ADDA Stands Together
The ADHD community has focused and continues to focus on the needs and stories of white ADHD. This is not okay. This is systemic racism.
Recognition is the essential precursor to change. Only with acceptance can we take steps to heal.
Healing can only begin when we acknowledge and remove the source of pain and injury. That’s on us. We acknowledge and understand systemic racism is baked into mental health and the ADHD community. It is real. It is not okay.
ADDA has work to do. We cannot let you shoulder the burden alone anymore.
Adults with ADHD, ADDA is your family. That’s true regardless of the color of your skin. And when your family does things you don’t like, you call them on it. You still love them. It’s because you love them that you call them on it. And even though you’ve called them on their crap, you know they still love you.
Yes, ADDA is that kind of family.
We are inclusive. We value diversity, cultural competency and equity. And we will do better.
We hear you. We see you. We stand with you.
Here’s what we have done:
- The ADDA Board will be taking our first Antibias training.
- We have an African American/Black Diaspora +ADHD Peer Support Group.
- We are diversifying our Board.
- We have a blog section on our Web site called “Black Like Me with ADHD” for Black authors.
This is only the beginning. We will do better:
- We will expand our offering of groups and events for the African American/Black Diaspora adults with ADHD.
- We will offer our platform to amplify the voices of Black authors and speakers with ADHD.
- We will ensure ADDA’s leadership and content reflects the community it serves.
- We will prioritize awareness and advocacy campaigns that reach all communities, especially the Black community, during ADHD Awareness Month and beyond.
- We will be an anti-racist, anti-bias organization inclusive for all groups. We recognize the African American community is in pain now. But we have work to do to meet the needs of all members of our ADHD family.
We will do more. We want to hear your stories, concerns and ideas.
We want to make ADDA home for all adults with ADHD.
We hear you.
We see you.
We stand with you.
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8 Comments
Yes and i support all that too.
This is why I became a member! I look forward to all the changes mentioned above! #BlackAdhdLivesMatter
This is what I’ve been looking for and what I hoped for when I became a member today! I look forward to all the changes mentioned above!
While this is great, and the moment calls for centering black voices and experiences and the violence against black lives in America, it would be great for yall to show a more expansive desire to change and acknowledge that you don’t make room or actively seek to support ANY communities of color. You need resources for BIPOC in addition to changes specific to the black adhd community (which is absolutely essential in its specificity, too). If you only respond to the specific conversation of the moment because that’s where you feel pressure, it reveals a lack of attention (ha ha?) to the bigger picture of white supremacy and racism and why it matters.
Didn’t mean for that to sound so aggressive ?. My apologies for the tone. A little too much dopamine maybe?
I am so glad to see this, Duane. I would like to find a way to encourage and welcome more of our Black members to become ADHD Life Coaches. And nonmembers! I’m currently in a coach training program at the iACTCenter.com, (and it’s been excellent!) I have asked about this, and we’ve discussed it briefly. We will discuss it further in our course as we move through the training. But I am hopeful that ADDA will also take up this mantle as well. People seek out help from people they feel they will be comfortable with, who will “get them”. For all ADHDers to feel welcome, we need more coaches who are not white.
I am a white woman married to a black man, with two grown black children. Having a foot in two cultures with often diametrically opposed worldviews has been a benefit for my children. Both have found that their biracial status has helped them succeed in the business world, as well as the social world, because they can understand others.
I am a white woman married to a black man, with two grown black children. Having a foot in two cultures with often diametrically opposed worldviews has been a benefit for my children. Both have found that their biracial status has helped them succeed in the business world, as well as the social world, because they can understand others.