Addressing Black Suicide Trends: Culturally Informed Prevention Strategies

Suicide deaths among Black adults in the United States were rising before the COVID-19 pandemic, and the trend has persisted. While rates tend to be highest for adolescents and young adults, research has shown that rising rates continue across lifespans.

Kamesha Spates, the William S. Dietrich II Chair and associate professor of Africana studies in Pitt’s Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, wanted to understand how prepared communities were to tackle this crisis. Working with researchers from Kent State and Auburn University, the team turned to northeast Ohio, where suicide rates among Black residents rose more than 100% between 2011 and 2021.

"People were engaged and aware of general issues their communities faced — but when it came to suicide specifically, people were less informed. There's a misconception that it just isn't really an issue for Black people. 'Black people don't commit suicide. That's not something we do.' That's a misconception."

— Kamesha Spates, Pitt Africana Studies

"The solution isn't to name the problem and throw money at it from afar. The community guides how the issue is understood and what solutions are best — making sure they are culturally appropriate."

— Jenny Cureton, Professor, Kent State University

"This is an encouraging time to tackle a very disturbing trend. Leaders within the local community and the state, as well as expert professionals, respected stars and others with influence are speaking powerfully about the problem of Black suicide, and positively about ways to address it."

— Jenny Cureton

The research, published in the journal Death Studies, found that raising awareness alone won’t be enough to help communities reverse suicide trends. The researchers’ next step is to return to the communities they surveyed — not with a plan to fix everything, but to work with communities to develop culturally relevant suicide prevention and intervention strategies tailored to each community’s specific needs.