Let Me Black in Peace: Mental Health in the Black Community

With 2020 leaving an indelible mark on all of us, it has disproportionately affected the Black community with higher rates of COVID-19, while highlighting already present wounds that are just now receiving widespread national attention.

One topic that has gone largely unaddressed is the level of stigma present within the Black community concerning mental health.

According to the Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, Black adults in the U.S. are more likely than white adults to report persistent symptoms of emotional distress, such as sadness, hopelessness, and feeling like everything is an effort. Black adults living below the poverty line are more than twice as likely to report serious psychological distress than those living above it.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness reports that despite the needs, only one in three Black or African American adults who need mental health care receive it, citing a study that showed…