Atlanta-based mental health magazine aims to raise $30,000 by June 1.

Atlanta — May 1st, 2019 Ourselves Black, a print and online magazine focused on mental health as it relates to black communities, announces a Kickstarter campaign to continue its production of engaging and visually appealing online content as well as fund the production of its second print issue.

The magazine, launched in 2017 (after a transition from blackmentalhealthnet.com), aims to expand and inspire conversations around black mental health and issued its first print issue in December 2018. Its online home, ourselvesblack.com, features stunning photography, artist profiles, interviews with mental health experts, perspectives from people with lived experience with mental illness, articles exploring timely, relevant topics, a podcast hosted by the magazine’s founder and chief editor, Dr. Sarah Y. Vinson and an innovative feature Field Notes, an online community to share ideas about achieving or maintaining mental wellness.

“The daily stressors unique to black people impact our place on the mental health – mental illness continuum and amplify the consequences of unaddressed psychological issues,” said Vinson, an Ivy League-trained psychiatrist who received her undergraduate education at Florida A&M University, a historically black institution. “It is self-defeating to conform to the predominant narrative, and confining our dialogue about mental health to hushed stigma-laden discussions of mental illness hinders us in shaping our own. Ourselves Black is a place where we own the narrative and are unapologetic about our goal: to share imagery and tell stories infused with knowledge that promotes Black mental health.”

The coffee-table quality, offset print magazine and the online content’s high quality depend on contributions from professional writers, photographers and content editors, all paid professionals. Ourselves Black’s $30,000 Kickstarter campaign goal will allow staff to continue producing the online magazine, blog, podcast, social media engagement and Field Notes, an online community to share ideas about achieving or maintaining mental wellness. An additional $7,000 will allow for the production of a second print issue.

For more information about the magazine and the campaign, visit the Ourselves Black Kickstarter Page.