After experiencing years of childhood abuse, shuffling through group homes and shelters, homelessness and multiple suicide attempts, Christopher LeMark initially sought refuge through hip-hop. The South Side artist used music as a tool to take himself and listeners on a journey toward healing.
However, in October 2018, LeMark found himself in a Starbucks coffee shop, having an emotional breakdown.
“Didn’t own anything, didn’t know what to do, struggling, didn’t know how to live. I was really overwhelmed,” LeMark told The TRiiBE. “But having that moment, that breakdown, led to a breakthrough to finally say, ‘go get some help.’”
LeMark went to therapy, where he learned that it wasn’t his fault that he was abused as a child. After a few sessions, the idea for his nonprofit Coffee, Hip-Hop & Mental Health came to mind. He wrote the words down on paper.
“Coffee, because [the coffee shop was] the safest place I could possibly be to have that breakdown moment, no judgment, nobody bothered me,” he explained. “Obviously, I put hip-hop because being a hip-hop artist in Chicago and that being my first form of therapy. I knew that was a bridge. And then mental health because we wasn’t talking about our emotions, our feelings. It’s really important for us to normalize that in our community so we can fight back mentally and be more strategic.”
On June 18, LeMark helped kick off the Chicago leg of the 2022 ESSENCE Road To Festival, a two-stop tour leading up to the 2022 Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans on June 30-July 3. The free Road to Festival event took place at the Harold Washington Cultural Center in Bronzeville for the Juneteenth holiday weekend. It included food, a performance by BJ the Chicago Kid and panel discussions with local Black organizers, entrepreneurs and more. WGCI radio personality Kendra G hosted the event.
LeMark moderated a panel called, “Black-Owned Business Spotlight: Behind the Brand,” with Semicolon Bookstore owner Danielle Mullen, Forty Acres Fresh Food Market founder and CEO Liz Abunaw, Black Bread Company co-owner Jamel Lewis and AYO Foods founder Perteet Spencer.
Today, LeMark’s Coffee, Hip-Hop & Mental Health offers free group therapy sessions on a weekly basis. In July, LeMark said, the organization will relaunch by providing 10 free sessions to individuals. People can fill out an intake form and, if chosen, they will be able to pick out their own therapist. He said his organization pays the therapists, spending about $750 per individual.