But just because I thought about him, it didn't mean I could talk about him. For a long time, I couldn't. Sometimes when the subject of suicide came up, I would want to — or literally have to — leave wherever I was.
Not helpful if you're in the news business. I've come to realize that I have to talk about it. We have to talk about it.
Because our silence is not protecting us. Suicide is a public health crisis for the country — but that crisis is becoming acute in the Black community. Black suicide rates are climbing, increasing more than 50% over about the past 10 years according to CDC data.
And the suicide rates among Black youth are increasing particularly dramatically. The rate of Black youth suicides by firearms exceeded that of white youth in 2022. At a time when government-sponsored public health initiatives are retreating from issues that impact different communities differently, we're going there with care, sensitivity and honesty.
I hosted an NPR's Morning Edition live event called Going There: A Matter of Life and Death. It brought together a panel of clinicians, lawmakers and people who have lived with this pain to talk about this epidemic, in front of a live audience who have also experienced it. Speakers include CEO emerita of BET Debra Lee, Rep.
Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-NJ, psychiatrist Dr. Paul Nestadt, retired NFL champion Vernon Davis, WWE superstar Ettore "Big E" Ewen and Rev. Johnny Parker, who is both a pastor and a counselor.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
