More than the Blues

Suicide in the African American Community

Clarence Page

Elsie Rumford

Dr. Carl Bell

Lynn Jones Huntley

Harry Carson

In wake of the deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, we turn to the archive this week to gain fuller knowledge of the prevalence of suicide, its causes and prevention. ¹

While approximately 5,000 out of every 100,000 Americans attempt suicide, the suicide death rate is now closer to 13 out of 100,000. ² With respect to race, studies indicate that whites attempt suicide at a rate that is double to triple that of African Americans. Wayne State University sociologist Steven Stack acknowledged the influence of racism for this figure: “Racism produces both stress and a kind of ‘survival strategy’ among African Americans. Central to this survival strategy are ties to familial and communal organizations... To the extent that African Americans break these communal and family ties, they will be especially at risk of suicide.” ³  

Echoing Stack's conclusion is Clarence Page , whose wife, journalist Leanita McClain, died by suicide in 1984. Page said of the demographic differences between black and white Americans: “There’s been a lot of interesting talk in the psychiatry community about what is it in black culture that may hold the suicide rate down. And part of it may be the blues--the music, the culture that created the blues has other avenues for venting: black worship services, the call and response, the very evocative styles of worship that we have, and also a very deep-seated belief in the Lord.” ⁴ [Clarence Page, THMDA 2.9.8] .

Conversely, civic leader Elsie Rumford wrote her graduate thesis on the topic, and attempted to dispel the myth that African Americans seldom commit suicide. She found that young black men especially were as susceptible to suicidal behavior as their white peers. ⁵ [Elsie Rumford, THMDA 1.4.7] . This finding was similarly addressed by scholars Wayne M. Blake and Carol A. Darling, who recognized an upward trend in suicide in the African American male population in the 1980s and early 1990s. They went on to stress the clinical links between suicide and low self-esteem that are tied to “unsuccessful interactions with both family and wider social circles.” ⁶

Psychiatry and public health professor Dr. Carl Bell is an expert in suicidology and a vocal advocate for preventative measures. Considering the complexity of the phenomenon, he states that up to 50 percent of those who commit suicide do not have a history of a diagnosed mental illness--a statistic that challenges the frequently assumed connection between suicide and mental health. In fact, there may be a multitude of explanations for suicidal behavior, not limited to mental illness. Civil rights lawyer Lynn Jones Huntley spoke of the “suicide by court” phenomenon, where “people who are suicidal commit crimes in order to be put to death.” ⁷ [Lynn Jones Huntley, THMDA 1.5.3] . Former New York Giant Harry Carson commented on the dangers of post-concussion syndrome. ⁸ [Harry Carson, THMDA 1.9.4] . In his interview, he referred to the suicide of Junior Seau, an NFL linebacker who had suffered from CTE--a degenerative brain disease found in individuals with a history of repetitive brain trauma, like athletes and military veterans. ⁹

The recent celebrity deaths by suicide exposed a growing public health concern; yesterday, the National Center for Health Statistics published its finding that the national suicide rate increased 30 percent over the past sixteen years. ¹⁰ As such, it is indeed imperative that suicide prevention efforts are taken seriously to ensure the health and well being of all.

If you are thinking about harming yourself or attempting suicide, tell someone who can help right away; or contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

Last week in San Antonio, Texas, the team interviewed multiple African American community members whose sessions will soon be added to The HistoryMakers ' growing collection, which is also preserved at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. In addition, an inaugural reception was held at San Antonio's Plaza Club, which offered spectacular views of the city.

The interviewees included: San Antonio's first African American mayor, Ivy Taylor ; the first African American of the State Bar of Texas, Lisa Tatum ; U.S. Air Force retired Major General Alfred K. Flowers ; Army Nurse Corps retired Colonel Lawrence C. Washington ; Cyber strategist Annette Benging ; retired research chemist William C. Davis ; former National Medical Association president Dr. Leonard Lawrence ; St. Philip's College president Adena Williams Loston ; and Premier Artworks founders Aaronetta Pierce and Joseph A. Pierce, Jr.

We are especially grateful to Priscilla Hill-Ardoin --the founder and president of The Aaron Ardoin Foundation for Sickle Cell Research and Education--who was instrumental in ensuring the success of our trip. As a testament to this accomplishment, feedback from Mrs. Hill-Ardoin mentioned that she had received "numerous calls and notes indicating what a great experience it was having HistoryMakers in San Antonio!"

Monday, June 11, 2018, found The HistoryMakers in Houston, where Founder and President, Julieanna Richardson , met with Mayor Sylvester Turner and Dr. Rhea Lawson , Director of Houston Public Library. Joining her was The HistoryMakers VP of Operations, Zhu Sun , and together they met with Elizabeth Sargent , Assistant Director of Customer Experience for Houston Public Library; Laney Chavez , Special Collections Manager of the Houston Metropolitan Center; Susan Kaufman , Special Collections Manager of the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research; and Danielle Wilson , Special Collections Manager of the African American Library at the Gregory School, along with Program Officer Long Chu of the Houston Endowment, as well as Janice L. Peyton , Executive Director of the Robert J. Terry Library at Texas Southern University. The HistoryMakers is growing roots in Houston!

The HistoryMakers mourns the loss of our friend, jazz pianist and composer Ghalib Ghallab who passed away at the age of sixty-seven years old following more than a year-long battle with cancer. ¹¹ Raised on the South Side of Chicago, Ghallab studied under the renowned pianist Willie Pickens at the American Conservatory of Music. Ghallab went on to become a club scene favorite in both Chicago and Las Vegas, where he eventually settled with his wife, Toya.

In his interview with The HistoryMakers in 2007, Ghallab described how he would like to be remembered:

"A good musician, good father, good husband, good friend to everybody, treated people fair, great entertainer--because I love to entertain. I love making people feel good; I love the smiles. And one who truly, truly believed in God first...I mean, when we talk about my music, even though piano music was always there, God was always number one because there was no way I could turn my back against that. My mother made sure I was in there, and I thank her for that. My grandmother made sure I was in there, and I thank her; and my stepdad... to this day he's a very religious man. No matter what the teaching was--be it Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam--the fact that they kept me with that faith. You know, I chose the road that I wanted to go, but there was other roads that I traveled that helped increase that information. And I thank God for that, and I thank those people that have helped me. I thank you." ¹² [Ghalib Ghallab, THMDA 1.6.6] .

Please share with us your stories of how you incorporate The HistoryMakers Digital Archive into your curriculum and research. We'd love to hear from you!

Contact: digitalarchive@thehistorymakers.org

NOTES:

1. BANNER PHOTO: Image courtesy of HuffPost. Accessed May 17, 2018. https://images.huffingtonpost.com/2016-01-26-1453834070-2415422-mentalhealth1-thumb.jpg.

2. How to prevent suicide - discussion with Dr. Carl Bell.” YouTube. Accessed June 13, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt3gEyONLtI .

3. Steven Stack, “Education and Risk of Suicide: An Analysis of African Americans.” Sociological Focus 31, no. 3 (August 1998): 295-302.

4. Clarence Page (The HistoryMakers A2010.064), interviewed by Larry Crowe, March 7, 2012, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 2, tape 9, story 8, Clarence Page discusses the suicide rate in the African American community.

5. Elsie Rumford (The HistoryMakers A2005.095), interviewed by Larry Crowe, April 2, 2005, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 4, story 7, Elsie Rumford talks about her master's thesis on black suicide, pt. 1.

6. Wayne M. Blake and Carol A. Darling, “The Dilemmas of the African American Male.” Journal of Black Studies 24, no. 4 (June 1994): 402-415.

7. Lynn Jones Huntley (The HistoryMakers A2005.207), interviewed by Larry Crowe, August 26, 2005, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 5, story 3, Lynn Jones Huntley shares her stance on the death penalty.

8. Harry Carson (The HistoryMakers A2016.015), interviewed by Larry Crowe, September 1, 2016, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 9, story 4, Harry Carson talks about former football players with brain trauma.

9. “What is CTE?” Concussion Legacy Foundation. Accessed June 13, 2018. https://concussionfoundation.org/CTE-resources/what-is-CTE .

10. “Suicide Rates in the United States Continue to Increase," Data Brief No. 309, National Center for Health Statistics. June 2018. Accessed June 14, 2018. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db309.htm

11. “SuiMaureen O'Donnell, "Jazz pianist, composer, Chicago club favorite Ghalib Ghallab has died at 67." The Chicago Sun-Times, June 14, 2018. Accessed June 14, 2018. https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/jazz-pianist-composer-ghalib-ghallab-died-67-chicago-las-vegas-music-obituary/

12. Ghalib Ghallab (The HistoryMakers A2007.320), interviewed by Jacques Lesure, November 3, 2007, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 6, story 6, Ghalib Ghallab reflects upon his legacy and how he would like to be remembered.