Marquette, MPS host 3rd annual mental health seminar for Black & Latino boys

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Marquette University and Milwaukee Public Schools co-hosted the third annual Black and Latino Male Achievement (BLMA) Mental Health Awareness Symposium on Monday, April 22.

"Feel comfortable enough to say, like, 'I'm not good' or 'I need help,' or to ask questions. It doesn't mean that you're less than a man," said keynote speaker Harry Evans.

On Monday, roughly 150 Black and Latino high school boys from about 13 Milwaukee public schools gathered to participate in multiple workshops focused on spreading awareness and breaking down stigma.   

"It's really okay to not be okay," Evans went on to say.

A CDC report analyzing adults ages 18-44 in the United States during 2019-2021 found that men are nearly twice as less likely to receive mental health treatment than women, and depression in Black and Hispanic Americans is more likely to persist compared to white Americans.

"People, like, they grow up, their parents or people around them tell them, 'Hey man, you gotta be tough, you can't do none of that, you know what I'm saying, hold it in," said Roshaun Price, a 9th grader at Washington High School.

Price and his friend Rudolph Baker are ambassadors of MPS’ Department of BLMA. They told CBS 58 News that as they've gotten older, they've learned to be more in-tune with themselves.

"I thought it was like going to be like my mom was going to always help me, but like, she's not, because I'm older," Baker said. "It's a lot of stuff, it's hard, it's harder than what I thought it was going to be."

Faculty director of the Black and Latino Male Transition & Dual Enrollment hub at Marquette University, Gabriel Velez, said it's important to teach youth they're not alone.

"I'm a developmental psychologist, you know, this generation of young people are more open to talking about mental health, they're more aware of it, but we really need to lead into that," Velez said. "Milwaukee, we've a lot of things that feed into trauma in these communities as well, and in both cases, things from the COVID-19 pandemic, community violence and then just interpersonal things that may happen in your family."

Baker said he's recently been thinking about his future a lot more than ever before.

"Make your mama proud, you know what I'm saying, think before you do, it's like you got a future ahead of yourself," he said.