Prosper Uchitel’s family said she was held captive against her will for days at her southwest Atlanta home. Her husband, Aaron Uchitel, is facing several charges including aggravated battery, false imprisonment and cruelty to children.

The 23-year-old is surrounded by family and friends at Grady Hospital where she is recovering from severe injuries. The victim’s mother told FOX 5 Aaron Uchitel repeatedly beat, raped and drugged her daughter over a four day period.

Prosper Uchitel gave birth to the couple’s son about two weeks ago and the baby was at the home during the ordeal.

Fawn Ortega said her daughter was near death when she showed up at the home Tuesday to check on her, forcing her way into the home and calling police.

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Aaron Uchitel was taken into custody.  He remains behind bars at the Fulton County Jail.

Ortega has set up a go fund me page to help with expenses.  Donations can be made at

https://www.gofundme.com/2chz7rg .

Editor-in-Chief Comments

Through the research program at The Odyssey Project, a great deal of attention has been given to the social mobility and mental health of African Americans, intergenerational transmission of trauma and the mis-education of black youth. In all of this research, I have learned that there is a great deal of interconnectivity between existing conditions. When I read a story like the one above, in which a black man, who should have a mindset that drives him to protect his wife, completely violates the sanctity of the union he has with his wife, by attacking her, I see the result of a failure on multitudinous levels.

It seems that I have spent an exorbitant amount of time reprimanding Black men for behavior that they should see as an obvious problem, yet here we are again. As a behavioral scientist, I understand that there are some serious mental health issues that are driving many of these types of attacks.

I understand the proclivity of Blacks to ignore and deny mental health issues, placing us at greater risk for psychotic breaks that can lead to extreme violence. However, the black man in me is simply frustrated and flabbergasted by what seems like an increased rate in which Black men have found it to be an acceptable course of action to physically harm black women. This type of behavior is diametrically opposed to the natural impetus for Black men to protect Black women. It is absolutely unexceptional.

Again, as a behavioral scientist, who understands the significance of mental illness in the Black community, I have to mention that we must do a better job of recognizing mental illnesses, such as PTSD, bipolar disorder, paranoid schizophrenia, dissociative disorders and more. As a Black man, I must express my honest assessment that Black men are not doing a good job of holding one another accountable for their behavior.

It has become far too common for our Black women to be assaulted, harmed and even killed. While increased hostility from exogenous sources, such as police officers, is definitely a gross reality, the vast majority of the assaults against our women is an internal issue. It is reflective of a larger issue, in which black men have been poorly socialized, especially in the area of racial socialization, and they simply have no moral, social, spiritual or cultural compass to guide their behavior. The Black man, in general, has become self-consumed and ego-driven. The Black woman has become an afterthought, and then we wonder why she has contempt for the Black man. There is a reason that the level of trust that the Black woman has for the Black man is at an all time low.

At least during slavery, when the Black man failed to protect the Black woman, she knew somewhere deep within that he wanted to, but just didn’t know how, without sacrificing his life. Today, he is simply indifferent, or do I dare say hostile toward his Queen. Maybe she has become the target of the frustration he is experiencing as a result of his constant emasculation. Maybe he sees her as his enemy instead of his ally.

Unfortunately, Blacks have a long history of sweeping our problems under the rug, and even defending the perpetrators of heinous crimes against our women and our children. Enabling this type of behavior does not help anyone; it simply strengthens the enemy within.

Black women are nearly three times more likely to experience death as a result of domestic violence or intimate partner violence than White women. While Black women only make up eight percent of the U.S. population, they account for 22 percent of all homicides. Black women also account  for 29 percent  of DV and IPV-related deaths, making it the leading cause of death for Black women between 15 to 35. I would classify this as an epidemic. It is time that Black men do a better job.

It is time for Blacks, in general, to take mental health seriously. It is time that we do a better job of racially and culturally socializing our young Black males. Simply put, we must be better at protecting our women! ~ Dr. Rick Wallace, Ph.D.

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