We all know him as Leon, the outspoken and hilarious character on Curb Your Enthusiasm, his appearances in the Barbershop and Spiderman film series, Real Husbands of Hollywood, and as a wildly talented comedian. But J.B. Smoove also has a lot to say about mental health. In this two-part episode of the Strong Talk podcast hosted by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Vice President for Health Equity and Engagement, Vic Armstrong, this big-hearted entertainer shares his experiences of:

• Finding himself on stage – and finding himself in real life
• Dealing with disappointment
  Losing people to suicide, and how family and friends can come together after a loss
• Our culture’s evolving perception of mental health
• The unfair pressure on Black men to keep their feelings inside
• The challenge of having to put on a happy face while dealing with something difficult
• Strategies for healthily managing one’s mental health

We hope you’ll join us for this enlightening conversation with this beloved – and insightful – entertainer.

Strong Talk is a podcast dedicated to the discussion of equity, diversity, and family as it relates to mental health and addictions. We started this podcast because we believe that we are at a pivotal point, as it pertains to access to mental health services for historically marginalized communities. We wanted to create a space, not only to talk about challenges, but to explore and to create space for solutions.