The Thurgood Marshall Pre-Law Society held a protest on Wednesday centered around Black mental health. The rally highlighted the stigma Black individuals often face while seeking mental health support and fostered conversation about a lack of resources for Black students on campus.

Organized by Chelsea Brothers, the political coordinator for TMPS and a senior majoring in philosophy, politics and law, an initial discussion portion took place in Old Union Hall. Other student organizations like the Haitian Student Association, Black Dance Repertoire and Students for Justice in Palestine tabled before the discussion portion of the event.

Brothers began the discussion by addressing “historic and present disparities in the United States regarding the Black community and mental health” dating back to slavery. She said many members of the Black community distrust medical professionals because of a “lack of representation” among clinicians and other health care workers.

Highlighting mental health disparities, she pointed to studies showing that Black Americans were twice as likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia compared to their white counterparts, likely due to a lack of cultural understanding among doctors.

“They see Black skin as frightening,” Brothers said. “They see Black trauma as erratic. And instead of seeing how this trauma can be a depressive disorder, they assume mania.”

Brothers said that police officers also lack this cultural awareness, citing the deaths of Sonya Massey and Jordan Neely. Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman, was fatally shot by Illinois police on July 6, 2024, after calling to report a “suspected prowler” lurking outside her home. Sean Grayson, a sheriff’s deputy, shot Massey soon after “she rebuked Grayson,” according to body camera footage of the incident as reported by CNN.

Grayson will be tried later this year for first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct. In February, the Sangamon County Board reached a $10 million settlement with Massey’s family.

On May 1, 2023, Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man, was fatally strangled on a New York City subway train by Daniel Penny, a 26-year-old passenger and Marine Corps veteran. Penny was found not guilty of criminally negligent homicide last December after a judge dismissed the manslaughter charge.

“How many more innocent lives do we have to lose to finally take a stand?” Brothers asked attendees. “Why is it that at this university, we don’t have the proper resources to address mental health crises among the Black community, nor do we have representation to survive and feel safe?”

“This is a crisis that has been severely neglected, and as people of color, it is up to us to make sure we carry these conversations with them when we enter,” she continued.

Alanna Chen, TMPS’ president and a senior double-majoring in political science and philosophy, politics and law, read a short, original poem calling for accountability after Massey and Neely’s deaths.

Students then shared perspectives mental health disparities and how they impact the campus environment. They covered the way media treats Black celebrities facing mental health crises, like Kanye West, as “unfixable” and “crazy,” generational trauma that contributes to mental illness and the importance of addressing these issues.

Brothers and other attendees said a lack of Black therapists poses challenges for students seeking mental health care. As of 2023, 5.49 percent of active U.S. psychologists are Black, according to the American Psychological Association.

After the discussion portion, attendees moved to the Engineering Building to protest.

A University spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

“Our community is very underrepresented and our issues aren’t heard often,” Brothers told Pipe Dream. “So I feel like when we have these spaces, have these conversations and be able to address and confront these issues, that’s how they’re gonna start to come together and unite about these issues, and can even relate to our experiences with this issue.”