When Black Children Take Their Own Lives: Unpacking the Persistent Rise in Suicide Rates of Black Youth

A recent article by Scientific American gives attention to a heartbreaking increase in Black youth dying by suicide and the reasons these tragedies are happening.

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A couple of years ago I was a guest speaker at an event in Baton Rouge called “My Brother, You Matter,” which sought to bring attention to an epidemic in East Baton Rouge Parish: the uptick of death by suicide among Black males in the community. I remember being asked to perform a poem that spoke to the urgency of the crisis and be…