In Early May I drove past the former Community Mental Health Council on the South Side of Chicago, founded by President and CEO Dr. Carl Bell (October 28, 1947-August 2, 2019) and saw that the building was boarded up. The program closed in 2012 following state audits. I parked my car to pay homage for the culturally responsive services provided there and the program’s great psychiatrist Dr. Carl Bell.
Seeing the building boarded up, I reflected on the wonderful contributions of the program’s President and CEO Carl Bell, MD. Dr. Bell was seen by many in the community as a genius and advocate for African American Mental Health. I viewed him as a true innovator. A modern day, African American Sigmund Freud! Clients and patients receiving mental health and addictions services there made progress.
Dr. Bell graduated from Meharry Medical School and did much of his groundbreaking work as a psychiatrist in Chicago. Instead of focusing on African American pathology, much of Dr. Bell's work focused on African American strengths and mental health protective factors. In addition to leading Community Mental Health Council, Dr. Bell was Director of Illinois Institute For Juvenile Research (the birthplace of child psychiatry) and on the faculty of the University of Illinois/Chicago. Dr. Bell published nearly 600 journal articles and was the author of several books on mental health in African American communities. He did cutting edge research on how community violence impacts academic performance of Black children and offered numerous behavioral health and public health intervention strategies. Dr. Bell was appointed to Dr, David Satcher's Surgeon General’s work group on mental health, culture, race and ethnicity. He is the recipient of numerous national psychiatry awards. In 2017 Dr. Bell was inducted into the Museum of African American Addictions Treatment and Recovery Hall of Fame as a result of his innovative strategies for addressing Fetal Alcohol Syndrome in Black communities.
In summary, Dr. Carl Bell was an accomplished Statesman! If ever there was ever a program worthy of remaining open while addressing what was reported in state audits, it was Community Mental Health Council. At the same time Community Mental Health Council closed, Mayor Rahm Emanual closed nearly all of the mental health facilities in Chicago which serve Black communities. Was this happenstance or part of a strategic plan? Given the fact that today, White led mental health facilities are expanding into Black communities in Chicago, while black led agencies are becoming extinct leads me to conclude that this is part of a racist agenda. When mental health facilities close jails and prisons become the center of mental health treatment.
During Mental Health awareness month I am calling for a new mental health advocacy movement to address racism in mental health treatment and disparities. Advocacy has played a major role in African American liberation the past 400 years. Now we can apply what we have learned about advocacy to mental health.