Let’s Reshape how we address men’s mental health
1.23.2026
Drowning in the open:
A Final Letter To Our Brothers
Every day, 100 men in the U.S. die by suicide, and many more deal with mental health challenges.
We are all in our own swimming pools with life’s inputs, conditioning, and pressures. Sometimes we are swimming along just fine, and at other times, we may be drowning without anyone realizing (including ourselves). Men’s inner struggles are often misunderstood, and there aren’t many clear ways to get and accept help.
This spoken word album and movement offers a life raft for men to feel heard, get tools to internally “swim,” and find community support. It does so while using powerful metaphors to help others better understand men’s internal battles.
In Nikki Giovanni’s final recorded work, she leaves a potent letter to men: your well-being matters too. Jordan “Dxtr” Holmes uses his own journey from drowning with his mental health struggles to thriving, to bring other men up with him.
THE MOVEMENT
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The Album
Dxtr Spits & Nikki Giovanni dismantle the stigma around men's mental health, weaving personal stories and raw emotion into a multi-sensory experience that encourages an open conversation and emotional vulnerability.
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THE TOUR
Light & Life Rafts is a traveling installation to tour the album featuring; large scale portraits of men in community telling their mental health stories, performance by Jordan “Dxtr” Holmes, and community conversation. In a collaboration between How Men Cryand Room for Light, we bring together storytelling, art, music, and mental health resources.
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The Tools
This isn’t a Therapist office, it’s The Internal Gym. Men need skillsets to thrive. This 5 day course uses the album as a guide to help men build internal muscle memory for balance in health, mind, and spirit. Take the challenge to get the skills to navigate any internal struggle.
