I had my first suicidal ideations at age 8 due to bullying in school. I forced those feelings aside, but I still wanted to kill myself until I was 14 because of continued bullying and imposter syndrome. I self-harmed and pulled my hair out to ease the pain, but my mother found out and she told me: “Only white people act like this.” With my family, I pretended everything was fine because they also reinforced the strong Black woman stereotype. They told me, “You’re a young Black girl who will end up in child protective services because the system is racist against people like us.”

When my middle, elementary and high school reached out about therapy, my family refused. A meeting was set up with my grandmother and mother to discuss mental health options, but they declined. When I came home, I was met with yelling and I was berated by my family for making “the school think something damn wrong at home.”

Even when I did briefly get a therapist through a health center at age 14, the provider, a Black woman, further reinforced the strong Black woman stereotype, telling me, “You’re a Black girl. They’re going to put you in the system and label you as crazy and aggressive.”

I have more stories like these, and I know other Black girls do too. Here’s what our schools need to know: We are not as strong as you think we are. We are strong only because we were forced to carry the weight of systemic stereotypes, unresolved trauma and our own emotional needs. That’s why schools need to address the elephant in the room: their lack of mental health support, perpetuation of the strong Black woman stereotype and how it is affecting Black girls.

Our issues start at home due to our families’ fear of the school system perpetuating racism through lack of cultural connection, and schools worsen this fear through budget cuts to mental health services and by criminalizing Black girls. As a result, the Strong Black Woman stereotype is placed on us at an early age. Rather than making us feel empowered, it only leads to unique internalized pain, depression and anxiety.

Read the full article about Black girls' mental health by Derry Oliver at The 74.