The Roaming Chef aka Dennis Ombachi opened up about his mental health issues during a CNN interview, shedding light on a silent bit deadly pandemic of black men suffering in silence.
Despite the fact that we live in a patriarchal society, African men are not spared from the shame-based society that is unique and special to Africans. Whereby, from an early age, they are taught not to express their emotions and are expected to always put on a brave face.
The women in this society and space, be it the mother, wives or girlfriends expect the men in their lives to NOT have any mental health issues which they deem and the society at large as a weakness. Men who have been upfront about their mental health issues and struggles are seen as “less of men.”
One would think men are able to talk about this with their male friends but due to the fact that men are not in tune with their emotions and have low-key competition amongst themselves, they bottle up and remain silent.
Read on President Uhuru Kenyatta talks about mental health.
If this is the state of African men, then who will marry the empowered African woman?
