Everyone has faced challenges during the pandemic, but two play readings presented last weekend by Common Ground Theatre showed how cultural traditions have made it especially hard for many in the Black community to cope.
Playwright A.D. Brown, whose semi-autobiographical play “Pruning Ivy” was presented during the Zoom event on Jan. 30, said members of the Black community often look down on therapy and counseling because they see it as a sign of weakness.
“We’re prideful people,” Brown said. “We don’t want our family’s business in the street. We stuff our stuff. We push it down and just move forward without dealing with certain things.”