Until the Well Runs Dry: Mental Health in the African American Community

Deborah Danner. Walter Wallace Jr. Kayla Moore.

Their names should be remembered. They should still be alive.

Instead, they’re gone—killed during mental health crises by the very systems that were supposed to help them. They are not alone. Across America, Black people in mental health crisis face a deadly choice: suffer in silence or risk their lives asking for help.

In this groundbreaking book, retired U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sergeant Wayne A. Ince breaks the silence.

Drawing from 22 years of military service, 15+ years navigating mental health systems, and deep roots in the African American community, Wayne delivers an unflinching examination of a crisis that’s killing us—and a roadmap for survival and change.

Until the Well Runs Dry exposes the historical betrayal that makes Black Americans distrust mental health care, from Tuskegee to medical experimentation to present-day police shootings of people in crisis. It documents the barriers—financial, geographic, cultural, systemic—that keep 75% of Black adults suffering from mental health conditions from ever receiving treatment.

But this is not a book of despair. This is a survival guide and a battle plan.

Inside, you’ll find:

• Immediate crisis resources that could save your life tonight
• Practical strategies for finding culturally competent therapists
• Nine evidence-based therapy approaches explained for real people
• Daily wellness practices rooted in African American healing traditions
• Proven community organizing tactics that are forcing systemic change
• Real stories of recovery, resistance, and hope

Wayne’s message is urgent and clear: The well of mental health support in Black communities is running dry. But it doesn’t have to.

Whether you’re struggling yourself, supporting a loved one, or fighting for systemic change, this book gives you the tools to act—today, right now.

Because in the time it takes to read this, someone will make the choice between suffering in silence and risking their life to get help.

This book is for them. This book is for us. This book is for survival.