Terrie Williams: Testimony on 'Black Pain'

In Williams' line of business, it's all about relationships; in her new book, 'Black Pain: It Just Looks Like We're Not Hurting,' (Scribner), she not only outlines her battle with depression but coralles regular folks and celebrities alike to talk how mental illness has affected their lives.

Black folk, especially, says Williams, have a specific historical context which makes our relationship with mental illness unique:

"Can you imagine how heavy the weight of all that trauma must have been in the hearts, minds, and souls of our ancestors? She asks. "They had no outlet in which to express it and no proper means of processing it. Instead of airing our dirty laundry and getting help for our issues we engage in behaviors that are harmful to ourselves or others such as crime, violence, promiscuous sex, eating disorders, drug and alcohol abuse, workaholism, shopaholism, gambling, in order to cope, and it's killing us," says Williams. source