Today In Black History
BeBe Moore Campbell, Author and Mental Health Advocate
Issue #539 Today In Black History, Thursday, March 21, 2024
Today’s Black History WOW!
Author Elizabeth Bebe Moore Campbell was born on February 19, 1950, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Doris Edwina Carter Moore and George Linwood Peter Moore. She was an American author, journalist, teacher, and mental health advocate who worked tirelessly to shed light on the mental health needs of the Black community and other underrepresented communities.
Campbell’s parents were well educated, and her father, a war veteran, was permanently paralyzed in an auto accident the year Campbell was born. Campbell’s parents separated in 1953, and she went on to live with her mother and maternal grandmother in Philadelphia during the school year and her father in North Carolina during the summer. Her experiences growing up in both the North and South gave her a unique perspective on racial segregation in the United States.
She graduated with her B.S. degree in elementary education in 1972 and began teaching in the Atlanta public schools. In 1975, Campbell moved to Washington, D.C., where she continued to teach; after enrolling in a class led by Toni Cade Bambara, a renowned African American author, Campbell abandoned teaching to become a writer.
Campbell's writing career took off in the 1980s with the publication of her first novel, "Your Blues Ain't Like Mine,” which garnered critical acclaim for its exploration of race relations in America. She went on to publish several more novels, including "Brothers and Sisters" and "72 Hour Hold," which addressed important social issues such as mental illness and family dynamics.
Campbell's works of fiction would often relay the harmful impact that racism would inflict on individuals and their relationships. In 1992 Campbell's would release her first, and most critically acclaimed novel, Your Blues Ain't Like Mine, which was inspired by the murder of Emmett Till in 1955 and describes the impacts of this senseless crime experienced by the victim's family.
Campbell was inspired by the Rodney King beating and the subsequent Los Angeles riots, to write her second novel titled, Brothers and Sisters.
In addition to her work as a writer, Campbell was a passionate advocate for mental health awareness and education. She openly shared her own struggles with bipolar disorder and worked tirelessly to break down the stigma surrounding mental illness in the African American community.
Campbell struggled to support her daughter who battled with mental illness and a system that prevented her daughter from getting help and support.
Campbell's interest in mental health was the catalyst for her first children's book, Sometimes My Mommy Gets Angry. The book tells the story of how a little girl copes with being reared by her mentally ill mother. Ms. Campbell was a member of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and a founding member of NAMI-Inglewood. Her first play, Even with the Madness, revisited the theme of mental illness and the family.
She founded NAMI-Inglewood in a predominantly Black neighborhood to create a space that was safe for Black people to talk about mental health concerns.
Throughout her career, Campbell received numerous accolades for her writing and advocacy work, including the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work. She was also a member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness and served on the President's Advisory Commission on African American Education during the Clinton administration.
BeBe Moore Campbell passed away due to brain cancer at the age of 56 on November 27, 2006.
Today In Black History
- In 1861, Vice President of the Confederate States Alexander H. Stephens delivered his “Cornerstone Speech” that declared that slavery was the “immediate cause” for secession from the Union.
- In 1921, Elizabeth Beatrice Dykes became the 1st Black woman to receive a Ph.D. when she graduated from Radcliffe College.
- In 1946, Kenny Washington became the 1st Black NFL player when he signed with the Los Angeles Rams.
- In 1947, James Baskett became the 2nd African American to receive an Academy Award for his part in Disney’s “Song of the South” movie. He did not attend the awards ceremony because he could not find accommodations. He was also the first African American hired by Disney.
- In 1960, the Sharpesville Massacre occurred in South Africa where over 65 Black people were murdered and the African National Congress (ANC) was outlawed.
- In 1960, the first lunch counters were integrated in San Antonio, Texas.
- In 1965, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. began the 4-day, 54-mile Voting Rights March from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
- In 1975, Ethiopia abolished its 3,000-year-old monarchy.
- In 1986, Debi Thomas became the 1st Black person to win the Women’s World Figure Skating Championship.
- In 1990, the African nation of Namibia gained its independence from South Africa.
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