July is BIPOC Mental Health Month, a time to bring to the forefront the particular challenges Black, Indigenous, & People of Color in the United States face in regards to their mental health (MHA 2021).

This month, Our Minds Matter will be celebrating BIPOC Mental Health Month with the use of a toolkit designed by Mental Health America (MHA). The theme of this toolkit is Strength in Communities, containing resources, knowledge and graphics to share the resiliency, support, and ways of healing in BIPOC communities.

Historically, traditional Western medical systems, have systematically failed BIPOC communities and have invalidated or overlooked other nontraditional systems of care. The resources we will be sharing focus on three aspects of community strength: community care, self-directed care, and culturally significant care. Follow @our.minds.matter to engage with this content and share your perspectives.

We are also having a Colors of Love social media campaign where we will be sharing BIPOC teen testimonials about strength in their communities. If you would like to submit a testimonial, please email [email protected].

If you would like to reference the MHA BIPOC Mental Health Month toolkit yourself, you can submit a form and download the resources here. See more resources at mhanational.org/july.