Surprise! A new survey conducted by a community youth organization shows that many high school students in South LA — formerly South Central LA — are disappointed with their classroom environments and feeling uncertain about their preparedness for the future.

Of the more than 6,000 students polled, only one-quarter said they felt safe at school and less than half said their school is preparing them for college or a high-paying job. 93 percent believe their school should offer more college-preparatory classes.

This data is diametrically opposite to a report released by the students' school district in February, which claimed that 90 percent of students said they were being pushed to do their best and 80 percent believed their classes "[gave them] useful preparation for what [they] plan to do in life." Oh, and this: "That same report was sharply critical of the district's efforts to get all students into a college-prep curriculum by 2012."

In a follow-up survey of 52 of the dissatisfied students, more than two thirds reported clinical levels of depression.

There has been quite a bit of attention paid recently to mental illnesses in the black community. The stigma surrounding depression and suicidal thoughts keeps many from seeking much-needed help. Alvin Poussaint and Amy Alexander wrote a book highlighting this issue and explaining that people can't expect to deal with these issues alone.

In the book, Lay My Burden Down, noted Harvard Medical School psychiatrist Dr. Alvin Poussaint and writer Amy Alexander analyze how much of the Black community - determined to be victors, not victims - strive to downplay issues of mental illness, depression and resulting suicides within the culture.

"It is very much a misperception that Black people don't commit suicide and that comes in part from a need, the very real and legitimate need, for Black people, for many years to be very strong," Alexander is quoted as saying in a book review by HealthyPlace.com. Alexander had an older brother who committed suicide.

"They [Blacks] see mental disorder and depression as a sign of personal weakness or moral failure," said Alexander, who considered her brother's slow and painful death from heroin abuse as a precipitated form of suicide.

Although whites are more than 10 times more likely to commit suidice than blacks, studies show that a black American commits suicide every 4.5 hours in the United States. [LW]

Some eggheads at the Center for Attaching Numbers to Common Sense have come to the conclusion that African American teen mothers are more likely to get pregnant again if they're depressed.

Researchers examined almost 300 black moms between the ages of 12(!!!!!!!!!!!) and 18 living in Baltimore – home of The Wire and many killings – and discovered that teenage mothers with symptoms of depression reported subsequent pregnancies 44 percent more often than other mothers.

The study also found that depressed women are more likely to drop out of school and have unsafe sex, which fills out the equation perfectly:

teenage mom + lots of free time + little to no self-respect = another baby

• Today is supposed to be the most depressing day of the year. Did the people calculating this know it was a three-day weekend? [Time]

• Today is the day for everyone to measure how much race relations have changed since MLK's day. Hmm, maybe this most-depressing-day thing has merit. [DMN]

• Forget about this election splitting democrats apart. Is it splitting black voters apart? [KHOU]

• Mike Huckabee wins an endorsement from the leader of the Coalition of African American Pastors and is the only presidential candidate set to attend services at Dr. King's church today. The world feels all topsy-turvy. [AJC]

• No worries. Obama gave a speech at King's church yesterday. [WP]

• At least one person isn't using MLK's name for political gain. [NYT]