by Chandra R. Thomas

Gina Smallwood always worried about whether her teenage son was wearing a seatbelt or having unprotected sex, but she was certainly never concerned about whether he was at high risk for depression.

After all, Kelvin Mikhail Smallwood-Jones was a dean’s list student with a 4.0 grade point average on a full academic scholarship to one of the most respected historically Black colleges in the country. Prior to enrolling in Atlanta’s Morehouse College in the fall of 2006, he

“I was always worried about him buckling up [his seatbelt] or driving cross-country alone, when I should have been

worried about how he was feeling,” says Gina Smallwood of her son Kelvin, a college honor student, who took his

own life on February 23rd.

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Howard University, Washington, DC—September 6, 2008.  The National Organization of People of Color Against Suicide (NOPCAS) will announce the Kelvin Mikhail Suicide Awareness Campaign at Howard University’s First 2008 Football Game on Saturday, September 6, 2008, 1:00 PM at Green Stadium –Howard University Campus off of 6th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C.  

Suicide prevention is a national public health priority. Nationally, suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for college students, the 3rd