Dr. Raquel Martin’s ‘Burn the Cape’ Support Group Is Bringing Community to Black Women’s Mental Health
by Black Love Team
SHARE ARTICLE
LEFT TO READ

minutes

PUBLISHED ON

December 17, 2024

ARTICLE LENGTH

19 Minute Read

SHARE ARTICLE
CONTRIBUTOR

Dr. Raquel Martin’s ‘Burn the Cape’ Support Group Is Bringing Community to Black Women’s Mental Health

Black women have long been burdened by the weight of societal expectations to be strong, unyielding, and selfless—often at the expense of their own well-being. The Burn the Cape Initiative, created by licensed clinical psychologist Dr. Raquel Martin, PhD, is a revolutionary 10-week support group designed to challenge these norms and offer Black women a much-needed space to rest, heal, and reclaim their identities. Best of all, it’s completely free.

This program was intentionally designed by a Black woman for Black women. The name “Burn the Cape” symbolizes shedding the ‘superwoman’ cape—an emblem of strength and resilience that society often demands Black women wear—to prioritize humanity, rest, and self-care.

Black women face unique challenges, including resistance fatigue and the burden of stereotypes that contribute to health disparities and poor well-being. Burn the Cape is a holistic program with several features tailored specifically for Black women:

  • Weekly Guided Sessions: Facilitated by licensed mental health professionals who are also Black women, these virtual sessions provide a safe space to process emotions and navigate challenges.
  • Custom Materials: Participants receive printed workbooks, activities, and affirmations designed for self-exploration and growth.
  • Holistic Support: Care packages filled with tangible encouragement are provided throughout the program to inspire and sustain participants.
  • Community Connection: A supportive environment is created for shared experiences, fostering resilience and solidarity among participants.

Burn the Cape is a donation-based program, making it accessible to as many women as possible. Contributions help sustain the program by funding clinician stipends and providing essential materials and care packages to participants. Every donation, no matter the size, makes a meaningful impact in continuing this vital work.

Black Love sat down with Burn the Cape founder Dr. Martin to discuss the program, Black superwoman syndrome, and why Black women need to prioritize their mental health.

Black Love: What can you tell us about the Burn the Cape program?

Dr. Raquel Martin: It’s a mental health initiative that provides Black women with 10 weeks of free support group sessions. All of the groups are facilitated by licensed mental health professionals and the whole purpose of it is to address the unique challenges that Black women face. Each week we have a different topic and I chose these topics based on things that contribute to health disparities of Black women, [such as] race activism, fatigue stereotypes, medical advocacy.

Each week we address a different topic and the groups kind of go along the same way. We provide some psychoeducation about the topic, we do a therapeutic activity, we have discussion throughout, and we also identify coping skills with those individual topics overall. I think of it more like the purpose of it is to have a holistic approach that’s provided by licensed mental health professionals and guided by more of a structured curriculum. The mental health education that’s provided is culturally tailored to individuals of African and Caribbean descent and talks about Black history and identity development to help galvanize the participants to reclaim their wellbeing and redefine their roles and build community overall.

BL: Why did you think that this program was needed? What were you seeing in your experience as a psychologist, where it made sense to develop this program?

RM: I feel like I see it in every single one of my roles. I’m a licensed clinical psychologist where I see patients. I’m also a professor at an HBCU, where I am responsible for conducting research as well as fostering in the new generation of clinicians and teens. I also have a podcast where we talk about mental health things, and as someone who’s specialized in Black mental health, I consistently see a lack of representation of us.

I always state that I specialize in Black mental health, and while that doesn’t mean that no one else can benefit, it does mean that the resources I provide or the topics that I discuss — down to the music in the background of my videos — are going to be for Black people. When we don’t center individuals, when we don’t specialize, we do a disservice. A lot of times people have attempted to correct me and state like, ‘Oh well, do you mean you specialize in people of color’s mental health?’ And I said, ‘No, I specialize in the mental health of individuals of African and Caribbean descent.’ I find that when you try to prioritize everyone, you prioritize no one.

For example, our topic this week, we’re discussing the impact of stereotypes on our mental, physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. There’s no one other than individuals of African and Caribbean descent that would have lived in the feeling of the angry Black woman stereotype or the Mammy stereotype or Jezebel. The salience in the group is being able to center us in our narratives, and our voices, and not feeling the need to mask or code switch. That’s the thing that’s really going to contribute to us taking control of our health and wellbeing; being able to advocate for ourselves. These are the things that contribute to hair discrimination of Black women. These are the things that contribute to us not being able to have appropriate medical advocacy for Black maternal health.

Just being able to provide the space where almost every woman was just like, ‘Oh my goodness, I’ve never had a space where it’s just us.’ It’s all Black women, from the members to the facilitators. Every single facilitator is a licensed mental health professional that is a Black woman. Every single member is a Black woman.

BL: What are some of the issues that you see most often with Black women who are coming to the program?

RM: I would say it’s the textbook factors of Black superwoman syndrome. The responsibility to project strength at the detriment of their own wellbeing. The lack of tangible resources and coping skills directed towards them not being able to build community or have time to process things. The good thing about this is all of the members have a set time every single week to focus on them and their wellbeing. [They’re] being forced to slow down and build community. They really benefited from having the intentional time of their wellbeing. We’re all working, hustle and bustle, to take care of ourselves and drink our water and properly hydrate and work out and indulge, but not too much, and have self-care and read the book. We’re all doing all of these things.

Even just having the time to be intentional about your health and wellbeing was really helpful. I also feel as though some of the evolution of mental health care has been in a space where it alienates individuals to think that it’s only going to be indulgent. It’s only going to be fun things that you want to do all the time, but self-care is not sexy. It is not fun half the time. It is not like Robyn Rihanna Fenty. So being able to break it down to the most bare bones was really helpful because a lot of the women when they were thinking about self-care, they were like, ‘Oh, spa days.’

The initial reason why I created this group is when Kamala announced, I had this intense feeling of fear. I was just like no one except for Black women really understand the depths that certain people loathe us. When they come for Kamala, they are going to be coming for us as well. I wanted to build a community space. That’s why I decided to do support groups instead of individual sessions. I wanted us to work on skills, but I wanted us to work on it together. I wanted us to foster community because therapy is not the only path to healing, but no matter what path you take, it’s going to be paved with community.

That’s why it was really important for me to do this in a group dynamic where people were able to build relationships with others, not feel isolated in their wellbeing, and not feel isolated in their stories. It’s a national group, we’re in over 20 states and we have one member who was actually in Belize. We’re all from different age ranges, different walks of life, but we all could resonate with this.

BL: What do you want the future to be for Burn the Cape? Where do you see it growing and where would you like it to go?

RM: Initially I thought it was just going to be a group, but now I refer to it more as a movement. I’m hoping to create a corporation that’s like a legacy foundation for Black women to do the group. Our first cohort just ended this past week. Our next cohort will start solely based on donations. Even though the group doesn’t cost money for the members, the licensed mental health professionals are provided a stipend. Everything is based on donations and I think it’s also a testament to the aspect of mutual aid. So many people were like, ‘You’re going to have to charge something.’ I’m like, we may have to charge something eventually, but let me see what we can do solely with donations. We funded two entire cohorts solely based on donation.

There’s 200-something women in each cohort. There are 52 weeks in a year. There are 10 weeks per cohort. My goal is to have four weeks, four cohorts a year. I’m building a community where we’ll likely have two live discussions every single month and we’re going to have a book club, but the biggest thing is that we’re going to have this space solely for us. Everybody wants a summit. I have no idea how we would be able to do that, but being able to figure that out eventually.

 

BlackLove.com Related Articles:

Taking Off My Cape: Letting Go of the Superwoman Syndrome

For the Brothers: Mental Health Communities Black Men Should Follow

8 Mental Health Resources Inspired by Megan Thee Stallion’s ‘Megan Thee Stallion: In Her Words’

 

I’m also working with some men that are licensed mental health professionals to create something comparable for Black men. Our [program] is called the Burn the Cape Support Group because we’re burning the cape of Black superwoman syndrome, like embracing our freedom and centering our humanity. The Break the Hammer group is based off of this folklore by John Henry. It’s the Black man who raced against the machine and he won, but then he died with a hammer in his hand. I want Black men to know that they are allowed to be more than their roles. They’re allowed to center their humanity, as well. I wanted to contribute to cultivating a space just for Black men. I won’t be facilitating that group; I’m more so helping with the fundraisers.

The more money we get, the more facilitators we can hire to manage the groups. The stipend that they receive, it’s a smaller stipend. It’s significantly below what their rate would be for 90 minutes of care, and they’re willing to take the decrease in income because every single person believes in the group. We have 30 facilitators, they’re all amazing Black women. I think Burn the Cape is going to be something that people are able to do in all walks of life.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Black Love (@blacklove)

BL:  Before we let you go, is there anything else that you wanted to share with us about the program or mental health? 

RM: I’m working on a book proposal. I want to write a book about this so it’s able to reach so many people who can’t be in the group. I see the book as a love letter to Black women. I’ve never felt more supported than when I’m with Black women. I very much feel as though we deserve a book dedicated to understanding the internalized oppression that leads to us having mental health difficulties.

A lot of times people will be like, we limit ourselves, but we also have to acknowledge where those limits come from. The internalized oppression comes from injected oppression. We’re not looking past all the positive messages and latching onto the negative ones. We are looking at all the negative ones, and of course they get internalized eventually. So I’m hoping to write a book that people can take with them and go back and use the resources and realize that we’re worthy of everything. Not because of productivity, not because of what we can produce, but just because we exist in this world.

Donations are helpful. There is no cost to the group as of right now. People just need to send me an email. You’ll get an email back from me in two to three days. We send care packages to every single cohort, so whether it’s donating time, whether it’s donating products that you want in the packages, whether it’s sharing, every little bit helps. I have six free eBooks on my website. I speak in public. Just letting Black women and the whole Black community know that we’re out there doing the work. We totally understand that these next years are going to be intense, but licensed mental health professionals, policy workers, individuals who cultivate these ecosystems, support us.

Ready to Burn the Cape?

If you’re ready to shed the Black superwoman cape and prioritize your well-being, Burn the Cape is here to support you. To secure your spot in this transformative program, email admin@raquelmartinphd.com today. To donate or sponsor, please visit the program’s GoFundMe page or contact admin@raquelmartinphd.com.

Let’s rewrite the narrative and honor the humanity of Black women—one cape at a time.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION