Adam Levine-Peres, aka Project Bronx, is known for making videos covering topics as far ranging as mansplaining and gentrification. In his most recent video, he’s decided to focus on something a little closer to home: mental health.
In his video “My Journey with Mental Health,” the native Nuyorican talks about his family history with mental health issues as well as his current experience with depression.
“I would wake up some days and dead just feel sad for no reason at all,” he said. “I’d blame myself and tell myself ‘yo, snap out of it, nothing’s wrong’ … it’s frustrating.”
He also said he wanted to accept his off days and go with the flow with his mental illness, in order to accept that it’s just as much a part of him as his big days are.
Levine-Peres told CASSIUS that while he was hesitant about posting the video, the feedback he’s received has been incredibly positive. One thing he noted is that women are more likely to leave public comments and men commend him in private. He made the video because he wants other young men of color to see that they are not alone when it comes to their mental health and it’s time to do something about it.
“We live in a culture where toxic masculinity is super pervasive and we (men) often mask our emotions because we are taught to be ‘strong’ and anything that deviates from that troupe is considered weak,” he told CASSIUS. “Many Black and Latinx men are raised in an environment of hyper masculinity and many of us ‘fake it till we make it’ in that world, we are not allowed to feel our full range of emotions and that is damaging to us.”
You can watch the video down below.
