Editors note: The Brendan’s Smile Foundation would like the public to know that they aim to empower individuals of all backgrounds and ethnicities, and that their focus is not limited to the Black community.
Nineteen-year-old Brendan Désir Dingle was known as an outgoing and creative guy with a passion for art, video games and anime. When he moved to Texas from the Midwest for college and started dating the woman of his dreams, his family thought his life was going well. They never imagined that depression was hiding behind his warm smile. When things went south in his relationship with his girlfriend, he hit a breaking point and took his own life in February of 2017.
“We didn’t know that he was having any of these problems (with his girlfriend). He made her hide it; they didn’t want us to know. About three or four of his friends all knew he had been saying that he was going to take his life if she broke up with him. There were a lot of things that we never heard, and we had no idea that he was going through this,” said his father, Jathan Désir.
What happened to Dingle is not as much of an anomaly as one might think. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that suicide is the second leading cause of death for college-age youth and ages 12-18. While whites and American Indians have the highest suicide rates in the country, the suicide rate for African-American youth has been on the rise for the past decade. A study by The JAMA Network, an international peer-reviewed medical journal, reported that between 1993 and 2012, the suicide rate of Black children nearly doubled, from 1.36 to 2.54 per 1 million.
With the goal of decreasing those numbers, the Dingle family founded the Brendan’s Smile Foundation to bring more visibility to mental health issues in the Black community. The foundation aims to empower institutions to protect students through public policy and legislation, and to teach parents, teachers and students the signs of mental illness.
“In the Black community, the education about mental health is not there. There is not enough training to know the signs,” said Antoinette Dingle-Welch, a relative of Brendan’s who is serving as assistant vice-chair of the foundation. “He always had a smile on his face, and we say you never know what’s hiding behind a smile. We are learning about the triggers and signs that we did not see, and teaching others about them.”
Dingle-Welch wants incoming freshman in high schools and colleges to be required to learn about mental illness so they are better prepared to help themselves and their peers. She also wants parents to be notified if a student is exhibiting suicidal behavior. The foundation is planning events in Illinois, Texas and Indiana to raise funds and awareness for the cause.
In Indianapolis, organizers have partnered with Redemption Outreach Services and online radio network Radionext.tv to host the second annual Arts and Music in the Park event, taking place on Sept. 2 from 12–6 p.m. at Garfield Park. During the event, artistically inclined students can take part in an art competition and win monetary prizes. Young people may sign up for the contest by filling out an application online at brendansmile.org. In addition to live music, food, art exhibits, a job fair, vendors and entertainment, there will be health care providers in attendance to teach the public about mental heath, drug addiction, domestic abuse and more.
Harold “H.B.” Bell, president and CEO of Radionext.tv, noticed many of his station’s visitors mentioning veterans dealing with PTSD and seniors dealing with dementia, and his desire to address mental health in the Black community grew. He partnered with Brendan’s Smile to help facilitate the Arts and Music in the Park event.
“Brendan’s grandfather and I have been best friends for over 50 years. Brendan was like my little nephew, and everything seemed fine, he was a real bright guy, a real smiling guy. We didn’t understand depression, and somewhere along the line depression became an issue for him,” said Bell. “I said, ‘We need to share information about mental health in a way that’s palatable to our community.’ The arts and music are ways that our community can relate and connect. We want to get a village of people together who are like, ‘It’s OK, let’s talk about this.’”
Dingle-Welch wants the public to come out with their children so the entire family can take part in the educational aspects of this event.
“In the Black community, people think mental illness means you are crazy, and they don’t want to talk about it, but there is nothing wrong with talking about it,” said Dingle-Welch. “Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem, and we want to offer the community tools to prevent it. We want kids to know there is help out there, and there is hope.”
For more information on Brendan’s Smile Foundation, visit brendansmile.org.
Brendan Dingle
