Jor-El Caraballo

The Shadow Work Self-Reflection Deck Unlock the transformative power of shadow work and self-discovery with The Shadow Work Self-Reflection Deck, a comprehensive self-help tool designe...

My new card deck, The Shadow Work Self-Reflection Deck, is coming out in a just a few weeks! www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Sh...

Trump pushes an end to medical care for transgender youth nationally The White House plans to bar hospitals that treat transgender children and youth from getting any Medicare and Medicaid payments. The move would affect trans youth who have private insurance, too.

Make no mistake, this sort of proposal is not just about controlling access to healthcare but testing the limit of law (for the sake of even grander, horrific plans) and the morality of access to healthcare as a fundamental human right.

This cannot stand.

www.npr.org/sections/sho...

Hey NY, do your thing ✊🏾

Coffee & Contemplation | Jor-El Caraballo | Substack Mental health, self-care and the meaning of life. Click to read Coffee & Contemplation, by Jor-El Caraballo, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.

Read more of my take on this tomorrow morning from my newsletter Coffee & Contemplation. Subscribe (for free!) here: jorelcaraballo.substack.com

There's so much pressure to keep up with everything, to have all the right answers...to always be knowing.

What if we gave ourselves permission to embrace ambiguity and confusion with compassion?

RFK Jr. wants to end mental health screenings in schools. Experts say it's a bad idea Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy and Education Secretary Linda McMahon are against schools giving kids standardized questionnaires about their mental well-being. But experts say they are wrong.

The recently signed Illinois based bill will help promote better mental health outcomes.

Learn more about the pushback from national officials here: www.npr.org/sections/sho...

We have to stop feeding this narrative that asking about mental health somehow creates mental health concerns. It doesn't.

Asking about mental health reduces stigma and helps identify sources of support that may even help prevent mental health crisis.

An Open Letter to Lil Nas X And to anyone struggling in silence

Today I’m exploring mental health and stigma in my open letter to Lil Nas X. I hope that anyone who struggles with their mental health can find refuge in my words of encouragement.

substack.com/home/post/p-...

OpenAI, Altman sued over ChatGPT's role in California teen's suicide The parents of a teen who died by suicide after ChatGPT coached him on methods of self harm sued OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman on Tuesday, saying the company knowingly put profit above safety when it launched the GPT-4o version of its artificial intelligence chatbot last year.

PLEASE please please seek out the help and support of a licensed mental health professional in your state. AI is not a safe resource for your mental health support.

www.reuters.com/sustainabili...

A 16 year old boy from California has died by suicide after consulting with AI to address his mental health issues. This is a horrific and tragic story. We DESPERATELY need reasonable safeguards for AI as its now incredibly common for folks to use it for emotional support.

The Benefit of Doubt For Your Mental Health How to tackle depression when it lies to you

Mental health struggles, like depression, often distort the way we think and it's common to become fixed in those perceptions. Trying on new ways to think can help.

open.substack.com/pub/jorelcar...

It's never too early to plan for the next election. Are there candidates in your local elections committed to protecting free speech & the right to read? If not, maybe the person who needs to step up is you.

Florida Court Favors Authors, Publishers, Readers in ‘PRH v. Gibson’ The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida has upheld the freedom to read in Penguin Random House v. Gibson, a lawsuit filed in August 2024 to challenge key provisions of Florida HB 10...

Here’s some positive book news!
www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

National Association of Black Bookstores Launches The new member-based organization has officially launched with the aim of supporting and promoting Black booksellers inside the industry and beyond. The news has drawn mixed responses from the Black b...

This is great! www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

Mindfulness in Daily Life (At the Italian Restaurant) Author talks, nature walks, and sips of Italian espresso

Mindfulness in Daily Life
open.substack.com/pub/jorelcar...

Reflections on the 4th of July "You may rejoice, I must mourn.”

Reflections on the 4th of July: open.substack.com/pub/jorelcar...

Proposed Health and Human Services Budget On May 30, the Trump-Vance Administration released its proposed budget for the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department.

www.counseling.org/publications...

Have you heard of Getting Word? It’s a collective of literary organizations dedicated to the cultivation and preservation of Black literature.

This Juneteenth, you can support their mission to #fundblackliterature and shop their curated list on our site:

bookshop.org/info/getting...

Well this is certainly one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever read.

For the Love of Words I should’ve known I’d become a writer someday.

Stories, wishes, and dreams are all made manifest by words and that's what makes words special.

open.substack.com/pub/jorelcar...

This is amazing

Bill derided by authors as enabling book banning heads to Ayotte's desk • New Hampshire Bulletin If New Hampshire adopts a law to make it easier to remove books from school libraries, “Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult could be one of them.

Friends in New Hampshire! Have you contacted Governor Ayotte yet? newhampshirebulletin.com/2025/05/21/b...

The Take It Down Act, "criminalizes the publication of non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII), including AI-generated NCII (or “deepfake revenge pornography”), and requires social media and similar websites to remove such content within 48 hours of notice from a victim."

Here's some good news coming out of Congress. In a bipartisan effort, Congress has passed the Take It Down Act. This act provides recourse for victims of deepfakes and revenge porn.

Congrats!

Falling Apart is Good for Your Mental Health All good things fall apart sometimes, just like cookies

Falling apart (sometimes) is good for your mental health open.substack.com/pub/jorelcar...

Spend time with yourself with mindfulness as a practice , available with Meditations for Black Men bit.ly/4e43sDz

You should fight for disabled people because it’s the right thing to do. Ableism feeds eugenics. No one is expendable. Our value should never be tied to economic contributions.

Failing that, do it because one day you will become disabled. Given enough time, almost everyone joins our minority group.

Grounded Kids: Mindfulness as a Resistance Tool Especially for Black kids, mindfulness can be healing.

open.substack.com/pub/raisinga...