Learning about the history of systemic racism during Black History Month – and all year – in the mental health system and movement and how it harms Black communities in the US and around the world is key for creating a mentally healthier world.
We are highlighting Black and African American contributions to the mental health movement because they are oftentimes overlooked. Without recognizing the lack of representation of Black and African American people in the mental health movement, we do a disservice and continue to inflict harm.
Learning about the history of systemic racism during Black History Month* – and all year – in the mental health system and movement and how it harms Black communities in the US and around the world is key for creating a mentally healthier world.
This is a non-exhaustive list of Black and African American mental health resources.
*Note: MHA uses “Black History Month” as opposed to African American History Month to acknowledge the contributions of Black people whose ancestry is unknown or who do not identify as African.
Black Mental Health History
Black pioneers in mental health
The 1840 U.S. Census was overly interested in Americans’ mental health
The Central State Hospital Digital Library & Archives Project
The historical roots of racial disparities in the mental health system
The Black Mental Health Alliance
A century of stigma for Black America and mental health
The podcast HISTORY This Week explores what happened in 1840 as U.S. Marshals went door to door conducting the sixth-ever census in the United States. That marked the first time the U.S. government included a question about mental health. The results were tragic and long-lasting. Twenty-one years before the Civil War erupted, with over two million enslaved people in America, the question fed and upheld a racist and pernicious lie that was spreading throughout America at the time: freedom causes African Americans to go insane.
Statistics And Information Related To Mental Health For Black And African American Communities
Black and African American communities and mental health
Caregiving in BIPOC communities
Black Voices On Mental Health
Honoring Black history while honoring mental health
Road to wellness: An African American female’s journey
Racism deniers make it harder to do this incredible, exhausting work
A Black, Christian’s journey to mental wellness
We will no longer tolerate injustice in America
Podcasts
I’m still grieving, feat. Caren Howard [PODCAST]
I feel disconnected from my community, feat. Caren Howard [PODCAST]
How to push through a crisis, feat. Caren Howard [PODCAST]
Dealing with pressure and expectations, with Princess Asia and Mario [PODCAST]
Being in a relationship with someone who has a mental illness, feat. Rwenshaun Miller
Blogs From Non-Black People Of Color On Issues Affecting Black Communities
The legacy of “deinstitutionalization”
Why silence weighs heavily on the mental health of marginalized communities
Mental Health Resources For Black And African Americans
Therapy Resources
Miscellaneous Mental Health Resources
Additional Black History Resources
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Smithsonian Education – Black History Month
National Park Service – African American Heritage
National Archives – African American History Portal
National Endowment for the Humanities – African American History and Culture
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum – Black History Month