Alliance Alert: MindFreedom is MindFreedom International is a nonprofit organization under IRS 501(c)(3). For over two decades and counting, they have been engaging in successful advocacy, peaceful protests, public education, mutual support, lobbying, and organizing without ever giving up our dream of facilitating mental and emotional wellness for all people.
On September 4, MindFreedom hosted a webinar entitled “Race, Mental Health, Disabilities, and the Need For Non-Police Crisis Response” featuring a panelfacilitated by our Alliance’s Luke Sikinyi that included Earl Miller, Sakeena Trice, and our longtime colleague and friend Chacku Mathai, that explored the intersections between race, mental health, disabilities, and crisis response, and discussed alternative responses that minimize or eliminate violent interventions by police. Here is the link from the presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4AhzkHNoIQ
Please send your comments to me here at harveyr@rightsandrecovery.org
About the Presenters
Luke Sikinyi is the Director of Public Policy at the Alliance for Rights and Recovery, formerly known as the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services (NYAPRS). He studied Psychology with a minor in American Sign Language at New York University. Upon graduating he began working for a Clubhouse in New York City, where he started advocating for mental health rights and a more equitable, person-centered system. Mr. Sikinyi went on to study public health at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health with a focus on Health Education and Health Communication. (Source: https://rightsandrecovery.org/our-team/) – Earl Miller is the Director of Community Supports at the Wildflower Alliance and the former Director of the Community Responders for Equity, Safety, and Service (CRESS) in Amherst, Massachusetts. He won an award for his leadership with initiating a successful project in Springfield, Massachusetts aimed at integrating peer support into the world of housing and tenancy preservation. He has co-authored an article on Mad in America focused on racism and the movement to undo psychiatric oppression (https://www.madinamerica.com/2016/12/…. (Source: https://narpa.org/bios/miller)
Sakeena Trice is a Senior Staff Attorney on the Disability Justice team at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI). Before joining NYLPI, she worked in family defense as a staff attorney representing parents and families whose children were at risk of being placed in the foster care system. She has also engaged in tenant defense and criminal defense in private practice. Ms. Trice received her J.D. from Florida Coastal School of Law and her B.A. from Morgan State University. (Source: https://www.nylpi.org/team/sakeena-tr…)
Chacku Mathai is the owner of Chacku Mathai Consulting and currently serves as a board member of NARPA, the National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy. He is a co-founder of Healing through Hip Hop, a founding board member and current President of Friends of Recovery – New York, a National Advisory Council Member for the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health in Texas, and he serves on the Advisory and Leadership Group for the National Center on Advancing Person-Centered Practices and Systems. (Source: https://www.narpa.org/bios/mathai)
Judi’s Room is a free event hosted jointly by MindFreedom International (MFI) and I Love You, Lead On to facilitate opportunities for ongoing cross-disability dialogue. Named after celebrated human rights activist Judi Chamberlin, it typically begins with a presentation by one or more expert panelists followed by an open public discussion. You can learn more at https://mindfreedom.org/front-page/ju…. If you are not yet subscribed to our mailing list for Judi’s Room and would like to sign up to receive invitations to these events in the future, please send an email to office@mindfreedom.org with “Add me to Judi’s Room” in the subject heading. Please also consider supporting Judi’s Room by donating to MFI at https://mindfreedom.org and I Love You, Lead On at https://app.joinit.com/o/i-love-you-l….
Transcript
Here is the link to the webinar that Luke and colleagues presented (thanks to MindFreedom International): Judi’s Room to resume discussing police brutality related to mental health crises and disabilitieshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4AhzkHNoIQ
About the Conversation
This past May, Judi’s Room addressed the increasing incidents of law enforcement’s response to welfare checks on people with disabilities or mental health diagnoses that have ended with them being killed by police.
September’s Judi’s Room will continue the conversation while exploring the intersections of disability, mental health diagnoses, race, legal response, and alternative responses that minimize or eliminate calls ending in people being killed or physically harmed by police.
We are very excited to welcome a panel lead by Luke Sikinyi, Director of Public Policy and Public Engagement for the Alliance for Rights and Recovery (formerly NYAPRS). The Alliance has a long history of advocacy focusing on decriminalizing mental illness, promoting full choice, and identifying policy strategies that are transformative. Luke will be joined by panel members who are advocacy and policy leaders as well as public interest legal experts and have been involved in the promotion of Daniel’s Law that offers an alternative mental health response to mental health crises.
Please stay tuned for additional information.
About Judi’s Room
Named after celebrated human rights activist Judi Chamberlin, Judi’s Room is a free event presented jointly by MindFreedom International (MFI) and I Love You, Lead On to facilitate opportunities for ongoing cross-disability dialogue. It typically begins with a presentation by one or more expert panelists followed by an open public discussion.
If you require accommodation for this event such as sign language interpretation, please email office@mindfreedom.org at least three business days prior to the date of the presentation.
If you would like to support Judi’s Room, please consider donating to MFI and I Love You, Lead On.
If you are not yet subscribed to our mailing list for Judi’s Room and would like to sign up to receive invitations to these events in the future, please send an email to office@mindfreedom.org with “Add me to Judi’s Room” in the subject heading.
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