What is Blackout Poetry? Why use it?

Blackout poetry is a form of poetry where the creator uses existing pieces of written material, like newspaper articles, magazine articles, book pages, etc. and then ‘blacks out’ pieces of the text to leave only specific words and phrases visible. The end result is an entirely new piece of written work that transforms the original content to have a new message and perspective.

We chose to use blackout poetry as a medium to reflect on and explore mental health stigma for a number of reasons. Blackout poetry provides anyone with the power to reclaim and transform original material and content into something new that fits their voices and perspectives.

For people who experience mental health stigma, dominant narratives in the media often reinforce stigmatizing beliefs and attitudes. Through blackout poetry, we can take back the power from the stigmatizing messaging that often exists in media to reflect our own voices and experiences. You can also use blackout poetry to transform content that may not originally be commenting on mental health to reflect your own story, experiences and perspectives on mental health stigma.

This creative tool empowers everyone to take back their voices, and see how we can transform the dialogue into something new.

How Do I participate?

Participating in this activity is easy - just follow these three simple steps to get started.

1. Understand Stigma & Reflect.

   Before you get started creating your own blackout poem, take some time to get a better understanding of what mental health stigma is, and to reflect on your own experiences and perspectives. Read through the section on mental health stigma below, and consider some of these questions to help you start thinking about mental health stigma and your own perspective and outlook.

   • What does mental health stigma mean to you?

   • Have you ever experienced or witnessed mental health discrimination, prejudice or stereotyping? How did that impact you?

   • What does ‘mental health’ mean to you?

2. Get Creative.

   Once you’ve had a chance to think a bit more about mental health and stigma it’s time to start working on your blackout poem! Find a piece of written material, either physical or online - it can be a page from a book, newspaper or magazine article, etc. The written material can be on any subject or topic - it doesn’t have to be about mental health - you’ll be transforming it to share your own perspective!

   Take your written material and start ‘blacking out’ pieces of text to leave behind specific words and phrases. You can use anything to black out text - a sharpie, crayons or markers, washi tape, online software like Paint or Photoshop, etc.

   You’ll be left with a unique page that has a new message and perspective left behind!

3. Share your Creation.

   If you would like to share your blackout poem with Outrun the Stigma we would love to feature it on our website and/or social media. To submit your blackout poetry piece, fill out this form.

What is Mental Health Stigma?

For stigma of any kind to exist, two things must be present:

            Labelling

Creating some kind of way to distinguish between groups of people. This can be based on things we’re born with, like our race or gender, or traits or roles that we develop or gain later on, like our religion or economic status

                                  &         

                                           A Power Differential

A difference in the power and privilege that certain people or groups have in a society. Some groups may have access to resources like wealth, social connections, and education that other groups do not.

→   Allows Society to reduce people into “Us” and “Them”.

For example, someone is labelled “crazy”, “a schizophrenic”, “depressed”, based on what those in power have taught us. People who get these labels have less power – and often less space – in the world than others who do not.

When this occurs, this leaves the door open to stigma, which can show up as

            A Thought → Stereotyping.

“Well that person can’t hold down a job.” “They are dangerous!” “They’re just lazy.”

            A Feeling → Prejudice.  

“I don’t feel safe around those people.” “I don’t want to talk to them.”

An Action → Discrimination.

“I don’t think you are a good fit for this company.”

“For this school.”

“For this team.”

“For this family.”

            “For my life.”

The list goes on.

The combination of Stereotyping + Discrimination + Prejudice leads to…

↓

The Consequence → Status Loss.

“They aren’t important.” “They’re less than human.” “Who cares what happens to them?”. “They deserved to have that happen to them”.

For a long time, the discussion around stigma has always been focused on around the person or group it was discriminating against, thinking that there was something wrong with them.

But NOW, the discussion has started to change.

Now, we are starting to see turn the mirror back to reflect on ourselves, and see that stigma shows us what is wrong with SOCIETY, not the people being stigmatized. We can see that stigmatizing vulnerable groups in society doesn’t reflect something inherently wrong with them, it reflects something wrong with us.

We can’t let stigma against people with mental illnesses. And that’s what we must change.

Black Lives Matter: Mental Health Stigma for BIPOC

Although stigma of mental illness is Outrun the Stigma’s focus, stigma of all kinds exists. With the recent events and the Black Lives Matter initiatives, you might find yourself focusing on other important areas while creating your blackout poem. Not only is that okay, but it is a vital part of the conversation on mental health stigma. To end mental health stigma, we need to dedicate time and energy to reflect on the role that racism plays in mental health stigma. Give yourself the space to pursue those areas if that is where your poem leads you. We are all in this together.

There are many issues that Black communities face, which are harmful to their mental health, and which we must address as a society. Issues like police brutality are traumatizing, racial microaggressions perpetuate harmful stigmas, and historical wrongs against these communities exacerbate reluctance to speak up or seek necessary treatment for mental health. Thus, when we work to combat mental health stigma, we also must combat systemic racism along with other forms of oppression that affects mental health.

Mental health stigma does not always display itself the same ways for different people based on their identities and privileges in society. The experiences of mental health stigma that a white woman and a black man will likely be different.

We encourage you to lean into your own experiences, perspectives, and outlook to create your blackout poetry piece, and to not feel pigeonholed into commenting just on mental health stigma. As an example, check out the Counternarratives project by artists Alexandra Bell (opposite) to see the other creative ways blackout poetry has been used to explore and comment on racism.

To create lasting change, it is vital we engage in these complex conversations on mental health stigma and how it combines with other types of oppression, like racism. Dig deep, and reflect on how your personal experiences with mental health stigma may be different from others.

To learn more or find resources about Black Mental Health check out these learning resources:

Racism and Mental Health - Global News (link)

Black Canadians' Mental Health - Huffington Post (link)

Mental Health and Racism in the Black Community (link)

Challenging Mental Health Stigma in the Black Community - NAMI (link)

Sources

The definition of stigma used in this activity are based in the research and work done by Link & Phelan. If you want to learn more about the definition of stigma and its components, visit these sources.

Link, B. G., & Phelan, J. C. (2001). Conceptualizing stigma. Annual Review of Sociology, 363-385. doi: 10.1146/annurev.soc.27.1.363

Jhangiani, R., & Tarry, H. (2014). Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination. In Principles of Social Psychology – 1st International Edition. BCcampus. https://opentextbc.ca/socialpsychology/

This activity is facilitated by the Outrun the Stigma Community Connections to Research (CCTR) team. The CCTR team is dedicated to bridging the gap between mental health and stigma research and the wider community, and helping to make vital research accessible to the general public. The CCTR team is made up of Brittany Lindsay, Jenny Duong, and Clare Hickie - connect with us at outrunthestigmacctr@gmail.com!