We were lucky to catch up with Pamela Coleman recently and have shared our conversation below.

Pamela, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

when I wrote my first book, “Is this me? Am I her?” I realized that I was a mental abuse survivor. Like most people I went to google to see just what mental health was and what I could do to fix what was wrong with me.

As I was reading, I ran across an alarming statistic that 63% of African American men will not seek help for mental situations. That was the start of my quest to end the stigma one person at a time. My first attempt at bringing awareness to our men was my men’s mental health seminar.
The interest was high, the turnout was low. At the beginning I was devastated, then I realized that the people in the room were the people who needed to get the message at that time. I began to plan the next one, but I could not figure out how to improve the last one and get people in the chairs, and panelist to participate.
I participated in two anthologies, which gave me the idea to turn my seminars into a book I began to reach out to various African American men, to see if that would like to be a part of my vision. I honestly thought I would get eight men at the most, and I would have to put filler pages into the book. I ended up with twenty-six amazing men joined the book.
Each one shared what men’s mental health means to them through the eye of an African American Male. I am so proud of what they have accomplished in helping get the word out to others that it is ok to ask for help.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Pamela Coleman is a Charlottesville, Virginia native and mental abuse survivor. Coleman took pen to paper to ease years of abuse, years of lies and secrets. Her book “is this me? Am I her?” reflects on years of abuse. In writing about her life, she hopes to help others who have gone through similar events. Coleman has written two additional books, “Finding herself, I was not her!” picks up where “Is this me?” stops. You will learn how Coleman survives being turned in to APS by her grandmother’s nursing home. Facing felony charges. Noxious is a book about love, loss and who done it. From Noxious will be a 6-book series. Coleman is an award-winning author, of the Impact Award, for her support and encouragement of others. She received the Triple Threat awards for writing and releasing three books in a year.
Coleman is passionate about men’s mental health. As a mental abuse survivor, she knows first-hand what it is like to want help and not know how to ask for it, or where to go to find it. Coleman has hosted two men’s mental awareness seminars, in Virginia and Illinois. Her goal is to have a men’s seminar in every state. She feels that men need support when it comes to mental health. Coleman states “Mental health is not just for one month, its year-round.”
Her new project is an anthology about men’s mental health through the eyes of an African American man.

When she is not writing, or working with mental health, she enjoys time with her sons, Eric and Evan.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

The goal to have our men feel, when it comes to mental health, they can ask for help as easily as women. No one should feel alone when it comes to any health issues.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Growing up, when you gave your best at something and it didn’t work, you would give yourself a pat on the back, acknowledge the hard work you had done and move on to the next project.

It took me years to get that, you do not walk away from a project simply because it did not work out for you. If it is something that you are enthusiastic about, you keep pushing until success. It also helps to have people in your corner that believe in you and push you to your goals.

Now I am focused on making sure that I see projects to the end and not give if it did not go as planned

Contact Info:

• Website: https://findingyourpath.info
• Instagram: pcoleman_author
• Facebook: Pamela Coleman
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/pamelacoleman-51a548238
• Other: https://linktr.ee/pamelajamescoleman.com