Kofi Siriboe Talks Mental Health

Let’s sprinkle some more black girl magic or should I say some more magic within the black community.

You may know Kofi Siriboe from his debut in “Girls Trip”, who could forget that face? Siriboe has decided to take up the conversation about mental health within the black community, in a new short film he made called,”WTF Is Mental Health.” This is his first time being behind camera and showing off his skills in production and directing. Siriboe’s short documentary film has hit home for him because he struggles with his own mental health situations.

This battle is not something unknown within the black community, it is just something we rather not speak about. It is something we ignore, it is almost as if you are plagued with an omen and no one wants to discuss it. “WTF Is Mental Health” brings us visuals of seven young black people who struggle with this day to day battle. You can seem to “have it all”, but even Siriboe had confessed that at the peak of his career there was this uneasy feeling of anxiety and depression that he could not shake off. In a exclusive interview with the Huffington post Kofi had said, “Making WTF Is Mental Health? has been a part of a healing process for me, one I’m still exploring. It’s the companion piece to Jump, a short film I made after a mentor and big brother figure died by suicide, just before I got the call that I’d been cast in Queen Sugar. I started working on this beautiful, emotional show and felt how liberating it was to channel my fears into art. As I began to mold Jump, I realized the true conversation I was craving centered on young black people who are figuring out this mental health thing, too.”

Kofi has used his platform to show others the importance of having an outlet to express emotions that a lot of people in the black community do not have access to. We all stress out over small or big implications that happen in our lives, but what steps do you take to ease your mind and control erotic behaviors that leave you and your body uneasy? Mental health is real and we need to address it and take care of our bodies everyday.