JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - The annual Black Men’s Health Equity Conference returned to Tougaloo College on August 23.

The mission of the Black Men’s Health Equity Conference, hosted by the Institute for the Advancement of Minority Health, is to take a deep dive into both the mental and physical health challenges faced by African American men across Mississippi.

“As a historically Black college, what we’re trying to do is create a a unit of healthy Mississippians to help with the economy as well as make sure that we’re creating a healthy, sound family unit. The Black man is often the backbone of the family unit,” said Sandra Melvin, founder and CEO of the Institute of the Advancement of Minority Health.

A primary focus of the conference was prioritizing mental health in the Black community.

According to staff members with the Institute for the Advancement of Minority Health, they are aiming to create and promote healthy lifestyles for those attending the historically Black college.

This year’s conference featured Ronald Martin, an award-winning journalist, as its keynote speaker.

“One of the biggest issues that we deal with recently that’s impacting young Black men is suicide rates. For the longest time, African Americans were far behind white Americans when it comes to suicide rates,” Martin explained. ”Now we’re seeing a tremendous increase. Mental health is a major issue and that’s often underreported. It’s often overlooked.”

Martin said he wants those who attended the conference to spread the word about what they learned so that real change can begin.

“It’s one thing to get the information and say, ‘Hey, I was there and there were some great panel discussions,’” Martin said. “But what do you do now with it? The challenge to leadership of this conference is to say, ‘OK, how do we assess over the next 364 days?’ When you come back next year and we’ll be able to say, ‘Hey, this is some of the people we impacted.’ The focus is not on the people in the room; the focus is how do you invite the people who are not here.”

For more information on African American health and ways to stay healthy, you can check out the Institute for the Advancement of Minority Health’s website.