Black Celebrities Talk Suicide In Hopes Of Breaking Community Stigma

By Genoa Barrow | OBSERVER Senior Staff WriterWhile Hollywood often portrays suicide as “something white people do,” rates among Blacks, particularly Black youth, are on the rise. Experts cite numerous factors including continued racism, societal pressure and the proliferation of social media, the stigma that persists surrounding mental illness, and lack of culturally competent mental health resources.A number of Black celebrities have also dealt with mental illness in their real lives and have had either highly publicized suicide attempts or spoken publicly about past crises.Chino XLThe Bronx rapper’s family has acknowledged suicide by ligature hanging was the cause of his July 28 death. The 50-year-old was born Derek Barbosa and originally was signed to hip-hop executive Rick Rubin’s American Recordings label at age 16. He was the nephew of Parliament-Funkadelic musician Bernie Worrell. Over the years, Chino XL worked with fellow artists such as Tech N9ne, Bun B and Rakim. He still was making music at the time of his passing.Tamar BraxtonThe award-winning singer and reality TV personality attempted to take her own life in July 2020. Braxton, then 44, was found unresponsive by her then-boyfriend and rushed to a Southern California hospital. She since has broken her silence on...