The mental health crisis among Black youth is a serious matter.
Black youth between the ages of 10 and 19 experienced a 78% increase in suicide rates. Research reported by the Association of American Medical Colleges showed Black youth had the largest jump in suicides— among other racial groups—from 2000 to 2020. A study among children 5 to 12 revealed that Black children were twice as likely to commit suicide than white children.
Ohio community members recognize the importance of facilitating safe spaces for Black youth to unload the burdens of discrimination, poverty, violence, and other stressors. Counselor India Strother is a soft landing for Black youth who face vicarious racism before they even start school. Vicarious racism is defined as “hearing about racism directed toward one’s racial group or racist acts committed against other racial group members.”
Strother told the Associated Press, “Anytime you deal with African American mental health, you’re not dealing with one thing. It is several things. It is trauma that has not been addressed.” With so many stressors, it is no surprise that the Black youth at the school where Strother works trust her with sensitive information about their private lives.
Dr. Steven Kniffley, at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, told the Associated Press that even at four-years-old children can experience traumatic stress because of their race. Dr. Kniffley commented on social media’s role in exposing stressful realities to youth. “When we think about our young folks specifically, because of the strong influence of social media on their lived experience, they’re constantly inundated and really overexposed to all the bad things that are going on in our society.”
Other community members in Ohio have taken the lead to found organizations that address the mental health needs of Black youth. Frances Frazier, founder of Black Girl Rising Inc., created “I Am Good Enough,” a Black girl mental health campaign. Frazier discusses the six areas that the campaign addresses in a video.
Archie Green, rapper and founder of Peel Dem Layers Back, facilitates a safe space for Black boys to open up about their mental health. Green created Peel Dem Layers Back after opening up about his mental health and being clinically diagnosed with depression.
Celebrities are also taking action to lighten the load of mental health struggles weighing on Black youth. Rapper and entrepreneur Percy Miller, better known as Master P, spoke to middle school students in New Orleans about “prioritizing and protecting their mental health in the midst of life’s dark times.”
