African Americans and Mental Health Awareness Month
by Jordan Cooper

The black community has been overdosed with calamity. We are overdosed in the jails compared to other races. We are seen by some as corrupt. We are overdosed in the mental health hospitals compared to other races. So, we are seen by some as crazy. We are overdosed by failure in educational attainment in some cases compared to other races. So, we are seen by some as dumb. Society is already guiding the black race to a skydive with no parachute and saying it’ll be alright.

Some of my close friends have attempted or committed suicide and, no, they weren’t Muslim.

One tried to shoot himself in the head.

Another tried to pour gasoline on himself.

Then, one tried to dive into a lake and he knew he couldn’t swim.

Over 80 percent of the black people killed by suicide are men. We men don’t understand that being alive and on this earth is a blessing in itself. We don’t understand that people as brutal as rugby players need psychologists, too. So, we are scared to be deemed as soft as toilet tissue. We don’t understand that slaves went to church and Wall Street execs have spiritual advisers themselves.

So, we remove ourselves from the most high without knowing He always has something positive in the making. Blacks must not be afraid to be sentimental human beings — or seek help if it’s needed.

Jordan Thomas Cooper is a 2015 graduate of the University of South Carolina with a degree in History and a 2010 graduate of the RealEstate School of Success in Irmo. He is the first African-American to serve in both the governor and lieutenant governor’s office as an aide and first to serve in the Inspector General’s Office in S.C. (Haley) He is also the first person to serve in the top three offices in the gubernatorial line of succession in South Carolina (Haley, Bauer, McConnell). He says research shows he is the second black presidential campaign speechwriter in American history and the first for a GOP presidential campaign (Bush 2015). He also played football for Coach Steve Spurrier.