Meet Keith Mascoll

 

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Keith Mascoll. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Keith, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?

I get my resilience from my mom Connie, she was a fighter. I watched her fall down and get back up as a boy and a man. As a survivor of abuse I Refuse to live the narrative of the people who abused me. My goal has always been to live my own narrative and not THEIRS. Creating Triggered Life with John Oluwole Adekoje gave me the ability to share my story as a Black male survivor and speak my truth. Every time i took the stage or we show the film I am reborn to speak my truth about what happened and that’s what my abusers don’t want. They want the silence that I agreed to for so many years. It is my resilience at is best when I am using art to educated Social Workers, Phycologists, and educators about black boys in trauma. I think about how many other men and boys can be helped from me doing this work? How many of them need hope to show their own resiliency?

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

My name is Keith Mascoll. I am a professional actor, educator, and the founder of a nonprofit titled The Triggered Project. We are shattering the silence and nurturing the healing of Black and Brown male survivors of sexual abuse with the use of art. As part of the work we are wanting to change how psychologists, social workers, and educators learn about Black boys and trauma. I worked with award winning Director, John Oluwole AdeKoje to create a motion picture staged hybrid version of my one man show called Triggered Life. I am Black male survivor and using my story to help male survivors know they are not alone and hopefully encourage to tell their own stories. I am curate a podcast with my wife, Roxann who is the lead clinician for my nonprofit titled Living a Triggered Life Podcast. The podcast is the next chapter of my story where we discuss how trauma has impacted our relationship and how we have worked through it all. We are the only podcast that has a partnership with the Museum of Science, Boston to produce live podcast episodes. We have recorded twenty episodes in our Season 1 and will be releasing Season 2 in the Spring 2025. I am excited about my new curriculum called Sneaker Therapy that explores the intersectionalities of mental health, healing and sneaker culture. Sneaker culture helped me finding agency and hope that Sneaker Therapy can help others find their agency too. In the Spring 2025 we are curating a summit, titled The Importance of Educators Learning about Black Boys and Trauma at the Harvard University School of Education. We are also publishing a book titled Living a Triggered Life.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

My best qualities and skills in my personal journey has been resilience, creativity, curating spaces, determination, persistence, and a strong belief. When I feel [distracted by disappointments it is helpful for me to return to my written out goals and dreams to gain clarity about my purpose again. It helps me feel energized and reflect on what have been my achievements.

I advise that when you start to your journey it is important to take care of your mental health which will help to support you believe in yourself. Also when you surround yourself with like minded people who can help to lift you up which can support you finding your purpose in your work. Your purpose will always help point you in the right direction and ground you when you feel lost.

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?

The number one challenge that I am currently facing is people who attempt to diminish and/or disregard my work because of the stigma involved in discussing Black boys and men who have experienced sexual trauma. Male survivors of sexual trauma is a topic in the Black community who have fears about facing these truths in their families and community wide which is then projected onto me and my work to expose it.
I am working to overcome this challenge by reminding myself that the refusal to acknowledge Black male survivors’ sexual trauma experiences has not related to the quality or the importance of my work. Instead it does remind me how important my work is and that I am speaking for my ancestors who suffered this abuse and were never able to talk about it therefore never finding healing in their lives.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Omar Robinson, John Oluwole Adekoje, Wolf Taylor, Jesse Rowell Jr, Jonathan Wiggs

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