Atlanta conference places Black men's mental health at forefront

The Black Men's Mental Health Conference, scheduled for Saturday, June 15 at the City of South Fulton Southwest Arts Center, will assist in creating conversations that break down the often negative sigma of mental illness and depression in the African American community.
Editor’s note: The subject of suicide is discussed several times in this story.

In 2019, on the days leading up to when Camilla Harris lost her father to suicide, she witnessed firsthand the fatal struggles that mental illness can cause for men of color.

“My father knew that I loved and we loved him, but within the 72 hours I saw him before he decided to take his life…he had checked out. On that day he committed the act, I knew that he had become someone else,” Harris said.

Through her grieving, she soon realized that her father was not a monolith. Many of the men around her suffered from feelings of depression and mental health struggles as well.