Welcome to March’s Podcast and for this month we have a guest – a rare occurrence indeed. Martin X Henson is part of the BMEN project and he joins inclusive activism today!
A bit about Martin X Henson –
Martin has spent the last ten years advocating for Black lives, addressing the systemic issues that affect Black and marginalized groups through both conventional and unconventional avenues. Using his background as a mental health counselor, Martin is able to add nuance and clarity to the way we support the livelihood of Black people. Through seminars, community events, rallies, and curriculum development, Martin has worked with thousands of people around prison abolition, the fight against white supremacy, and lifting up Black communities. Martin has worked extensively with the Black Lives Matter Boston chapter, and is also a restorative justice coach working with various institutions in and around Boston.
In 2017, a viral tweet pushed the #MeToo movement to the foreground of our national discourse. While men are often positioned as perpetrators, it also became clear that Black men who are victims of sexual assault had very few places to turn for support. Through exploring the way that Black men experienced and navigated harm, Martin found that there were many layers to the experience of Black men that were not being addressed. The Black Men Engagement Network (BMEN) started with the idea of exploring healthy ways to respond to sexual harm, and it expanded to encompass the unique and Black male experience.
BMEN brings together Black men from all backgrounds to discuss often taboo topics in the Black community, including but not limited to: mental health, healthy masculinity, identity, sexuality, homophobia and sexual assault. For the past few years, BMEN has partnered with the Transgender Emergency Fund to connect Black men and Transgender women of color. By opening a dialogue, each individual can walk away with a deeper awareness of the issues preventing open coexistence and a new understanding of the experience of each other’s community.