Terrie Williams
Terrie Williams knows that too many black people in America are hurting. She
knows this because she is one of them.
Terrie had made it: a premiere public relations entrepreneur who served as a
trusted and respected public relations advisor to countless high-profile clients
including Janet Jackson, Russell Simmons, the NBA and the NFL, and many of the
world’s leading corporate entities. Yet, inside, she was in constant pain—waking
up in terror and overeating in search of relief.
For 30 years she kept up the façade of success, exhausting herself every day
to satisfy her clients’ needs while neglecting her own. Then, one day Terrie
collapsed, balled up in bed for days. Still, she had no clue what was wrong,
that her problem had a name (“Depression”) or if there was a way out. She had
hit rock bottom, and only then did she get help... that’s when she discovered
that she wasn’t alone.
In her groundbreaking 2005 Essence article, “Depression and the Superwoman,”
Terrie Williams exposed her own battle with clinical depression and also opened
a door in the African-American community, which had always been sealed shut. The
response was staggering. Now, Terrie’s mission is to break through the silence
about this crippling taboo.
In her book, BLACK PAIN: It Just Looks Like We’re Not Hurting, and now
in her lectures, Terrie identifies emotional pain -- which uniquely and
profoundly affects the Black experience -- as the root of why so many lash
outward or inward through desperate acts of crime and violence, drug and/or
alcohol abuse, eating disorders, workaholism, shopping, gambling and sex. Few
realize that these destructive acts are uncontrollable symptoms of inner sorrow.
It’s time to recognize and work through the trauma. From the schoolgirl to the gang-banger to the hip-hop star to the corporate exec, she shows us that Black people in this country, and people of all races, even if they’re living the American dream, are still fighting a nightmare they can’t wake up from, the nightmare of depression.
Terrie has inspired people, famous and ordinary, to speak out—and mental health professionals to offer solutions. With BLACK PAIN, Terrie turns the mirror to her audiences, so they can take an honest look at their loved ones and themselves, to see what the pain looks like, what it feels like and what it sounds like—and then do something about it.
A licensed clinical social worker by training, Terrie Williams launched the public relations firm, The Terrie Williams Agency, in 1988. The company quickly became one of the most successful PR firms in America, representing top names in entertainment, sports, business and politics such as Miles Davis, Johnnie Cochran, Stephen King, Eddie Murphy, HBO, and Time Warner. She has also created the Stay Strong Foundation, which reaches out to anyone of any age suffering from mental illness. Terrie has a BA from Brandeis University and a master's degree in social work from Columbia University.