The Pressure to Be the Perfect Black Father

After a panic attack nearly made him lose control on the highway, Mark Anthony Neal continued to bottle up his anxiety and pretend everything was fine. Years later, when he secretly started therapy, he unpacked how the pressures of Black masculinity led him to a mental health crisis.

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Recommendations from the archive

• A scholar’s take on why “colorblindness” is dangerous: How to Not (Accidentally) Raise a Racist

• More on the stigma around therapy in the Black community: When Are You Gonna Be Normal Again?

• A Black mom on raising a passing son: How Will They Know I’m Black?

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Episode resources

• Mark Anthony Neal’s book: Save a Seat for Me: Notes on American Fatherhood

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