Letters to My Brown Mother is officially released!
Letters to My Brown Mother is officially released!
"This should earn Abbas a rightful place in the inner circle of great authors. A big win for both—authentic storytelling and the mental health movement."
Letters to My Brown Mother shows how far we have come as a people, but also, just how much work our community still has to do. And it is the gap between those two— where we are and where we are striving to be—that Abbas aims to explore."
“It is difficult enough in general to find candid discussions regarding a topic as sensitive as mental health, even more difficult to find them amongst diaspora groups. Letters to my Brown Mother is a fascinating and eye-opening look at mental health issues within the Desi diaspora. Written with sensitivity and care, this book doesn’t pretend to have all the answers, but it tries to start some much needed conversations.”
"Muzna has done something necessary and incredible with these pages—combining eye-opening statistics, hushed secrets, and long-awaited letters into a book that finally lays bare the South Asian mental health problem. Here's to hoping her groundwork will pave the way for many more to share their stories and create a world without stigma."
Letters To My Brown Mother is about the struggles with mental health in the South Asian (desi) diaspora. The book details experiences of everyday South Asian immigrants and children of immigrants.
I wrote this book in hopes to dismantle the stigma surrounding mental health in the South Asian community. Mental wellbeing is rarely prioritized or discussed in South Asian households, causing many to suffer in silence without any help and support.
My hope is that, in reading this book, you will discover the necessity of discussing and understanding the nuances of this stigma. I want you to see this book as an opportunity to learn how mental health and culture interact. Ultimately, I want you to see this book as a tool to help you prioritize your mental health and have the difficult (but very important) conversation about this topic with your family and the broader diaspora community.
In this book, you'll encounter multifaceted dimensions of toxic masculinity, patriarchal gender norms, and the immigrant experience through letters like:
You will love this book if you are interested in learning about how cultural factors make prioritizing mental health taboo. While this book discusses the experiences of South Asian immigrants, many of these stories apply to all immigrant communities.
Letters To My Brown Mother speaks to the immigrant generation, to give them insight on their children’s struggles with mental health. The book is equally for us, their children, to give us a platform and the space to heal.
Ultimately, I hope that Letters To My Brown Mother inspires reflection and fruitful dialogue, pressing into engaging questions like:
I believe discussing mental heath and the South Asian approach to dealing with it (or not dealing with it) will change us all for the better.
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