Unmasking the Truth
Peeking Into the Corners
In an upcoming podcast we recorded with Ashanti Branch of the Ever Forward Club, we discuss his Million Mask Movement and how it came into being.
On a Boys to Men initiation weekend, the boys are introduced to masks by the older men and the Journeymen who are returning to staff the weekend in a process we call Unmasking the Truth. The key to making Unmasking the Truth work is to NOT focus on the data, but instead focus on the underlying emotions “behind” the data.
The data is what I refer to as “Traffic and Weather on the Ones.” It is the mindfuck, and it is imperative that we stay OUT of the head, the cerebral…the intellect.
My parents got divorced.
My dad comes home drunk.
This is the data. In case one, maybe my mask is the protector, the serious person. In case two, my mask might be that I am the joker…a clown.
Beneath these masks is the crux of the issues, the “feelings” that come from the experience.
I feel/felt sad.
I feel afraid.
And, in both cases, most times; “I feel alone.”
Hiding behind the masks is where safety exists. However, this is not where the reality of our hearts and souls reside. We need to create a safe space by modeling the words; “I feel afraid,” to give the young man the permission to click in and say, “Yeah, me too. I feel that.”
The “Little Man” in your head is in charge when the mask is on. For this, I want to revisit “The Book: THE FOLSOM PRISON DAYBOOK OF GRIEF, DESPAIR, HOPE & ART” This piece comes from an author who is listed as, Unknown:
Untitled Number Two
I have this little man in my head
hiding somewhere in the darkness
where I'm afraid to look;
a little green flicker
or maybe blue; who knows?
I think green, the color of jealousy, envy.
He is jealous of
what I am capable of and envies me
for trying to be better than I am.
I don't know how the fuck he got there
and is good at making his thoughts seem like my own,
constantly fucking with my head,
telling me I'm no good or not good enough;
people will laugh at me if I do my way.
I'm safer listening.
He's there, alright.
He's whispering in my ear right now:
I'm not a poet and never will be.
I can't even write a fucking letter.
Yes, he's good.
But he's scared.
That's why he hides in the darkest corners of my mind
where I haven't looked in a long, long time.
But I'm starting to peek into those corners now,
scared as I am of the creviced darkness;
I can't wait to catch that little fucker
and shut him up for good.
~ Unknown ~
The author recognizes that the person wearing the mask envies the person behind the mask.
The goal is to help the young man to see the authentic man behind the mask and nurture his brilliance and advocate for him to become the man he wants to be.
If the elders do not step in and do this, the boys will burn down the village.
“In many tribal cultures, it was said that if the boys were not initiated into manhood, if they were not shaped by the skills and love of elders, then they would destroy the culture. If the fires that innately burn inside youths are not intentionally and lovingly added to the hearth of community, they will burn down the structures of culture, just to feel the warmth.” --Michael Meade