Greetings!

July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month (also called BIPOC Mental Health Month). BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous and People of Color,

In 2008, Congress passed a resolution that established the month of July as Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month to bring awareness to the unique struggles that minority groups face regarding mental illness in the US. Mental health includes emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices.

The Black community, and truly all communities, can engage in four activities to help get rid of the stigma around mental illness:

1)    Gather Information - Stigma stems from a lack of knowledge, and the best way to fight a gap in information is by educating others in our community.

2)    Speak Up – in our community, we often equate strength with being silent and stoic - and that speaking up and asking for help is weakness. Living with a mental illness doesn’t define anyone, nor does it limit anyone’s abilities.

3)    Remain Open - As more Black people open up about living with a mental illness, the closer we will get to dismantling the stigma in our community. This sometimes causes people to not seek appropriate medical help.

4)    Believe People - Believing people when they say they have a mental illness is vital to eradicating stigma. Being dismissive dissuades people from coming forward with how they are truly feeling.

We must do better and be better when it comes to supporting other Black people living with mental illnesses.

Healing the Past, Strengthening the Future

by member Dr. Renee Dickerson

"...Today, we recognize that individuals and communities do not simply "move on" from adversity. Experiences of discrimination, exclusion, violence, and inequity can leave emotional imprints that are transmitted across generations through family stories, cultural memory, and lived experience...

...This month also invites us to reconsider how we view our young people. Too often, youth who gather in groups or express frustration are quickly labeled as "Youth Takeover" agitators or problems to be managed...

...This Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, let us honor the resilience of those who came before us by caring for ourselves, supporting one another, and investing in the limitless potential of our youth. In doing so, we not only improve mental health—we strengthen families, communities, and the future of our nation." Read full comment Here

Dr. Shirley Hill, Co-chair COAL Health and Wellness Committee:



"Excess sugar promotes inflammation—a silent but powerful contributor to mental illness. Chronic inflammation in the body has been strongly linked to depression, with inflammatory cytokines found to alter neurotransmitter metabolism, reduce neuroplasticity, and disrupt the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis responsible for stress regulation. Studies show that high sugar intake also erases cellular memory.

Processed foods, high in trans fats, preservatives, and artificial colors, have also been associated with increased rates of ADHD in children, depression in adults, and a general decline in cognitive performance."

Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) Mental Health Fact Sheet

https://www.rtor.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/rtor_bipoc_fact-sheet_2023-web.pdf

Racial Trauma

https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/types/racial_trauma.asp

https://www.mhanational.org/racial-trauma

Mental Health Resources for the Black Community

https://www.verywellmind.com/mental-health-resources-for-the-black-community-5181656

https://www.rtor.org/bipoc-mental-health-resources/

About COAL

COAL is an umbrella organization founded by 13 of Chicago's historic African American mens clubs. COAL's overarching mission is to identify, examine, illuminate and find resolution to issues impacting the greater community. We strive to use our collective experience, expertise and resources to improve the quality of opportunity, quality of preparedness and the quality of outcomes (expressed as 'quality of life') for our Community.

What We Believe

The Coalition of African American Leaders believes that it is important to examine the critical issues confronting the African American community where injustice, inequality and the absence of access and opportunity continue to prevail, thereby negatively impacting us as a people.

COAL is an assemblage that advocates and organizes for appropriate and responsible public policy change, system behavior change and equality of opportunity. We aim to achieve for all of our people the fullness of the life experience without any form of racism or exclusion as a deterrent.

We believe we must prepare ourselves for the opportunity of this full participation, thereby achieving the necessary education and training to participate.