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July is National BIPOC Mental Health Month
BIPOC Mental Health Month

BIPOC Mental Health Month is observed every July, and it shines an essential spotlight on the unique mental health challenges and needs of those racial and ethnic groups that are historically disenfranchised or oppressed in the United States.

It’s a sad fact today that those who are members of the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) community, alongside other minority groups, too often continue to face disproportionate and unfair inequities in care, support, or mental health services in the U.S. Years of systemic racism, combined with historical barriers and inequities have left many ethnic, racial and minoritized populations facing trauma, loss, bias, social disparities and other unique challenges that have gone unsupported and largely unaddressed.

The founder and original driving force behind National Minority Health Awareness Month was author and advocate Bebe Moore Campbell, who was the co-founder of the National Alliance of Mental Illness, Urban Los Angeles.

In 2005, Campbell was a leader in the community who had spent much of her time passionately campaigning for improved mental health education as well as better mental healthcare facilities for those in impoverished communities. That year, alongside her friend Linda Wharton-Boyd, in an effort to make mental health facilities accessible for all, Campbell suggested dedicating an entire month to the effort. The effort led to the launch of National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, which was quickly supported by The Department of Mental Health, who supported the effort with public news conferences to encourage BIPOC citizens to care for their mental health and well-being, get mental health checkups, and end the stigma against mental illness.

Awareness of BIPOC Mental Health Awareness Month helps to ensure that mental health resources are equally available to all.

Learn more, and find more resources, at https://afsp.org/mental-health-resources-for-underrepresented-communities.

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Archive

A photo of Ron Banner with the 2026 President's Award.

Earlier this summer, Clover Park School District Superintendent Ron Banner received the 2026 President's Award from the Association of Washington School Principals (AWSP). The award recognizes an educational leader who is a relentless advocate for principals, assistant principals and the principalship in support of student success.

Read More about Clover Park SD Superintendent Banner Receives 2026 AWSP President's Award
Lake Washington School District (LWSD) students at the Washington State School for the Blind (WSSB) Annual Track Meet.

Six Lake Washington School District (LWSD) students recently demonstrated determination, resilience, and athletic achievement at the Washington State School for the Blind (WSSB) Annual Track Meet in Vancouver, Washington. The event brings together students ages 5-21 who are blind or have low vision from across Washington state for a day of competition, connection, and celebration of athletic accomplishment.

Read More about Lake Washington School District Students Shine at State Track Meet for Students with Vision Impairments
A graphic depicting a statue's chained hands and the words, Slavery Remembrance Day, August 23 2026. International Day for the remembrance of the victims of the slave trade and the transatlantic slave trade.

Created by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Slavery Remembrance Day, also known as the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, is observed on August 23 worldwide. The day honors the millions who died under enslavement while also promoting education and awareness of the slave trade’s global violation of human rights across human history.

Read More about It's Slavery Remembrance Day
A graphic image with the words Celebrating Civil Rights - Civil Rights Act and an image of Black marchers.

July 2 marks the anniversary of our Civil Rights Act—a landmark moment in U.S. history of the Act signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 2, 1964. It prohibited racial discrimination in public places, as well as providing for the integration of schools and other public facilities. It also made employment discrimination illegal and was considered the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction.
 

Read More about Honoring Civil Rights for All on the Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act
A picture of young students examining a container of river water for science.

Across PSESD, today’s students are doing more than studying the environment—they’re working to save it.

In Snoqualmie Valley School District, Meadowbrook School’s (MBS) secondary students recently took their commitment to environmental stewardship to the banks of the Snoqualmie River. Students partnered with Nature Vision and the Changing Seasons Farm, as part of their Blue Team program, to continue a vital, multi-year study of the local salmon spawning watershed near Carnation.

Read More about Students Work to Restore Local Watershed