James Donaldson on Mental Health - Seeking Help Is a Sign of Strength: A Call to Action for Minority Mental Health Awareness Month

By Kyra Wagner July is Bebe Moore Campbell Minority Mental Health Awareness Month.

This observance is named after Moore Campbell for her relentless advocacy for communities of color.

Almost two decades after the inception of Bebe Moore Campbell Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, there is still work to do to improve systems of care for communities of color, who may carry a heavy burden, often borne from generational trauma, histories of enslavement, and systemic oppression and discrimination.

Black young adults ages 18-25 have the lowest prevalence of having been diagnosed with a mental health condition in the past year compared to other races and ethnicities.

However, Black adolescents ages 12-17 are also less likely than their white peers to receive mental health care.

This is thought to be due to access and trust issues , as well as stigma, rooted in historical and present-day discrimination.

As a Black woman, I recognize that when a people are enslaved for 246 years and then forced straight into centuries of fighting for basic civil rights and human decency, the fallout doesn’t just disappear.

The same reality applies to Indigenous communities, who faced genocide and were not recognized as citizens on their own land until the early twentieth century, and to the many immigrants and refugees who arrived seeking a better life but instead faced systemic discrimination.

Our identities are not something we should apologize for; this month is a reminder that our identities are beautiful in their diversity and that we deserve to live freely and peacefully in our bodies.

Observing Bebe Moore Campbell Minority Mental Health Month is important because it encourages us to challenge the systems that aren’t serving us.