Professionals from all over the city of Memphis are coming together to discuss and provide insight into child and adolescent suicide, with a specific focus on the black community. The 9th biannual National Suicide and the Black Church Conference will take place at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) on June 12-13. This year’s theme is STOP – LOOK — LISTEN … LIVE!
According to the conference’s official press release, The Washington Post reports that African-American children between the ages of 5 -12 are taking their lives at roughly twice the rate of their white counterparts. Suicide also remains one of the leading causes of death for older children and adolescents in the United States.
Presented by UTHSC and The Healing Center, the conference will be held at the Student-Alumni Center, 800 Madison Avenue, Memphis. Conference registration fees are $60 for adults and $30 for students. Children under 18 are admitted free.
Activities on June 12 will take place from 8:45 a.m. until noon. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee will deliver opening remarks. Out of town guests will be treated to a tour of Memphis that afternoon. On June 13, the plenary, workshops and luncheon will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The luncheon keynote speaker will be actress Kim Fields.
Presenters will include Terry Holmes, MD, chief medical director of the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, Pastor Dianne P. Young, program director for The Healing Center, Donna Barnes, PhD, president and co-founder of the National Organization for People of Color Against Suicide, and Altha Stewart, MD, associate professor of psychiatry and director of the Center for Health in Justice Involved Youth at UTHSC and president of the American Psychiatric Association. They and others will discuss depression, trauma, bullying, domestic violence, manifestation of depression in veterans, addiction, the prescription drug epidemic, the rise of depression among clergy, and more.
For more information, call 901.370.4673.