I’ve always liked DMX. At one point it looked as though he was going to be one of the rappers who made the transition to acting similar to LL Cool J, Tupac, Ice Cube, and Ice T. I never knew much about his background or personal life.

In 2000 or 2001, a song by DMX caught my attention; it was called “Who We Be.” I was captivated by the staccado beat and its repetitiveness. It was strangely hypnotic. Then I saw the video and I was mesmerized. Here was this beautiful black man sitting in a prison cell and the song took on new meaning for me.

I later looked into DMX a bit further and found that he had countless run ins with the criminal legal system with multiple arrests and jail time. The rapper’s troubles have continued over the years and so watching his video again today is even more poignant.

I am bringing up DMX today because I was reminded of his plight when I read a recent post by Marc Lamont Hill. Hill writes that over the past 30 years black male suicide rates have climbed over 200 percent. A friend of mine named Sean Joe who is a professor at the University of Michigan school of social work studies mental heath issues in the black community. His work supports this statement about the increase in suicidal ideation among black men. I recommend reading the following essay if you are interested in knowing more about this subject. Joe, S. (2008). Suicide patterns among black males. In E. Anderson (Ed.), Against the wall: Poor, young, black, & male (pp. 218-241). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Finally, I also recommend a new video and study conducted by MEE Productions Inc. Both the study and the video focus on promoting mental wellness and resiliency in youth of color (and in particular young African Americans). This is a big focus on my work and so I really want to promote this focus. We cannot overlook how mental illness intersects so significantly with the prison industrial complex.

Just for old time’s sake… Here is DMX performing “Who We Be.”