Your world with Dr. Beatrice Hyppolite
Hello,
I am Dr. Marie Beatrice Hyppolite. I hold a doctorate in Health Science with emphasis on Global Health and master’s degree in social work. I have over 14 years of experience in the field of health and human services.
This podcast is primarily focused on mental health and the quality-of-life elements that affect it such as divorce, death, domestic violence, trauma, toxic relationships, and single parenthood to name a few. It is no secret that mental health challenges continue to profoundly impact modern society although not enough discussion is given due to stigma. Research has shown an increase of 25 % in mental health crises after COVID-19. It is important to have honest, uncomfortable conversations about mental health while being supportive. Although we are interdependent, change begins with the individual, hence “your world.”
I welcome you to join me on my journey and look forward to your responses.
Your world with Dr. Beatrice Hyppolite
Black Boys, Strong Minds
The data is loud, but the silence around it has been louder—until now. We sit down with Mr. Mahess Bennett, a veteran, educator, social worker, and father, to face a hard reality: Black boys are carrying trauma in a world that often reads their pain as defiance. Together, we unpack why depression can look like anger, how anxiety can sound like constant vigilance, and what happens when kids normalize violence because no one offers a safer script. The point isn’t doom. It’s a blueprint.
Mr. Bennett shares the vision behind Art of Valor and Project Manhood, two efforts that blend creative healing and practical skills. Art therapy gives boys a way to process without pressure—through color, collage, and music—while safe circles teach emotional intelligence, communication, and self-respect. Then we get concrete: financial literacy, trades training, and entrepreneurship as real alternatives to fast money. Mr. Bennett drops a memorable reframe—a job as “jumpstart our business”—and we explore how to use steady income to fund a future, not just survive a present.
We also tackle the trust gap head-on: with so few Black clinicians, representation isn’t a buzzword, it’s access. We talk family dynamics without shaming single parents, centering what truly helps—consistent love, boundaries, and mentors who look like the boys they guide. And we refuse to ignore the quiet strivers. The artist, the scholar, the athlete still need community, visibility, and resources to thrive.
If you care about youth mental health, safer neighborhoods, and giving boys a path from anger to agency, this conversation is for you. Listen, share it with someone who needs hope and a plan, and leave a review so more people can find these tools. Then tell us: what resource would have changed your teen years?
Hello everyone, I'm Dr. Beatrice Hippolyte, and this is your world. Hello everyone, welcome back to a brand new episode of Your World with Dr. Beatrice Hippolyte. Today we are honored to have with us a special guest, and the subject that we're gonna talk about is uh pretty impressive as well, a very important one. Black boys and mental health. Without even saying more, so let me ensure you everybody, my special guest, Mr. Mahes Bennett Bennett. I said it right?
SPEAKER_01:You did.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, so welcome to the show. Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_01:I appreciate it. Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, so I would like you know for you to tell the viewers who you are.
SPEAKER_01:Who am I? Oh, that's a good question. Who am I? Uh again, my name is Mahes Bennett. Uh I'm a father, uh a veteran, uh, I'm also a teacher at Francis Lewis High School in Queens. Uh I'm a social worker, I'm an artist, I'm a writer, uh, you know, uh a published author, uh husband, and black man.
SPEAKER_00:I like that. A black man in the house.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, ma'am.
SPEAKER_00:And you said that you are a veteran, so how many years did you serve?
SPEAKER_01:I actually served 20 years. 20 years exactly. No, no, no more, no less. 20 years. Yes. I actually joined in 2001, in f in March of 2001, and uh my last week before I graduated, advanced individual training. Uh, I was about to go to Germany. I had orders for Germany, and 9-11 happened. So I joined the year of 9-11. Uh in September came around, I was in AIT and I was about to take my family to Germany, and my orders changed to Fort Hood because 9-11 happened. And if you know, Fort Hood is a uh more infantry-heavy unit and deployers. So uh yeah, we went from a relaxing duty station to a more heavy deployment-heavy duty station. So, yeah, and then in 2003, oh 2004, we ended up deploying um to Iraq. And uh, yeah, so that's where we are.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, thank you for your service.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you for your support. I appreciate that.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, so and I've noticed you also have uh a nonprofit organization.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, it's called Art of Valor Incorporated, and we do art therapy for veterans. Uh it's it's for anyone, but it's focused on veterans because we want to help our veterans uh deal with some of the trauma and uh depression and uh PTSD that they may experience. And or even if you're not suffering from that, just to help veterans have a place that they can go to to express themselves artistically.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, so you already know you will have to come back to the show because that will be a great uh subject to talk about and to inform everybody about, because not too many people, you know, they know the word veterans, but they don't really know the service, the time that they put and what they go to, you know, what they go through and the services that uh they may be looking for while they are nowhere to be found. So it's very important.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, actually, you know, and veterans they also sometimes people, not just veterans, but people who are going through uh different trauma, they don't have a way to express themselves or they they may feel uncomfortable expressing themselves a certain way. So that's why I bring art therapy in a way that they can use a different method. Maybe they don't they may not want to do a therapy session where it's it's vocal. So sometimes you use an art and you don't have to be an artist to do art therapy. You can do art therapy through just just uh just just expressing yourself through colors, through through uh collages and and what have you. Drawing drawing and different types of sculpture. So there's different ways, and music therapy goes with that as well. So, you know, we find different ways to to uh help our veterans. So that's another okay.
SPEAKER_00:That's another topic. So today, you know, we want to talk about the black boys and mental health, why this topic is important.
SPEAKER_01:Well, first, I I was once a black boy, so I've experienced knowing, having not having a place to go. Uh, I also have black boys who are not black men, but uh, you know, I raised black men. But um, you know, I know that they I know, and also I work with black boys. So I know that we don't have the same opportunities that other counterparts, our counterparts have, you know, as far as uh resources and and uh uh even support, support uh in and the community support. So uh we it's our responsibility, my responsibility as a black man to provide an opportunity for black boys in underserviced or under-resourced communities to have a place that they can go and to and to have a community of people to help them express themselves.
SPEAKER_00:Within your organization, do you also have black boys?
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. But specifically black men, black boys, we we we don't have the same, the same, uh, in my opinion, the same opportunities that others have because uh there's a stigma that's placed on us, right? We have also image we we are we are the face of everything negative and we and and things that are positive.
SPEAKER_00:It is unfortunate, but it's a reality.
SPEAKER_01:What's the reality?
SPEAKER_00:When you said we are the face of uh everything that is negative, right?
SPEAKER_01:Right, yes, because you know society kind of puts this this stigma on us, uh, the creating a narrative that's not true necessarily. And um, so I'm here to one, to destroy the negative stereotypes of black boys and black men. And I'm here to provide uh not just to complain about it, but actually provide opportunities for us to be able to express and to and to uh show our power through through creativity, through art, and through, you know, um opportunities.
SPEAKER_00:And uh before I even consider the questions that I have for you, uh Mr. Bennett, there is some alarming statistic that I would like to share with uh the viewers. And I think it's important. According to research, black people are facing a very mental health crisis and the statistic is very alarming. Suicide weights, black youth age 10 to 19. I've seen 54 percent increase in suicides since uh 2018 compared to white uh people between uh 2020 suicide among black youth age uh 10 to 17 jump by 144 percent. That's a large number.
SPEAKER_01:You said 2017 to 100%.
SPEAKER_00:Between 2007 and 2020.
SPEAKER_01:Wow.
SPEAKER_00:Mental health are disparities. Black adolescents are significantly less likely to receive mental health care services due to practical, systemic, and cultural barriers to treatment. About 47% of black Americans under 18 might have a mental health problem, but many face obstacles like stigma, affordability concern, and lack of Medicaid accepting providers. The risk factors, black teens face cultural challenges that can adversely impact mental health, including racial discrimination. The experience of racial discrimination can lead to a feeling of hopelessness and depression. According to research, there is a 39% of black high school students experience a persistent feeling of sadness, and there is a 42% increase from 2009.
SPEAKER_01:You know, I think some of those statistics may feel like a leap, a jump, an increase, but I think that it's probably because you know it was probably always there. We we just we in the black community we just wasn't dealing with it.
SPEAKER_00:Are you trying to say probably was overlooked?
SPEAKER_01:Yes. I think it was overlooked. I think that that wasn't a thing that we did as in in our community back in the days. You know, I know growing up we didn't therapy and and and uh uh dealing with with depression, these words weren't even were used in our community, at least in my personal experience. Um I think a lot of people out there would probably agree with what I'm saying. Um, and I didn't do any the I didn't do the research to to to back that up. But I know that just from my experience that we didn't talk about dealing with with depression, anxiety, um, PTSD uh therapy.
SPEAKER_00:Because there was a serious stigma attached to it. And you know, back in the day, especially for young black men, we were told that we have to be strong. Suck it up. And if you were to complain about depression, they probably will ask you, what the heck you're talking about?
SPEAKER_01:What depression is, there's a there's a misconception of what that is. There's different types of depression. Um there's there's uh you know having a a being depressed because of a reaction to something is one thing, but then having a chemical imbalance in your brain is another thing. You know, where you you suffer from like you can be uh feeling fine, experiencing life beautifully, and then suddenly you just have a your brain just this chemically changes and switches to feeling down, and that and then it comes out different ways. It comes out as anger, it comes out as as sadness, it comes out as different methods. So you may not recognize it. If you see someone acting angry, um you think that they just have a an uh anger management problem. But that could be a sign of a sign of depression, yes. So we have to um really look at at the statistics and and analyze and assess how long have we been feeling this, and and if so, you know, one, you know, it was probably there before, we just didn't know it. And two, now that we know, what do we do about it? Now that we know that this is what we're dealing with, what do we do as a community?
SPEAKER_00:That's that's the most important question. What do we do about it?
SPEAKER_01:Right. Because we can complain about it, so that's what you know, that's what auto valor is.
SPEAKER_00:If you were to answer to that question, what will be your answer?
SPEAKER_01:I was about to get into it here, you know. Um, so I have another project that that I was in development in the in the past, and it's on hold right now, but I will re-regenerate this project. It's called Project Manhood. Um, the word Project is an uh acronym, it stands for providing real opportunities for juniors entering carefully to manhood. Project manhood. And it basically it's creating an environment, creating a safe place for black boys becoming black men to go to to be able to one, express themselves to to deal with the problems they have, be able to be around people that trust and support them, being around other people who are also going through it, um, having professional uh workers there who can be there to help them get navigate through these different emotions and problems and then and um dealing with it and and and be and commit create a community. Create a community.
SPEAKER_00:So one thing that I want to point out to at the beginning, you said that you waste black men. Yes, and you waste two of them with your beautiful wife, Lisa. Don't you think having the presence of two parents in the household can play a very significant role in bringing healthy children?
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely, but before I I elaborate on that, let me say that it doesn't mean that single parents cannot raise you know, we we I want to make that clear. Um, I definitely know plenty of uh strong uh single parents, both male and female, who have raised successful black men and black women. Um with that being said, to answer your question, absolutely I think that having uh two how two parents in the household, um two balanced human beings in the household does help with that, with that. I I was raised by both my mother and father. Um they were together till death that they part. And uh so I know from personal experience as a man, and I have two brothers, so I'm the youngest of three. Um so I have uh old two older brothers, and uh, and and my father and mother raised us, and so I I use them as a template. Um so you know, now that I'm with my wife and we raised two boys, it was very important that they had a strong foundation uh of two household parents. And so, yes, to answer your question, I do think so.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, so let me continue with the statistic: economic inequality, financial hardship, and living in the impoverished conditions can increase stress and limit access to mental health resources. Community violence is also important to consider. According to research, exposure to violence can lead to trauma, which is a significant risk factor for suicidal thoughts and behavior. Access to care. Black Americans historically have been mistreated by the healthcare community, resulting in deep-wooded mistrust of the system. Only 4% of psychologists in the US are black.
SPEAKER_01:Well, there you go.
SPEAKER_00:We need more trans black professionals to work with those black specifics.
SPEAKER_01:Spoically, specifically men. Yes, and that is the reason why I have a master's in social work, for what you just said. And I, you know, I it it's it's important. You know, I was having a conversation with a friend of mine recently, and we talked about, and I grew up in the 70s and 80s in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York. And we saw all kinds of violence, we saw all kinds of death coming up, and it was just our norm. And then now that we're older and we're and we're you know, we have our families and we've moved and we in certain neighborhoods now, we're like, that wasn't normal. That's not something that we should have been used to. But yet we were, you know. Um we we you know, I was used to hearing gunshots in the distance to the point where, you know, when you hear the average person hear gunshots, they they immediately react. I got to the point where I didn't even react quick enough. You know, I'm just like hearing, you say, oh. And then to the point where I was I mean Iraq.
SPEAKER_00:It's like you were accustomed to.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I'm in Iraq hearing mortarons and gunshots in the back, and everybody's ducking, and I'm like, Oh, I I guess I should be ducking now, you know. You know, my reaction time is slower because my my brain was so used to hearing, and that's not normal. Definitely, our black boys should not be used to hearing gunshots, or to be even be a victim. Yes, well, that's a whole nother of gunshots. Yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00:And unfortunately, so it's like we have our boys way too often have access to guns. Yes. And as a result to that, so they will end up in the committed crime and before even know it, so you know, they will be they will be going to jail and prison further down.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and then you know the the thing is we we have to create an environment where they see opportunities or or see uh alternatives to that type of life. We don't have enough uh visual examples for them to look at. And a lot of times when you when you're talking to, if you if you talk to a uh a young man on the street who's making a lot of money from from selling drugs, he's making a lot of money. Um and then you come in, why don't you just stop that and get a job? He's gonna look at you like you're crazy. It's like all this money I make, like I I made more in a week than you're making, than you make in a year. I hear that all the time. Right. So, one, we have to change the the the the narrative that that one, the the money is is first and the foremost, the most important thing. That's the problem. It's the it's it's yeah, money is good, and money, of course, we all want to make money. We all want to be, but that kind of money is but it's also the the the the the quality of life.
SPEAKER_00:You have to most important things.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it's like the quality of life. Like you you you you know your head is on a swivel all the time. You always look over your shoulder, you know. That's that's one thing. Two, you want something that's secure, you want something, and and I'm not here to to push go work for the white man type thing. You know, I'm not saying that either, because I understand the concept of going and working from nine to five, killing yourself, you know, working, working, working 48 hours, 50 hours a week, you know, and then you're making no money, yeah, and and you're tired all the time and you're just looking forward to it.
SPEAKER_00:There is no quality of life while you are out there selling drugs or involved in the world. So there's activities.
SPEAKER_01:There's imbalance. It's somewhere in the middle we have to meet because I don't think either one is the right answer.
SPEAKER_00:I remember, you know, I had a conversation with a boy once. He likes, you know, high-end brand clothes. Right. And I'm like, then what's the point for you to get involved into what you're getting involved to be able to dress to impress while you can dress to impress for six months and you spend another five or eight years in prison. Right.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, exactly. But they don't but they're not thinking about the prison. Like no one thinks they don't get into anything.
SPEAKER_00:Prison will come. Right.
SPEAKER_01:You know, you and I know that.
SPEAKER_00:Whether you like it or not.
SPEAKER_01:Well, you and I know that, but if you're talking to somebody who's doing living that lifestyle, they're not thinking, I'm gonna get caught and go to prison. They don't think about that. And that's the thing. We gotta have our young men think about the bigger picture, think about all the possibilities, think about um, you know, long-term, you know, uh, and you know, so like for example, in schools, no schools are not teaching us about financial literacy, schools are not teaching us about uh how to be entrepreneurs, how to start your own business. That's the kind of mindset. So, yes, I don't I don't want to just tell our boys, go work for somebody and and make their company more money while you get paid chicken scratch. And I also don't want to tell them that the drugs, selling drugs is the answer. So somewhere in the middle, we gotta teach them and you know how to go about starting your own business.
SPEAKER_00:Well, Mr. Bennett, I may not encourage you to go and work for somebody for your entire life, right? But if you didn't have a family member, you know, who had left you some right, right. So you have to start somewhere. Absolutely. If working for somebody four or five years or three years or two years, that's what I need to get where I am to start my business, then I'll do it.
SPEAKER_01:Well, let me let me tell you something. I came up with my own acronym for what job stands for. J-O-B stands for jumpstart our business. So use the job to fund and the time to research your your business and and and and take partial part of your bit your your job money, put it to the side, and start to build your business while you work for SEAS. So that's what so that's what to me a job is, is you know, jump in our business. You know, so you can think of it on that sense that yeah, take a job, work, work for, for I'm not gonna mention any companies, but work for whoever fill in the blank for a while, and then you use that money to build.
SPEAKER_00:And start with your own. I've here sometimes I hear boys who say, I want to start a business, I don't want to go to college. I don't have any problems because college is not for everybody. Right. If you don't like it, you don't like it. If you have other area or avenue that you want to embrace, by all means, do so. But you have to have a plan.
SPEAKER_01:Right, exactly.
SPEAKER_00:Because you cannot say, you know what, I want to engage in into business, but what's the plan to start?
SPEAKER_01:Exactly. And that's where the financial literacy comes in, that's where the the entrepreneurial uh workshops and and and classes come in, and they're not getting that in school. So we back to your first question, what do we do about it? That's what Project Manhood is all about. Project manhood is set up so that black boys can learn these skills, these trades, learning how to how to be carpenters, learning how to be plumbers, learning how to be electricians, learning how to start their own business, learning financial literacy, you know, learning how to build a family, learning these different things. Look, what does it mean to be a man? What does that mean? You know, um, that's another thing that we got to talk about. Being a man does is the the way society structures being a man is what we do, not what, not who we are. You know, when you ask the average person, what does it mean to be a man? A lot of things they say is uh they say, um, oh, it's it's it's it's about protection, uh, uh provide and protect. Provide and protect. Okay, yes, that's great. But that is a thing that we do. That is that is a action. But what does it mean to be a man? Having integrity. I don't hear that being spoken about. Having being honest, being being someone you can trust, you know, being somebody who knows how to deal with his emotions, emotional intelligence, learning how to communicate. These things is what it means to be men. And then the provide and protect thing is is is secondary. You know, if you can't take care of yourself.
SPEAKER_00:Because you cannot be a man without being a human being.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, if you can't protect it, if you can't even take care of yourself, you know, health, being healthy, that's part of being a man. You know, not being on the app, taking drugs and and doing this, you know, eating anything, putting anything in your mouth, eating it. It's it's about eating healthy, going to the gym. It's about being, you know, uh mental health, being maintaining your mental health, being able to be emotionally intelligent, being able to communicate with women in a way that's healthy. You know, this is what being a man is, and that's what Project Manhood is about. And that's what Art of Valor is about.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. So when did you start that uh nonprofit?
SPEAKER_01:Art of Valor started this time last year, November of last year, and uh we're we're now trying to get it off the ground. Um we're we I have something coming up in November. No, actually December 7th. Um, I have a art and wealth expo. Well, uh uh it's it's a class. It's not even a class, it's like we're getting together on Zoom um and we're gonna do some uh it's about gratitude. The theme of the everyone is gonna be a theme. So this one is a theme about having gratitude. So we're doing it through art. And then uh I'm I'm teaming up with uh uh one of my partners, her name is Sally Pinto, and she is a financial advisor, and she's gonna so the first hour is gonna be art, second hour is gonna be about wealth. Give her wealth tips about financial literacy and stuff.
SPEAKER_00:So do you have some therapies on board as well?
SPEAKER_01:Yes.
SPEAKER_00:Uh I know yourself, you're a social work, but beside you, yes, I have anybody else.
SPEAKER_01:So go if you go on uh www.artofaloor.org, uh that's my website. Um you can check it out. You'll see everybody who's a part of our project. Again, this is the early stages of it, so we're building.
SPEAKER_00:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:Um, so we're building our team as we speak. So uh but I have my team on there. You just go to the about page and you can see my team.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, that's wonderful. Thank you. That's very important, and we need that because we cannot keep on losing our voice. Yeah, just like that. You know Brooklyn and I know Brooklyn, like the East New York area.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So I grew up with flatbush.
SPEAKER_00:Ever since I came to this country, that how are always has a name, right? You know, uh as not being a good how are you in this country for 21 years by now. Can you imagine? Right. The time before I came, it was like that while I came and until today. Right. People are still talking about, you know, like when you consider Brownsville, East New York, and a lot of other crazy places in New York. So those are two names, are the ones that I can remember, but they are all the bad areas in New York where the violence is really, it's really significant. And every day, so we got our young boy, you know, involved into madness while you know they themselves are seeking for help or are in need for help, right? But they don't know where to go.
SPEAKER_01:Right. Well, that's what we're here for. That's that's what it is. See, I'm all about um not only just pointing out the problems, but but providing the solution. It's all about you know doing your part. What I this only part I can control is creating these these these programs, creating these, these opportunities for us to to have a place for us to go.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, so let's consider statistic by age group. Black children over 13 are twice as likely to die by suicide compared to white kids. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for black children age 10 and 14, and third for those between the age of 15 and 19. In 2021, black males age 15 to 24 had a suicide weight of 18.3 per 1,000 compared to 25.6 per 100,000 of black of white males in the same age group. So it's uh it's a very serious situation, and it cannot be taken lightly. Absolutely not. No. My question is uh, Mr. Bennett, what are some common mental health challenges faced by black men if you were to list any?
SPEAKER_01:Uh, we as we mentioned, some of them depression is is one that that's the main one that we don't talk enough about, um, uh, which leads to anger. I think a lot of a lot of our black boys, black men are angry. Um, they may not even know why. And and and uh it leads it's it's based on the this is an overused word, but I'm gonna use it because I think it's accurate. Trauma. Right? There's a lot of trauma that that we we go through and we just ignore it, you know. Um and I don't want to use the word Whenever addressed. Yeah, we don't address it, you know, and uh and we just say, oh, here we go with this word again, here we go with this mental. Like a lot of these, a lot of this stuff that we're talking about be are are buzzwords now. They're they're popular buzzwords, but it's it's still a reality, regardless if it's a buzzword or not, you know, trauma, you know, um uh uh anxiety, right? So when we deal with anxiety, we talk about uh worrying about the future. When we deal with depression, we talk about worrying about the past. So we got our black boys worried about what happened, you know, uh ruminating on things that have happened in the past and have not addressed it. Then we're dealing with with um our black boys worried about the future. They don't see themselves in the future, they don't know what their future is gonna be like. So they're they're worried, they they're dealing with things now in the moment, like selling drugs or whatever. Uh and also I don't want to create a narrative that that's all our black boys do. We we're gonna talk about the other side as well.
SPEAKER_00:So, like you know, so that's too tough on the negative aspects. Yes. Because sometimes, you know, we see our young black boys get involved in criminal activities just because you know they are seeking for help. Right. They are calling for help.
SPEAKER_01:Right, but I also want to talk about the other side, right? So there are um a lot of black boys who are not doing that, who are who are intellectual, who are uh academic, who are athletes, who are artists, and those boys don't get any attention because a lot of us, you know, rightly so, we put a lot of our attention toward the ones that are going through, you know, the the the problems. The ones that are actually doing well are neglected in some cases because it's like, well, he's doing fine. He's he's alright, he don't we don't need to focus on that. So you have a young child who might be financing things out. Yeah, you might have a child who's who's art who's an artist, and he he's he's not he doesn't get he doesn't get the the resources or the help that he needs, the community to come in behind him because they assume that he's gonna be alright. You know, so I you know I want to make sure that we we are clear and not creating um a narrative that black boys blanketly are suffering or you know going through Oh no, definitely not. Well you and I know that, but I want them to know that that we're not saying that that it's just about all black boys are going through their criminals and they're you know, we know it's not true.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, thank you for the clouds. It's very important.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and it's important that that we also give give support to those artists, to those academic students, those ones that that are are excelling, you know, um supporting. You get more attention. The the dude coming back from prison gets more attention and support from the community than the one that came back from college.