Ashley Judd and Aloe Blacc help the White House unveil its national suicide prevention strategy

WASHINGTON — Actor Ashley Judd and singer-songwriter Aloe Blacc, who both lost loved ones to suicide, helped the Biden administration on Tuesday promote its new national strategy to prevent suicide.

Judd’s mother, country star Naomi Judd, died almost two years ago. Blacc’s frequent collaborator, Tim Bergling, died in 2018.

Both were present when Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, helped unveil the Democratic administration’s blueprint for reducing suicide rates in the United States. About 132 people commit suicide every day, he said.

“We are here today because we know we can and will change this,” Emhoff said. “Suicide is preventable.”

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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story contains a discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat with 988lifeline.org.

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Judd’s mother had lived with an untreated illness for most of her 76 years, and on the day she died, “the disease of mental illness lied to her,” Ashley Judd said during a talk moderated by Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy with Blacc and Shelby Rowe, executive director of the Suicide Prevention Research Center.

“She deserved better,” Judd said of her mother. Judd said she has also suffered from depression and has had different outcomes from treatment.

“I bring a message of hope,” she said.

When asked what people can do to help someone in crisis, Rowe said people shouldn’t worry about “whether you’re saying the right thing. Just say something and show up.”

Blacc suggested that people offer a “moment of joy” when they reach out, such as a memory that leads to laughter or a song. He also encouraged people to remember that they are “the light.”

“There is no such thing as too much love. Let’s give as much as we can,” he said, before leading the crowd in singing the chorus of “This Little Light of Mine.”