The Vision | Mental health in black communities
This year’s Black Solidarity Conference upheld a specific mantra: “The Ties That Bind: Unique in Our Blackness, One in Our Struggle.” For three days and three nights, students from colleges across the country joined together to uplift each other. Driven by a passion for our people, we gathered in New Haven to celebrate our differences and bond over our similarities. Many of us found that our experiences on various college campuses were eerily similar in the way that they made us feel. In discussing the obstacles that we have faced, we were able to encourage each other to keep pushing. Our days were filled with workshops to discuss these issues as a group. Among the workshops on activism and micro-aggressions, a surprising number of workshops focused on a topic often omitted in black communities: mental health. While Penn has made an effort to emphasize the importance of taking care of one’s mind and body, the negative stigma behind mental illness in the black community could be too deeply rooted to allow black students to feel comfortable with seeking treatment.