HeartBeat with Cindi Bright features community leaders to talk about the issues facing Black men in America

Converge Media’s newest show HeartBeat: Prosperity for Black America featured a dive into the issues facing Black men following the recent deaths of Twitch and Michael Rowland, as well as countless others suffering in silence.

Bright was joined by community leaders Dre Franklin, Abin Bola-Nellams, and Tremaine Palms as they shared some of their stories and struggles. They spoke about issues in the workplace and beyond.

“I was literally choked with two hands by a supervisor,” Bola-Nellams said. “I got PTSD from that. There’s a lot of things that happens when someone intrudes into your personal space at work.”

They also spoke about the issues that come with the ways they are looked at in the workplace, and what can be done to create a better environment.

“We need a support system and we need to stop operating from a standpoint of minimizing liability,” Franklin said. “We need to look at our hiring practices and make sure that we’re paying people accurately. A lot of people think Black men don’t have feelings, but we do. We care about our families, and our community, and we as a community can do a better job checking in on each other.”

Cindi also brought up the connections between the sports and the labor world, mentioning Skip Bayless’s comments after Damar Hamlin’s cardiac event and the “shut up and dribble” mentality.

“I think it’s disheartening,” Palms said. “I think it’s a blatant disrespect to our well-being and our families.”

The show was an insightful deep dive into the attitudes and societal conditions impacting Black men.

You can watch the full show above