My Capstone project is studying the mental health of Black students.

After doing my

initial research on the topic, I’ve come up with a couple questions that I’d like to research more

about: 

1. Why is there so much stigma surrounding mental health within the Black

community? 

2. How does school affect mental health within the Black community? 

Over the course of this year, I would like to answer these questionsAnswering these questions

could potentially lead to better methods to dealing with mental health within the Black

community, or more specifically with Black students.

The reason why I’d like to focus on this topic for my capstone project, is because

personally I’ve found that being in school is stressful and detrimental to the mental health of not

only Black students, but students in general. I personally have had to deal with so many

additional issues added on due to the fact that I’m a Black student going to a Predominantly

White Institution. There are barely any other people who look like me in the school as a whole,

even less if you just count the high school. On top of that, there have been times where

assumptions and misconceptions have been made about me or my identity as a Black man. I feel

like if I’m able to answer some of these questions in more detail I’ll be able to educate many

members of Harley’s community about not only mental health issues among the student body,

but even more specifically issues regarding the mental health of Black students. 

The mental health of Black people in general is very important because so many issues

on a cellular level can come from mental health issues. Black people are disproportionately

affected by physical issues such as high blood pressure, cancer, heart disease, and obesity and

many of these have to do with the stress that they take on from racism. If people learn from a
younger age that being expressive about themselves and their health is okay, then I think that the

depression and suicide rates among Black people will begin to decrease. Not only should it be

alright for them to talk about their feelings of stress, anxiety, or any of their feelings for that

matter, but an outlet should be provided to them in order for them to receive the support

necessary.

What I’d like to do during my capstone project is  research and study the mental health

disparities among Black high school and college students. This way I can come to a better

understanding as to why so many Black people are reluctant and unwilling to speak on mental

health. I’d also like to interview multiple people, both within the Harley community as well as

outside of it to gain a better understanding about mental health issues and specifically  how

racism affects both the mind and body. I’d like to interview both mental health professionals as

well as those who specialize in DEI work. I’d also like to interview students in general about

their mental health concerns to gain a better understanding of the effect that school has on them.

Once I’m done with the interviews, I’d like to put all of my findings into some form of a report

and then assess as to what I would like to do next in terms of an action plan. I believe by going

through this process I’ll be able to not only make a difference within the Harley community for

Black students within it, but I can also help and apply this same process to other schools as well.