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Rapper Kid Cudi shocked the internet Tuesday night with his Facebook post about checking into rehab for treatment for “depression and suicidal urges.”

“I am not at peace,” he wrote in the deeply personal post.

In the following days, the conversation about Black men and mental health continues to grow on social media, powered, in part, by the hashtag #YouGoodMan. Users gave the rapper a big cyber hug, while sharing stories about their own personal grief and resilience.

Black men also seized the moment to discuss how vulnerability is condemned as weakness, and tried to dismantle the angry Black male trope.

The recent slayings of Black men by police have also attributed to mental distress in the community. Not to mention that many of the men killed by police suffered from some form of mental distress.

Since its inception, rap has served as a means for Blacks to express aspirations and anguish. Who hasn’t heard Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five’s 1980s hit, “The Message”? The track’s popular refrain, “Don’t push me because I’m close to the edge,” still reverberates today.

Just recently, Lil Wayne rapped about attempting suicide in “Mad,” a track on Solange’s new album, A Seat At The Table.

Indeed, the hashtag is a welcome reprieve from the vile and racist invectives usually promulgated on social media.

So even after everyone moves on to the next hashtag, be sure to continue asking your friends and colleagues, “you good, man?”

SOURCE: Twitter | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty

SEE ALSO:

Radio One, Inc. Says ‘#NotOneMore’

‘I Am Not At Peace:’ Kid Cudi Enters Rehab For Depression & Suicidal Urges

#YouGoodMan: Kid Cudi’s Openness Gives Black Men A Space To Heal On Social Media  was originally published on newsone.com