About AMOUR

Shelby Amour Castillo

Where born: New York! The City So Nice, They Named It Twice.

Sign: Sagittarius Sun, Leo Moon, Virgo Rising

Favorite treat: Trader Joe’s Chili & Lime Rolled Corn Tortilla Chips

Best show: Avatar The Last Airbender or Grey’s Anatomy

Your bio in a tweet: Poet, skater, 35mm film photographer, DJ-in-training, Afro-Boricua activist, gym-mouse, gamer, and social media specialist. Visual learner and graduate of Hamilton College with a B.A. in psychology. An avid reader and tea-drinker who likes to cook vegetarian stuff.

When you walk into a room, what’s your theme music?: “Kiss of Life” by Sade or “Cocky AF” by Megan Thee Stallion. There is no in-between. If there was a song that combined theses two moods, that would be it.

What does OurMHM mean to you?: Ri & CT are trying to build something that connects Black people with their mental health and not deal with race and psychology as two separate entities. Trying to destigmatize mental health is already a difficult undertaking, but trying to do so within the Black community can be even more challenging since the stats simply don’t represent us. Many studies focus on W.E.I.R.D populations and when they do approach people of color, they do so from a deficiency framework. As someone who has tried to champion and examine communities of color in my own work, I am so happy to join this journey and team of incredible folx who have the same goals and aims that I do. It just goes to show that we got us!