Black History Month

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

Racial trauma

Racism and mental health

Black and African American communities and mental health

Caregiving in BIPOC communities

Racial trauma

Racial trauma

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

Black past

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Black History Month

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

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