Last month, Penn State’s College of the Liberal Arts initiated the “Global Black Communities and Mental Health” series, shedding light on racial inequalities in healthcare and encounters with law enforcement.
The college held an inaugural “Osaze Osagie Memorial Lecture” featuring Clarence Lang, the Dean of the College of the Liberal Arts and a professor of African American Studies, as speaker and Sybrina Fulton as guest speaker.
The lecture honored Osaze Osagie, who tragically lost his life during a mental health check by State College police on March 20, 2019.
Lang said it was unfortunately common for people of color to be harmed or killed by law enforcement during mental health checks and the series aims to think of ways to prevent incidents like that from happening again.
Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old whose life was cut short by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in 2012, shared her experience during the lecture, recounting the deeply felt impact of her son’s death on her mental well-being.
“I found myself plunged into deep depression and sadness,” Fulton recalled. “I couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep. I was merely existing, not truly living. I had to rediscover how to live again.”
Fulton expressed feeling a disconnect from how the news media and other people viewed her and how she personally felt.
“I kept hearing about my strength, but inside, I felt anything but,” Fulton said. “My mind and body were out of sync with the image projected by others.”
To cope, Fulton adopted self-affirmations, meditation, and prayer. She also created the “Circle of Mothers” program, uniting mothers who have lost children to gun violence.
During the lecture, Fulton mentioned counseling was another crucial step in her journey. She said there is silence surrounding mental health in many Black households and advocated for open dialogue and support.
Following last month’s lecture, organizers at the College of the Liberal Arts plan to make the “Osaze Osagie Memorial Lecture” an annual occurrence.
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