Jennifer Hamer, professor of African American studies and women's, gender, and sexuality studies, was sitting at a table with fellow women of color when the idea of a series centered around Black mental health struck her. Iyun Osagie, the mother of Osaze Osagie, who was a 29-year-old Black man who died after being shot by a State College police officer serving a mental health warrant in 2019, was present at that table. Iyun voiced her desire to find some meaning in the death of her son, and Hamer responded with the proposal of “a series on Black mental health that’s forward looking and supportive of the community.” Once Hamer got the stamp of approval from the Osagies and Clarence Lang, the Susan Welch Dean of the College of the Liberal Arts, she began to think about who to invite. She said Sybrina Fulton, racial justice activist and mother of Trayvon Martin, who was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch captain in 2012, was the obvious answer. Read more about the inaugural even...