For Dontrell Corey Fells, co-founder of Black Space, therapy wasn’t always a pleasant experience. When he was a teenager in late high school, his mother passed away. “After that, there was just a young boy that wanted to be able to find somewhere to live and to figure out life for myself,” says Fells.
His family suggested he see a therapist to cope, but the man they found made Fells uncomfortable. As a young Black man, Fells couldn’t relate to his therapist who was an older white man. He felt the need to use coded language and give additional context to explain where he grew up and the challenges he faced. It wasn’t working.
Soon after, at 18 years old, he enlisted in the military “to find some type of solace, some type of consistency,” Fells explains. But the military left him with a lot of questions and after eight years of service, he found his way back to Milwaukee to begin his life as a civilian—unsure of what to do next.
Black and Brown
Filled with anxiety and living through a global pandemic in 2020, Fells was looking for answers. His friend suggested he see a therapist, so he decided to give it another try. This time, he found Dr. Lia A. Knox, a therapist from his neighborhood who looked like him—someone who could relate to his experiences and struggles. He felt like he could be himself and didn’t have to put up any walls.
Therapy took on a whole new meaning and he began telling friends about it, including his friend Darius Smith, who was on the front lines of the Black Lives Matter marches, leading thousands of people. It wasn’t long before Smith, Fells and Knox identified a need in Black and Brown communities and began discussing ways to offer therapy for free.
Thus, Black Space was started. “The name Black Space is a symbolic name—there’s a gap between providing Black and Brown people with the necessary tools for something like therapy because there’s this classism surrounding therapy,” says Fells. He explains that many people he knows see therapy as expensive and unattainable. Additionally, the traditional format of therapy—a short one-on-one session—doesn’t lend itself to the culture of Black and Brown people. “We’re storytellers, so that one hour isn’t enough for us.”
Fells, Smith and Knox chose to offer group sessions, led by Knox who is trained in cultural competency, where people can share their experiences with others who can relate to them. Their goal is to foster connections in each group, which are separated into Black and Brown men, Black and Brown women, and Black and Brown LGBTQIA+ identifying individuals. The group therapy experiences continue to fill up, showing the need for an inclusive, safe space addressing mental health.
Fells seems to have found his calling shepherding the organization to help more and more people of color, but he continues to work through his angst and find meaning in his own life. Now with a baby on the way, he has a new motivation to create a future his child can thrive and feel safe in. “That is my ultimate goal,” he says, “to make sure this world, or at least this place, is better off than I left it when I was a young kid.”
Learn more about Black Space at blackspacehq.com.
Read the article on the Shepherd Express, part of the regular column Hero of the Month.