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Even as mental health is becoming normalized in Black communities, being Black, LGBTQ+, and seeking mental health support can still be challenging. If you feel like you need help but don’t know where to turn, BGN has your back. We reached out to Dr. Mahogany Hall to provide some mental health tips for any of our Black LGBTQ+ siblings in need of support. Dr. Hall is the owner/founder of Hall Counseling Services LLC, a group practice specializing in treating racial trauma and working with LGBTQ+ communities. Her specialties include helping adolescents, adults, couples with depression, trauma, attachment, sexual orientation/identity, and acculturation.
Talk to me about some of the biggest challenges that Black LGBTQ+ communities face when seeking therapy.
Many Black people think of LGBTQ+ as just being “homosexuality,” which has always been taboo in the Black community, which is problematic. I’ve also noticed Black men take a little bit longer to warm up and talk about their sexual orientation.
Why is it important for Black LGBTQ+ folks who are seeking therapy to find Black LGBTQ+ therapists?
I am a Black queer woman. My practice specializes in racial trauma in the LGBTQIA community. People come to us because they know that we get it. They know our clinicians are trained in racial trauma and are comfortable working with the LGBTQ+ community. When you go to a therapist who cannot relate to you, it’s almost like speaking a foreign language. The patient has to educate the therapist instead of being taken care of. Your therapist should be culturally competent and allow the general conversation to flow to build trust.
What are three ways that folks can use to find a culturally competent therapist?
First, search for websites with a database of therapists of color, like Therapy for Black Girls.com or thisisdarkbeauty.com and Therapy for Black Men.org. Look for places where you don’t have to do a lot of the hard legwork to find a therapist of color.
Second, once you have a small selection of therapists, take the time to interview them. I always tell people the therapist works for the client, so go in with well-thought-out questions ready and try to figure out if this person is a match for you. It’s like a two-way job interview. If one person isn’t right, it’s okay to look around.
Third, recognize that it can be complicated to find therapists of color in your insurance plan or who are compatible with your budget. It never hurts to engage in certain types of communities through specific mental help groups on Meetup.com. Search out group therapy. You can also ask other people you know if they can recommend someone to you. Be creative and find ways to network. Many of our clients found out about us from word of mouth referrals from other clients.
As Black LGBTQ+ folks are coming forward in Black society as trailblazers, what can they do to protect and care for themselves as they educate their brothers and sisters?
Oh, that’s loaded. First and foremost, always practice self-care: physical activity, yoga, exercise, meditation, mindfulness, or therapy. Whatever that looks like to each individual. One thing that I think people are getting right is learning how to cope with differences of opinion. No human being is always going to be accepted by any one group or population of people. So, make peace with the fact that not everybody will love you, accept you, and welcome you into their home with open arms. It just won’t happen.
Similarly to people being racist and not liking you because of your skin color, people will dislike you because of your sexual orientation. Like I tell my clients, you have to let other people’s stuff be their stuff and not take on somebody else’s issues. If somebody else hates you or hates someone around you, that negativity is not your story. You don’t have to take on that energy. As long as there’s not a safety issue, stay away from it as much as you can. Learning to cope with people with ignorant opinions is essential self-care.
Surround yourself with people who support you—any type of circle. It can be friends, but more importantly, it should be people who accept you whether they share your story and your sentiments or not. Being around people who just love you unconditionally is essential, and placing yourself in low-stress situations where you don’t have to be educating people is vital. Make a goal of not carrying any guilt or shame for not continually educating people about this population. You’re not responsible for holding the weight of the world on your shoulders.
How does connecting to joy factor into your work?
I love the work that I do. My clients bring me joy. Gratitude also factors in. When my clients focus on gratitude, they find joy in so many challenging situations. For a Black person to gain satisfaction from therapy is like the most beautiful oxymoron because we don’t do therapy. That wasn’t a “Black thing” historically. Shifting that narrative just is a lovely process that brings me a tremendous amount of joy.
Dr. Mahogany Hall is a licensed clinical social worker with a doctorate of social work from the University of Southern California. She received her master’s degree in social work from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and her bachelor’s degrees in psychology and African and African American studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Hall has traveled throughout the United States assisting children and families for Fairfax County government in Northern Virginia. She has also served as a clinician for Fairfax County public schools.
Modalities: cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), motivational interviewing (MI) https://hallcounselingservices.com/about/
Follow on IG @themahoganydoctor
Even as mental health is becoming normalized in Black communities, being Black, LGBTQ+, and seeking mental health support can still be challenging. If you feel like you need help but don’t know where to turn, BGN has your back. We reached out to Dr. Mahogany Hall to provide some mental health tips for any of our Black LGBTQ+ siblings in need of support. Dr. Hall is the owner/founder of Hall Counseling Services LLC, a group practice specializing in treating racial trauma and working with LGBTQ+ communities. Her specialties include helping adolescents, adults, couples with depression, trauma, attachment, sexual orientation/identity, and acculturation.
Talk to me about some of the biggest challenges that Black LGBTQ+ communities face when seeking therapy.
Many Black people think of LGBTQ+ as just being “homosexuality,” which has always been taboo in the Black community, which is problematic. I’ve also noticed Black men take a little bit longer to warm up and talk about their sexual orientation.
Why is it important for Black LGBTQ+ folks who are seeking therapy to find Black LGBTQ+ therapists?
I am a Black queer woman. My practice specializes in racial trauma in the LGBTQIA community. People come to us because they know that we get it. They know our clinicians are trained in racial trauma and are comfortable working with the LGBTQ+ community. When you go to a therapist who cannot relate to you, it’s almost like speaking a foreign language. The patient has to educate the therapist instead of being taken care of. Your therapist should be culturally competent and allow the general conversation to flow to build trust.
What are three ways that folks can use to find a culturally competent therapist?
First, search for websites with a database of therapists of color, like Therapy for Black Girls.com or thisisdarkbeauty.com and Therapy for Black Men.org. Look for places where you don’t have to do a lot of the hard legwork to find a therapist of color.
Second, once you have a small selection of therapists, take the time to interview them. I always tell people the therapist works for the client, so go in with well-thought-out questions ready and try to figure out if this person is a match for you. It’s like a two-way job interview. If one person isn’t right, it’s okay to look around.
Third, recognize that it can be complicated to find therapists of color in your insurance plan or who are compatible with your budget. It never hurts to engage in certain types of communities through specific mental help groups on Meetup.com. Search out group therapy. You can also ask other people you know if they can recommend someone to you. Be creative and find ways to network. Many of our clients found out about us from word of mouth referrals from other clients.
As Black LGBTQ+ folks are coming forward in Black society as trailblazers, what can they do to protect and care for themselves as they educate their brothers and sisters?
Oh, that’s loaded. First and foremost, always practice self-care: physical activity, yoga, exercise, meditation, mindfulness, or therapy. Whatever that looks like to each individual. One thing that I think people are getting right is learning how to cope with differences of opinion. No human being is always going to be accepted by any one group or population of people. So, make peace with the fact that not everybody will love you, accept you, and welcome you into their home with open arms. It just won’t happen.
Similarly to people being racist and not liking you because of your skin color, people will dislike you because of your sexual orientation. Like I tell my clients, you have to let other people’s stuff be their stuff and not take on somebody else’s issues. If somebody else hates you or hates someone around you, that negativity is not your story. You don’t have to take on that energy. As long as there’s not a safety issue, stay away from it as much as you can. Learning to cope with people with ignorant opinions is essential self-care.
Surround yourself with people who support you—any type of circle. It can be friends, but more importantly, it should be people who accept you whether they share your story and your sentiments or not. Being around people who just love you unconditionally is essential, and placing yourself in low-stress situations where you don’t have to be educating people is vital. Make a goal of not carrying any guilt or shame for not continually educating people about this population. You’re not responsible for holding the weight of the world on your shoulders.
How does connecting to joy factor into your work?
I love the work that I do. My clients bring me joy. Gratitude also factors in. When my clients focus on gratitude, they find joy in so many challenging situations. For a Black person to gain satisfaction from therapy is like the most beautiful oxymoron because we don’t do therapy. That wasn’t a “Black thing” historically. Shifting that narrative just is a lovely process that brings me a tremendous amount of joy.
Dr. Mahogany Hall is a licensed clinical social worker with a doctorate of social work from the University of Southern California. She received her master’s degree in social work from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and her bachelor’s degrees in psychology and African and African American studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Hall has traveled throughout the United States assisting children and families for Fairfax County government in Northern Virginia. She has also served as a clinician for Fairfax County public schools.
Modalities: cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), motivational interviewing (MI) https://hallcounselingservices.com/about/
Follow on IG @themahoganydoctor
Get your children reading at any age with this list of the best comics for kids that love superheroes.
Although this is a nerdy parent site, it is still a parent site, which means that I am among friends when I complain, “Kids these days don’t know how good they have it! When I was a kid, we could only get our superheroes from comic books!”
Okay, that’s not entirely true. I grew up with the Tim Burton-directed Batman movies and the Superman movies with Christopher Reeves. I even have a soft spot for the corny 1990 Captain America movie, in which Cap had rubber ears on the side of his helmet. And, of course, there were the animated X-Men and Spider-Man cartoon shows, which weren’t good, but they did have killer theme songs.
But the main source of superhero enjoyment was the spinner rack at my local grocery store. Every week after soccer, my mom would stop by to get a frozen pizza for dinner, and I got to pick out a new issue of X-Men, The Flash, or Green Lantern. My world expanded when I got a little older and started going to comic book shops, which opened me to wonderfully odd characters like Beak, Impulse, and G’Nort.
Today, things have changed. All three of those weirdos I just mentioned have made appearances in movies and tv shows. In fact, I’m writing this a week after Hulu debuted a ten-episode series about the very odd Captain America villain M.O.D.O.K. Earlier today, Marvel released the trailer for The Eternals, a major blockbuster film based on one of their most obscure super-teams.
Superheroes are in movies, tv shows, video games, and toy aisles, but that doesn’t mean that they’re gone from comic books. If anything, comics are even easier to access, thanks to services such as DC Universe Infinite, Marvel Unlimited, and Comixology Unlimited. But the nature of comic books has changed. Most writers and artists shoot for an older teen/young adult demographic, leaving behind the simple and brightly colored stories on which the genre was built for darker, more complex fare.
Parents hoping to get comics for their superhero-loving kids might be initially discouraged to find only multi-part stories about foul-mouthed, sexually adventurous superheroes. But just because those comics are the big sellers, doesn’t mean they’re all that’s out there. Marvel, DC, and countless independent publishers still make comics for their original audience: kids.
This quick guide will take nerdy parents past the inappropriate stuff towards comics perfect for superhero-loving kids of any age.
If you’re looking for something more interactive that involves the whole family, check out our Best Superhero Games for Kids By Age article.
For Ages 2 – 5
DC Superhero Girls (Wolfram and Grabowski) 
Since the genre born with the debut of Superman in 1938, many publishers have assumed that superheroes were a boy’s game. Sure, there were occasional gestures to girl readers, with the introduction of characters like Supergirl, Amythest, and Shadowcat. But the overwhelming majority of superhero comics were directed at boys, with comics about dating and fashion (Superman’s Girl, Lois Lane and Patsy and Hedy) reserved for girls.
Fortunately, publishers are finally beginning to realize what girls have known for decades: everybody likes superheroes! DC Comics is putting that knowledge to good use with their DC Superhero Girls line, which brings together kid-friendly versions of female characters from across their universe. From mainstream heroes like Supergirl and Wonder Woman to lesser-known characters like Bumblebee and Katana, DC Superhero Girls tells kid-friendly adventures everyone will enjoy.
Marvel Superhero Adventures (Various Authors) 
Mainstream Marvel comics tend to be densely serialized and knotty affairs, with a character going through numerous changes every year or so. A kid picking up a random issue of Spider-Man may find that they have only chapter three out of twelve and that Spidey isn’t even Spidey anymore.
For years, Marvel has simplified things with their Adventures line. Each Adventures digest contains four-six stories with all the superhero adventures your kids crave. But the stories dial way back on the violence and soap opera drama found in the mainstream books to accentuate jokes, daring-do, and lots of fun. With entries from top-level creators such as Daniel Kibbelsmith, Jeff Loveness, and Ty Templesmith, Marvel Superhero Adventures will introduce young superhero fans to the best the genre has to offer.
For Ages 6 – 12
Bandette (Tobin and Coover) 
Married writer and artist team Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover have a long history in the comics industry, working on everything from mainstream superhero books to decidedly adults-only fare. But they are perhaps at their best with the delightful indie comic Bandette.
With her domino mask and red cape, Bandette certainly looks like your average superhero. But she is, in fact, a super thief in the model of Robin Hood, stealing from the corrupt rich to care for her group of street urchins. While that might suggest some heavy socio-political talk that your child may not find interesting, Bandette is 100% pure whimsy. Set in the streets of Paris, Bandette is filled with wonderfully expressive art from Coover and great one-liners from Tobin.
Tiny Titans (Baltazar and Aureliani) 
Even Six-Year-Olds might balk when they see the artwork in Tiny Titans, a children’s adventure take on DC Comics long-running Teen Titans series. But once they notice the smart dialogue and ingenious gags, they’ll realize they aren’t reading something for babies. And as soon as they recognize deep-cut DC characters such as Lagoon Boy, then they’ll feel like pretty smart nerds. That’s the genius of Tiny Titans, from indie cartoonists Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani. The duo possesses a clear love for the world of DC Comics, in all its weird permutations. But it pairs that passion with second-to-none cartooning skills, which allows them to bring new levels of whimsy to costumed classics. Fans of Calvin & Hobbes will love introducing their kids to these colorful and inventive versions of mainstream superheroes.
Ages 11-14
Superman Smashes the Klan (Yang and Gurihiru) 
Although some dismiss superheroes as escapist fantasy, the genre has its roots in real-world concerns. Over the years, the Justice Society has fought Axis powers, Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four aided the homeless in New York, and Green Arrow has taken on the drug trade. In one of the more famous incidents, writers of the 1940s radio show The Adventures of Superman worked with members of the Anti-Defamation League to disrupt Ku Klux Klan operations.
Teaming with Japanese art collective Gurihiru, writer Gene Leun Yang adapts and reimagines that story for modern audiences. Told from the perspective of Chinese Americans Tommy and Roberta Lee, who recently moved to Metropolis, Superman Smashes the Klan marks an early chapter in the life of Superman, as he fights for justice against the Klan of the Fiery Kross. A rousing adventure story, Superman Smashes the Klan teaches kids important lessons about tolerance, accepting others, and accepting yourself. We’ve also featured this book in our Best Graphic Novels for Middle School Aged Kids article.
Diana, Princess of the Amazons (Hale, Hale, and Ying) 
DC Comics’ efforts to reach female readers aren’t limited to just the DC Superhero Girls books they publish for young kids. Over the past few years, they’ve added YA graphic novels to their stable, bringing in some of the best writers in the genre. These books feature everyone from Aquaman to Harley Quinn to Batman, using the characters to tell coming-of-age romances and dramas with a superhero twist.
For Diana, Princess of Amazons, New York Times bestsellers Shannon Hale and Dean Hale team up with artist Victoria Ying to imagine the tweenhood of Princess Diana, the future Wonder Woman. Before embarking to the world of men to have superhero adventures with the Justice League, Diana was the lone child on an island full of grown Amazon women. While your children (probably) haven’t had that experience, they’ll certainly be able to relate with Diana’s feelings of loneliness and belonging, as she sets out on a quest to discover her place in the world.
Ages 15+
X-Men (Hickman, Various Artists) 
Superhero comics have always appealed to teenagers, but none have been as relatable as X-Men. Since the team’s creation in 1964, the X-Men have been required reading for anyone who feels alone, misunderstood, and yet undeniably special. Over the years, the X-Men have grown into a twisty soap opera of revisions and resurrections, making it impenetrable to some readers. But even at its most confusing, X-Men remains irresistible to adolescent fans.
In 2020, X-Men relaunched its premier team of mutants under the headship of writer Jonathan Hickman. Scuttling the plotlines of the past, but keeping the essential dynamics, Hickman and his cadre of artists has created a new status quo for the X-Men, imagining a world in which mutants enjoy sovereignty as their own nation – whether the world likes it or not. Combining dense storytelling with genuinely moving dramatic beats, this most recent run on X-Men is perfect for any misunderstood teen who doesn’t mind sinking their teeth into a vibrant superhero world
Justice League (Snyder, Tynion IV, Various Artists) 
The Justice League is the premier superhero team. Even more than the X-Men or the Avengers, the Justice League brings together some of the greatest heroes of all time, including Superman and Wonder Woman, to square off against reality-warping villains. Over the years, the JLA has battled large-scale threats, including the mind-controlling starfish Starro and the brutal Despero. But writer Scott Snyder and his collaborators, including occasional co-writer James Tynion IV, take things to another level with their version of the Justice League.
Using the structure of the immensely successful Justice League Unlimited cartoon show, Snyder pairs members of the core team – including Flash, Green Lantern John Stewart, and Hawkgirl – with C- and D-list heroes from across the DC Universe to take on a threat that crosses all time and space. It’s superhero action at its finest, embracing all the goofy storytelling conceits and over-the-top adventure that the genre can offer.
The post Best Comics For Kids That Love Superheroes appeared first on Nerdy With Children.
Written By: Celestial Holmes
AMC’s The Walking Dead Universe is one of the most wildly popular television franchises of the last decade. That its flagship show has not only lasted but also spawned the formidable Fear the Walking Dead series is commendable. Both shows have garnered die-hard fans who wear show-themed merchandise, discuss the latest episodes with co-workers and tune in every week for intense storylines that make you wonder what you’d do in the same situation.
One of the universe’s beloved characters is that of Morgan Jones. Fans met Morgan at the beginning of The Walking Dead and he has been the only character to cross over and exist on both shows. Morgan, played by Lennie James, has had one of the more complex storylines in the series and James has finessed the role with confidence and grace. James’s success in the franchise is a credit to his approach in analyzing who Morgan Jones really is.
BGN spoke with James via Zoom about Morgan’s epic character arc, the challenges of being Morgan, and his hopes for the future of the character.
How would you describe Morgan’s character arc from his first appearance on The Walking Dead to his current role on Fear the Walking Dead?
It’s been an epic journey is the only way that I can describe it. It’s been a journey that you could not have seen where he is now from where he was when he began. I think that that is what has made it an absolute gift for me as an actor. A lot of the big turns in Morgan’s arc you just didn’t see coming. A lot of the choices he made, the places he finds himself in, the things he’s done… you didn’t know what was going to happen before it happened. I like to play characters who have an interesting internal monologue. I’m very much aware of what my characters say to other people. The thing that interests me, Lenny, as an actor is what that character is saying to themselves or hiding from other people by not saying. That’s how I build my characters. Morgan has one of the most interesting internal monologues of any character that I’ve ever played. So, how would I describe his journey? I would say that it is an epic, big, bold, brave journey of a unique man.
What’s been the most interesting part of playing a character in this particular franchise?
I wasn’t really an aficionado of the genre before I came to America. I think that one of the things that surprised me, one of the things that I’ve learned, one of the things I enjoy is the incredibleness of the genre that we live in, in the sense of the dead walking. It is on one level so unreal, the way that we are able to tell stories that deal with real emotions, real dilemmas, real victories, real joys, and real feelings. The fact that we’re doing that against the backdrop of what you could, on one level, describe as something so unreal is something that has fascinated me and surprised me all the way through this trip. I love it. It’s the victory of this universe that it connects to people on a real level, even though it’s a fantasy world.
Considering you’ve had many roles, what has been the most challenging part of playing Morgan?
The most challenging part of playing Morgan is holding on to who he is at his core; holding on to who the man is, because the man manifests in many different ways. The question I get asked quite a lot is, “Who do you prefer playing? Crazy Morgan, or monk-like Morgan, or leader Morgan?” My answer to that is always, “They’re all the same guy.” That’s my job. My job, and it’s the hardest part of it, but the bit I enjoy most, is making all of those people the same guy. However, whatever situation he finds himself in, and there have been many, I want the audience to believe that the choices Morgan’s making are the choices that are true to him.
Why do you feel Morgan is still hopeful for the future, considering all that he has seen and been through in this post-apocalyptic world?
I don’t think he’s always been hopeful. I think there was a long period of time where Morgan believed that his time on this Earth was a curse, and that he would much rather have been gone with Jenny and Duane. I think that Morgan has fought for his hope. I think that the hope has come to Morgan late, and the hope has come hard, and I think that it manifested itself in the role that has been kind of thrust upon him as leader, and also this surprising thing that his heart did when he met Grace. I think that those were both things that he believes were out of his control. That’s why he has hope. I don’t think he was a hopeful person for a very long time, but he’s learning to accept hope, and trusting hope, mostly because of how he feels about Grace and his need to protect the people that he cares about.
What can you tell us about Morgan to prepare us for the finale, and what is your hope for Morgan’s character in the next season?
I will say that the final episode is, I believe, in keeping with the way that we have told the story this season. I think it’s a big, brave, bold, engaging, exciting, challenging episode that will take people by surprise. I also think it is a satisfying episode. This episode goes out in a way that it’s gonna need some figuring out, but that’s genuinely about as much as I can say about that. What would I like to see for Morgan? I don’t know, really. I’ll take whatever comes. One of the things that’s worked for me and my relationship with Morgan is that he keeps constantly surprising me, and he keeps challenging me, and he still interests me, and I want that to continue. I want Morgan to surprise me and surprise the audience. I want Morgan to challenge me and challenge the audience. I want Morgan to interest me and interest the audience. That’s genuinely my hope, even if it has been a hope that I’ve had for this character for a while.
It was an absolute pleasure to interview Lennie James. His even, carefully thought-out responses made my job easy. With his consideration and thoughtful approach to Morgan, it is understandable why the character has remained a fixture in The Walking Dead Universe.
Tune in to the Season 6 finale of Fear the Walking Dead, which airs Sunday, June 13, 2021, at 9pm EST on AMC.