The Oreo Archives

Depression, anxiety, suicide, and mental illness , in general, are not popular topics of conversation in black families. So when you're black and sharing a life with one of these mother f-ers, it can be a very lonely world. And with the way we tend to avoid these topics as a country, it can be a few steps past lonely, a leap across overwhelming, and just plain unbearable. And  holiday season can add a little salt to your hidden wound(s). Personal Struggle My family is filled  with mental illnesses - from bipolar disorder to drug addiction to ptsd - but we don't discuss it much. So fittingly, I've struggled with depression since I was very young (due to unexpected, unfortunate events), never really brought it up, and didn't handle it well. Fast forward to middle school, I started testing the alcoholic waters, thinking my friends and I were fun and cool. I went to a park with a couple friends and drank probably two-thirds of a bottle of flavored-vodka in less t...

On even the most average days, I can always expect to give the "Um....what?" look at least once. Yesterday was no exception. I work for one of those grocery delivery companies for extra cash in my spare time, and I was out and about yesterday shopping a couple of orders at H-E-B. My first order was around 1, so the grocery store wasn't super busy and the order didn't have a ton of items. So of course the second I smell someone cooking, I make a beeline straight for the sample ladies. I didn't want to look greedy or as hungry as I really was (especially since I had that company shirt on), so I stood behind this black mom and her son (yes, I had to add that she's black - you'll see why soon). Her husband and daughter were around the corner, standing out of the way. The mom was clearly talking back and forth to every person of the family, making sure she got everyone a sample; her little girl even ran over (in her precious 'big girl' boots) a couple o...