About
My name is Gabrielle Lee, I'm 22 years old. Born and raised in a small town in Georgia. And this is my story on how I wanted to make a change in my community and around the world. July 18th 2018 was the day when I found out I was diagnosed with depression. It changed my life. I became suicidal, I tried to take my life twice. When my family found out from my mom, they were very harsh. I was called crazy, emotionally, was told I needed Jesus, and was also told that I'm not really depressed. My mom and my family changed and showed me their true colors. I'm still dealing with negativity from my family but it just pushes me to get better and to help others like me who's family abandoned them. In the black community depression is not viewed as something serious. Many black elders view it as a "white thing" but it's not. Lately mental health issues has increased in the black community and we shouldn't ignore it. My mission with black mental health matters is to save black lives and make black people more aware of this issue. According to U.S news and world report, “More elementary-aged African-American children have been taking their own lives, and black boys and girls between the ages of 5 and 12 are doing so at roughly twice the rate of white kids the same age.” My mission is to save these young lives and give them hope. I chose to start this because I have seen firsthand how it is to have a mental illness and be disowned by your family. I don’t want young black and brown kids, teens or young adults to be afraid to tell someone or even feel like they’re crazy because of their mental illness, Or feel alone, because I went through it. I almost lost my life because it was taking a toll on me. I want to help and save lives. Give them a purpose. Black Mental Health Matters and we need to educate our communities, parents, preachers, and schools.