Filmmaker Statement

Therapy is near and dear to my heart. Six years ago, I was rushed to the emergency room and diagnosed with a heart condition. The unexpected cause was severe anxiety, rooted in childhood trauma, with many of those experiences tied to simply being Black in America. My doctor recommended therapy, and through it I discovered how years of compounded fight-or-flight experiences added extra stress to my heart. Therapy didn’t just improve my mental health, it stabilized my heart without the need for surgery or medication. That experience reshaped my life and revealed how deeply intertwined our minds and bodies truly are. Being Black in America can be mentally exhausting. The inspiration for This is Private comes from my own experiences and from witnessing the extreme lengths many Black people take to bridge the enormous generational wealth gap. America celebrates being “self-made,” yet rarely acknowledges the hidden advantage of inherited economic lineage, an advantage most Black communiti