Helping the ‘helpless’ in the Black community

Drugs hit the Black community hard in the 80s with the crack epidemic. Another round came with the opioid crisis in the ’90s and ’00s and since then, 26 percent of Black families have suffered from some level of drug addiction, according to a report issued by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
The twists and turns that come from that situation, could cause people to experience a tumultuous amount of emotions. Dr. Kiki Ramsey, a psychologist and life coach, wants to lend a helping hand to those in need whether they’re being affected directly or indirectly by drugs.
“I hate to see it because I grew up around it, and to see how society, music, and media glorify it is a shame,” Ramsey said when speaking about the current drug crisis in the Black community. “It’s destructive and we as a society need to start having more conversations about the effects drugs can have short and long term.”
Ramsey wants people to acknowledge that while some drugs by themselves might not be a problem, the starting point isn’t always the endpoint and gateway drugs are a real thing. “Growing-up people would smoke marijuana and say it is not that serious; those same people ended up doing harder drugs, with some having their drugs laced and dying from an overdose,” she said.
Ramsey was a person whose environment should have led her to have the same issues as many people usually succumb to the influences around them. “ It was extremely hard growing up because of the stuff I witnessed. I tried to help my mom through her struggle, but in doing so it caused a lot of hate, anger, fear, and resentment,” Ramsey said describing her experiences living with somebody with an addiction. “It took me years to work through those feelings and ultimately forgive my mother before she passed away due to cancer.” Ramsey learned about psychology to help her understand her late mother’s struggles.
Ramsey knew her only hope was to leave for college, and when she got that opportunity she didn’t hesitate but knew she had to prepare her younger sister to fend for herself as it was only her and their mother in the house together. “It was hard to leave my sister, but I knew leaving was my only way to give myself a chance at life, and that’s what I told my sister,” Ramsey said as she recalled the advice she gave her sister. “I told her it’s going to be hard, but for you to achieve greatness you have to live in the state and go far away for college to remove yourself from the situation.” According to Ramsey, her sister is thriving because she took the advice.
Ramsey advocates people to express forgiveness to each other in the situation because holding that resentment and anger in will make it hard to move on with life or that person. “It’s hard to take a step towards forgiveness, or you don’t want to forgive, you have to acknowledge you have a need and desire to forgive,” she added.
Ramsey has many different steps and resources to guide people step by step with their problems. She also has a podcast offering encouragement and advice to the ones who need it. You can access everything she offers by visiting her site at www. KIKIRamsey.com.