Ron Blake’s arsenal of healing consists of sharpie markers and giant poster boards.
With these tools of mass creation, Blake, 49, hopes to land a spot on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” the man he credits with saving his life.
Blake suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, after he was sexually assaulted by three men — one of whom was his former domestic partner — in his Phoenix apartment in 2011. After a suicide attempt in May 2015, he spent months in isolation.
Until Blake caught one of Stephen Colbert’s monologues — and laughed.
Once a physics teacher, marathon runner and socializer, Blake realized sitting inside of his home was no longer going to cut it.
“With depression, a lot of people don’t want to get out of bed,” Blake said. “I would get up, but I wouldn’t want to be around people. That wasn’t who I was.”
Since November 2015, Blake has taken his therapy to the streets by meeting strangers. He has one request: that people hear his story and sign one of his poster boards.
His supporters write an array of messages — personal anecdotes, bible verses, jokes, artwork and more — all motivating him to keep moving forward.
Now fast approaching the fourth year of his journey, Blake said this isn’t what he imagined his life would turn into.
“The most beautiful moments in life you don’t have to think through,” Blake said. “You just do.”
With over 8,300 hours poured into his work, Blake has met over 26,000 people across New York, New Jersey, California, New Mexico, Texas and Arizona to share his story.
Blake said he is “like an accountant” with numbers relating to his journey because it gives others something to grasp onto “that’s bigger than me or them.”
“If the only way you gauge success with this project is, ‘Oh, did Blake get on “The Late Show”? Or did he not?’ Then people will think it’s a failure,” Blake said. “Instead, people told me it’s probably better to have other things to gauge, like how many people have signed the boards or how many boards do I have or how many days has it been.”
Primarily, Blake keeps to the Phoenix area, often visiting coffee shops and college campuses.
Edwin Vazquez met Blake last year at a coffee shop and was so humbled by his story that the two have talked on a near day-to-day basis since.
“He always tries to put in an effort to make and maintain deeper friendships,” Vazquez said. “We’ve both been pretty vulnerable to each other and shared struggles we’ve had to go through.”
Blake said he takes on part-time jobs to pay for his bills and traveling expenses, but ultimately, he would like to get paid as a motivational speaker at colleges and conferences across the country while on his journey.
Kelsi Rather, a mental health counselor who met Blake six months ago, said Blake’s journey has helped him find healing.
“Everybody in Phoenix knows him or knows about him,” Rather said. “He’s put so much work into this, but even if he doesn’t reach his goal, I know that this journey has helped him with his PTSD and his own mental health.”
In late August, The Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence, which hosts an annual night for sexual assault and domestic violence awareness, selected Blake to throw the first pitch at a Diamondbacks game.
“There’s such a build up to throwing that first pitch — it’s probably going to be like (The Late Show). Even though that moment lasted a couple of minutes, you take it in, and it’s exciting,” Blake said.
Erin Callinan, an associate director of Mental Health America of Arizona, said seeing a male survivor throw out the first pitch meant progress in terms of “creating space for men at the table” to address sexual assault.
“People are paying attention and they’re listening because he’s invested a lot of time and energy and heart,” Callinan said.
In August, local cinema Film Bar celebrated Blake’s 1,000th day of trying to get on “The Late Show.” The business showcased a documentary that students from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication created following Blake’s journey.
Rather originally came up with the idea for a viewing party and was glad to see the community surround Blake.
“It wasn’t only people that knew him; there were new people that saw him on the news that morning and showed up,” she said.
Vazquez said Blake understands the importance of vulnerability and knows he doesn’t need to appear as a “superhero”; his compassion toward others is what makes him successful.
“Ultimately, whether or not he gets on ‘The Late Show,’ he has become the kind of person that should get on that show,” Vazquez said. “And it’s that process of becoming.”
Blake has a collection of nearly 400 poster boards residing in storage. He hopes they will one day find a “final resting place” in an art exhibit where they can inspire others going through trauma.
Blake wants his message to continue to show people how to find comfort, joy and even humor in their own struggles — just like he did with “The Late Show.”
“Comedy is not the absence of trauma,” Blake said. “Comedy is the ability to take our trauma and find a way to still laugh.”
Contact the reporter at amalabad@asu.edu.
