Action Alerts /Recognize TheRoot.com for African Americans, suicide and stigma article

This year, Black History Month started off on a somber note. African Americans and music lovers were shocked by reports that Soul Train founder Don Cornelius died at 75. Even more disturbing, the cause of death is reportedly a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Writer Bassey Ikpi noticed that many black people reminisced over their childhood memories watching Soul Train, few mentioned Cornelius' alleged suicide. In TheRoot.com article "Black People Don't Kill Themselves, Right?" Ikpi writes, "… Cornelius' untimely death they could handle. What they couldn't grasp was the method."

Ikpi goes on to challenge a myth in the African-American community that black people don't commit suicide. A myth that she describes as "dangerous." She cites another story headline about Ashley Duncan, a 17-year-old teen from Houston. She recently posted on a social media site that she was feeling depressed and had a gun. Duncan shot herself in the head. She was also African American. There have been reports that none of her followers responded.

" I wonder how much of the "black people don't kill themselves" meme contributed to the overwhelming apathy that followed her into death," Ikpi writes in TheRoot.com.

Ikpi can relate to this subject because she lost a 15-year-old friend to suicide last year. Ikpi's article is highly informative, enlightening and powerful in that it addresses a topic that is rarely discussed. Thanks to her and The Root for bringing light to the issue.  Discussing  and confronting this myth of "black people don't kill themselves" helps stop mental health stigma.