Black Mental Health Village Suspends Academic Research Partnership Over Meharry's Support for Fisk Data Center

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NASHVILLE, TN — June 29, 2026 — The Black Mental Health Village - Community Health Research Institute (BMHV-CHRI) today announced the suspension of its participation in community-based participatory research facilitated through the Meharry-Vanderbilt Community Engaged Research Core (CERC), citing Meharry Medical College's recent public endorsement of the proposed Fisk University data center as incompatible with the ethical foundations of community-engaged research.

"We came to this work because we believe research should heal communities, not harm them," said Benaias Esayeas, Executive Director of Black Mental Health Village. "Meharry's decision to publicly endorse a data center project that community health advocates, public health experts, and thousands of North Nashville residents have identified as an environmental justice threat is a direct contradiction of everything community-based participatory research stands for. We cannot ask our neighbors to participate in health research under the banner of an institution that is simultaneously endorsing harm to their neighborhood."

Meharry Medical College expressed institutional support for Fisk University's proposed $400 million Innovation Center, which includes a 30-megawatt data center slated for the North Nashville HBCU campus. The proposal has drawn thousands of protesters from the community and alumni, and has been publicly opposed by State Representative Justin Jones and numerous public health advocates.

The public health stakes are significant. Research by the Kapor Foundation documents that data centers are disproportionately sited in Black and working-class communities, bringing diesel particulate emissions, water depletion, and rising energy costs. Black Americans already bear the highest mortality burden from fine particulate air pollution in the United States. The NAACP has called out Big Tech's pattern of targeting Black neighborhoods for data center development, citing dirtier air, higher utility bills, and strained water resources as direct consequences.

BMHV CHRI has stated that it will resume participation in CERC-facilitated research if and when Meharry publicly withdraws its support for the Fisk data center. The organization emphasized that community trust — the foundation of participatory research — cannot survive when research partners take positions that actively harm the people being studied.

BMHV CHRI remains committed to community-driven research and health equity work in Nashville. The organization continues its programming, partnerships, and advocacy in service of the community.

About Black Mental Health Village

Black Mental Health Village is a Black‑led liberatory wellness ecosystem and nonprofit organization dedicated to mental health equity, healing-centered practices, and community health advocacy in Black communities. BMHV brings clinical, communal, cultural, and systems‑level healing together so Black communities can live, love, imagine, and build a future beyond survival, and through its Community Health Research Institute conducts community-based participatory research in partnership with academic institutions and community organizations.

Media inquiries: Contact Black Mental Health Village at media@bmhv.org