological impact of racism. Cultural connection through art, music, reading or storytelling builds resilience.
The weight of systemic stress is real, but so is your resilience. Research shows that when Black youth engage in culturally affirming self-care backed by community, identity affirmation and trauma awareness programming, they strengthen not just their individual mental health, but the collective well-being of their communities.
You don’t just deserve care, you deserve culturally rooted equitable care, and that’s exactly what research says you need.
Lavanya Kathirgamanathan is one of the Writers for this year’s publication at Black Voice. She’s a recent graduate from Toronto Metropolitan University, where she studied Journalism and will further her education in Human Resources at George Brown College. Lavanya has experience writing for multiple publications and has her own food blog on social media. Lavanya’s main goal as a writer for the Black Voice publication is to showcase Black excellence within the community, and in the city of Toronto.