mind freedom news - Human Rights & Mental Health - 20 June 2006

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Tue, 20 Jun 2006 19:44:16 -0700

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NEWS: Canada Ghana UK Mad Pride 2006 Events Begin

 

 

 

 

 

NEWS: Human Rights & Mental Health - 20 June 2006

http://www.MindFreedom.org - please forward

 

Mad Pride 2006 Celebrations in Canada, Ghana, UK, USA Begin!

 

International Committee Planning Now for 2007

 

How Will *You* Show Your Mad Pride?

 

by Krista Erickson, chair, Mad Pride International Coordinating

Committeee

 

Mad Pride 2006 events are already well underway this year thanks to the

wonderful and creative work of Gallery Gachet in Vancouver, Canada.

 

This year, extensive Mad Pride events will also be taking place in

Toronto, Canada plus in Ghana, England, and the USA among other

nations. Celebrations of Mad Pride are planned from now until September

17, 2006!

 

BELOW please find the latest listing of Mad Pride celebrations! Spread

the word!

 

Mad Pride celebrates the creativity, strength and resilience of the

human spirit. Mad Pride provides an opportunity to empower psychiatric

survivors and raise public consciousness about human rights through

various activities such as art, theatre, music, poetry, protests,

vigils and more. All are welcome.

 

Since 2000, this is the 7th time that MindFreedom has promoted Mad

Pride events internationally. MindFreedom has now established a Mad

Pride International Coordinating Committee to launch Mad Pride around

the world. A four-nation planning teleconference next week has Mad

Pride 2007 on the agenda. If you are interested in participating in

this work please contact MadPride by e-mail: pride

 

For information about past Mad Pride events, frequently asked questions

about Mad Pride, ideas for how to have your own Mad Pride celebration

and updates on current Mad Pride events visit:

 

http://www.mindfreedom.org/mindfreedom/madpride/index.shtml

 

or use this smaller web address:

 

http://tinyurl.com/n7784

 

BELOW is the current list of known Mad Pride 2006 events. If your event

isn't listed please let us know.

 

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MAD PRIDE 2006 EVENT LISTING

 

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FROM VANCOUVER, CANADA

 

WORLD MAD PRIDE HUMAN RIGHTS + PSYCHIATRY ARTS FESTIVAL!

 

Mad Pride is a growing international movement which asks the question:

Could madness be a sane response to an insane world?

 

World Mad Pride Vision

 

** Build awareness of the connection between war, human rights, and

health. Promote awareness of social determinants of mental health,

linking with impacts of militarism, conflict, economic, and social

insecurity.

 

** Profile the work of the UN and World Health Organization on mental

health and human rights

 

** Create links to worldwide campaigns for rights of individuals for

health and security

 

** Challenge stigmas of people living with mental health issues

 

** Contribute to dialogue on mental health human rights through the

sharing and showcasing of artistic expression on these themes

 

Check out art exhibitions, films, comedy and performance cabaret, and

panel discussions. Local and international artists contributed artwork

addressing mental health, human rights and psychiatry. World Mad Pride

takes place in June, as Vancouver welcomes the world to the World Peace

Forum 2006 (June 23-28), United Nations World Urban Forum (June 19-23),

and Towards a Just and Lasting Peace Conference (June 16-19). Events

are free or by donation.

 

Here are only a few of the many events that are planned in Vancouver,

Canada:

 

** WORLD MAD PRIDE EXHIBITION -- June 2 to July 2, 2006, Gallery Gachet

 

Artist Reception: Sunday, June 25, 2-3:30pm

 

View paintings, installations, photography and more from Peru, the UK,

Guinea, Zambia, and 15 Canadian communities addressing human rights and

psychiatry, mad pride, and psychiatric survivor's experiences.

 

** ECOPSYCHOLOGY: PARKS VS. PROZAC -- Saturday, June 17 2-4pm, Gallery

Gachet

 

" To claim we have no ethical obligation to our planetary home is the

epic psychosis of our time. A culture that can do so much damage to the

planetary fabric that sustains it, yet continues along its course

unimpeded, is mad with the madness of a deadly compulsion. " -Theodore

Roszak/

 

Could reconnecting with our natural environment constitute a

cutting-edge prescription for intelligent mental health care? Join this

afternoon discussion. Cherise Clarke will introduce Gachet's art and

healing model, as well as delve into the concepts of Ecopsychology,

presenting the work of Theodore Roszak, and others.

 

Dr. Hester Parr of the University of Dundee, Scotland will present her

research into the use of nature spaces to assist in mental health

recovery in the UK. We will view highlights of her documentary film

Recovering Lives: Mental Health, Gardening, and the Arts.

 

Shawn Kelley and Jason O'Brien of My Own Back Yard Community

Association (MOBY) will share the experiences of integrating mental

illness with addiction and homelessness in the creation of a communal

garden in the Commercial/Broadway area.

 

** FILM SCREENING

 

Thursday, June 22 7pm, Free

 

Carnegie Community Centre Theatre, Directed by Laura Sky, (90 mins.)

 

Post-film discussion with Ron Carten, Coordinator, Vancouver Richmond

Mental Health Network

 

In February 1997, Edmond Yu, a psychiatric survivor who was

experiencing a mental health crisis, was shot and killed by Toronto

police following an altercation on a city transit bus. Award-winning

Toronto filmmaker, Laura Sky, created the documentary film Crisis Call

on Yu's case. The film addresses the critical issues facing police,

legal experts, mental health workers, the public and psychiatric

patients and poses the question: " What can be done to prevent a mental

health crisis from escalating into violence? " For answers Sky talked to

police, psychiatric survivors, and many others involved in crisis

interventions. Crisis Call documents their candid, often compelling

stories as they challenge the system and search for solutions.

 

** THE WOMEN OF AL RASHAD RECEPTION http://www.ritaleistner.com

 

WORLD MAD PRIDE ARTISTS' RECEPTION -- Rita Leistner Artist Talk &

Reception: Sunday, June 25, 2-3:30pm, Gallery Gachet

 

Complimentary beverages and food

 

World Mad Pride presents Rita Leistner's photographic portraits of

women residents at the al-Rashad Psychiatric Hospital in Baghdad. It is

situated on the outskirts of Sadr City, a sprawling slum of two

million, in northeast Baghdad, frequently wrought by fierce fighting.

Inside the walls live 900 people, 300 are women, many diagnosed with

schizophrenia, but mostly prisoners of the conflict, which denies them

their ability to live independently.

 

Direct from Brooklyn, NY, meet Rita in person on June 25 for her artist

talk and reception. Her photographs and stories from Iraq have been

published in The Walrus, Newsweek, Time, Colors, Rolling Stone and

Macleans, among other publications. She is co-author of Unembedded:

Four Independent Photojournalists on the War in Iraq, published in

October 2005. The book will be on display in the Gallery and available

for sale.

 

Rita's other recent projects include profiles of US soldiers; and a

feature on gravediggers in Najaf during the siege of 2004.

 

We appreciate Rita Leistner for coming to Vancouver to share this

important work with us. http://www.ritaleistner.com

 

** MENTAL HEALTH, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND 9/11 -- Sunday, June 25 3:45-5pm,

Gallery Gachet, Free

 

Presentation by Zahra Rasul (UBC) and Alex Imperial (SIKLAB), and

Members of the World Mad Pride Committee.

 

This event follows the Rita Leistner Artist Talk & World Mad Pride

artists' reception starting at 2pm.

 

This panel exposes how war, human rights, and health are

interconnected. Psychiatry often narrows definitions of mental illness,

by removing the social context. This panel and audience discussion will

promote awareness of the many social determinants of mental health,

linking the impacts of militarism, conflict, economic, and social

insecurity.

 

Closer to home, George Bush and the US psychiatric and pharmaceutical

industries plan mandatory screening of all US school children. This

will likely reinforce social exclusion by race and economic class.

Mental health's social context is being ignored.

 

Alex Imperial has worked with the Community Legal Assistance Society's

Mental Health Law Program, and is an organizer with SIKLAB, an overseas

Filipino worker's rights organization in the Downtown Eastside. He will

address the human impacts of economic policies on migrant workers

worldwide.

 

Zahra Rasul is particularly interested in the ways in which Canadian

nation-building is facilitated in the post 9/11 world through

discriminatory laws and policies. In the " War on Terror, " moral panic

has been incited by the state in an effort to delineate " us " and

" them. " Her talk will, using Foucault's conception of madness, explore

the construction of Muslim men as " crazed terrorists, " " suicidal, " and

" homicidal. "

 

** WE DON'T LIVE UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS -- Sunday, June 25 5 to 7pm

 

http://www.aperiofilms.com/wdlunc.html

 

by donation Gallery Gachet. Directed by Rhonda Collins., (71 min).

 

There is a tendency afoot today to blame the epidemic sweep of

depression in the US on bad genes or screwy brain chemistry. But what

if the causes do not emanate from the individual? This artful

documentary brings six people together for three days of emotional, and

sometimes heated, discussion about the sources of their despair.

Intermixed are hard-to-find facts which challenge the psychiatric

industry's claims that depression is a biological disorder.

 

** MAD PRIDE CABARET -- Friday, June 30 7pm,

 

Gallery Gachet, by donation, Complimentary snacks.

 

Live music, comedy, readings and performance with Stand Up For Mental

Health (comedy), Sarah Griffin (Toronto graphic novelist show 'n tell),

Irit Shimrat (music video from the frontlines of the mad movement), Ron

Carten (reading from his new book), Jan Derbyshire (Blue Head solo

performance from her Firehall playwright residency), Cherise Clarke

(stage reading), Al Mader (Vancouver slam poet), and Barbara Phillips

(Kamloops' performance poet).

 

Enjoy a whole hour of comedy at 8pm with Stand Up For Mental Health, a

group founded by counsellor and stand-up comic David Granirer. The

troupe teaches stand up comedy to people with mental health issues as a

way of building confidence and fighting public stigma. A chance to

laugh at surviving the mental health system!

 

for more info: http://www.standupformentalhealth.com

 

** ASYLUM SQUAD WORKSHOP -- Sunday, July 2 12-4pm, Gallery Gachet, By

donation

Sarah Griffin, Graphic Novelist

 

Direct from Toronto, Sarah Griffin, creator of Asylum Squad comics with

a hands-on workshop to express yourself and produce your own cartoon or

zine! Pre-register. Materials supplied.

 

For more information: E-mail: madpride

phone: (604) 687-2468

 

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FROM GHANA, AFRICA

 

MindFreedom Ghana celebrates Mad Pride!

 

Theme: Free Minds at Ease!

 

July 2, 2006 -- TV Discussion

 

July 5, 2006 -- Radio Discussion

 

July 6, 2006 -- Cultural Event & Symposium

 

July 8, 2006 -- Presentation To Accra Psychiatric Hospital

 

July 14, 2006 -- Street March

 

Dan Taylor, who is the Secretary of MindFreedom Ghana based in Accra,

Ghana, announced, " Our Theme for our Mad Pride event is 'Free Minds At

Ease.' "

 

Dan explained that, " MindFreedom Ghana is poised to take Ghana and

indeed Africa by storm in July 2006 to highlight the problems and human

rights of users and survivors of the mental health system. "

 

Dan said that bigotry against people diagnosed with psychiatric labels

is common in Ghana: " Our friends and relations have long been

stigmatized for living with or surviving psychosocial disabilities and

so we MindFreedom Ghana will do what it takes to reverse this. "

 

MindFreedom Ghana has joined the MindFreedom Mad Pride International

Coordinating Committee. Dan hopes this will inspire other groups to

participate this year. Dan said, " Let all MindFreedom Groups in the USA

and other parts of the world join in this event to accentuate our cause

in diverse forms! "

 

You may e-mail your best wishes to MindFreedom Ghana, a leader of Mad

Pride events in Africa and internationally, via their e-mail address

mindfreedomghana

 

~~~~~~~~

 

FROM ENGLAND -- August 6 to 10, 2006.

 

For the second year, psychiatric survivors and allies in England will

be celebrating Mad Pride by conducting a " Bed Push. " They will start in

Brighton, UK and in pajamas push a bed with a manequin tied down in it

in " restraints " for 50 miles over five days. This creative approach

gains widespread media attention, and the 2005 Bed Push was even

featured in a documentary shown on UK television. The Mad Pride Bed

Push 2006 will end up at the ex-site for infamous Bedlam psychiatric

institution where all are invited to a " mad hatters' tea party. " For

more information and photos of Bed Push 2005 see:

 

http://www.kissit.org

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

USA

 

IN THE UNITED NATIONS, New York City

 

August 14 to 25, 2006

 

MindFreedom's United Nations delegation, led by Celia Brown, will be

participating for a third year inside the UN in the continuing

international negotiations surrounding a proposed treaty on the rights

of people with disabilities, especially focused on trying to keep

language in favor of forced treatment out of the document.

 

You are urged to call on the USA and other nations to support strong

human rights proposals in this effort, which is formally entitled the

" Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International

Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of

Persons with Disabilities. " This is the fifth year that MindFreedom is

the only group of its kind with United Nations accreditation as a Non

Governmental Organization (NGO) with Consultative Roster Status. For

more information see this UN web site:

 

http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/ahc8.htm

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

FROM OREGON, USA -- Saturday July 8, 2006 - 1:00 PM

 

The Oregon Country Fair (OCF) will include MindFreedom Director David

Oaks as part of its popular " Spoken Word " program. You may hear David

at " Chez Ray's Next Stage " discuss Mad Pride in a talk entitled, " Free

Minds, Madness & Frivolity. "

 

David will also give a brief workshop each day at OCF at 5 pm at the

Doors of Expression booth in the Community Village, which is where

you'll also find MindFreedom material throughout the fair.

 

These events will include Normality Screenings. Learn to do screenings

for normality wherever you live. For tips about this easy guerilla

theater, plus downloadable " Normal Free " coupons to copy and hand out

(both USA and international versions), see:

 

http://www.mindfreedom.org/mindfreedom/madpride/index.shtml

 

or use this smaller web address:

 

http://tinyurl.com/n7784

 

For information about OCF, which draws tens of thousands into Oregon's

woods each July, see:

 

http://www.oregoncountryfair.org

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

FROM NEW YORK STATE, USA - Bastille Day - 14 July 2006

 

Celebrate the Human Spirit

 

Break the Silence About Psychiatric Oppression

 

Activities will include a vigil, memorials, round table discussions,

teach-ins, guest speakers, and much more! Support (or participate in) a

fast to oppose the use of shock treatment on children in New York

State.

 

Activities will be educational and informative to highlight human

rights in mental health and to create a vision of what needs to be done

for our future. For more information phone The Alliance at (315)

947-5888 or 1-800-654-7227.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

FROM CHICAGO, USA -- Saturday, July 22, 2006

 

DISABLED AND PROUD 2006: Celebrating Disability Arts and Culture

 

Disability Pride Parade

 

Join the MindFreedom Mad Pride contingent as we march in the Third

Annual Disability Pride Parade. If interested please contact

krista

 

For information about the Disability Pride Parade see:

 

http://www.disabilityprideparade.com

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

FROM OHIO, USA

 

There are all kinds of creative ways to support Mad Pride, small or

large, as an individual or in a group! Of course, there are all kinds

of creative ways... this is about Mad Pride!

 

Long-time psychiatric survivor activist PAT RISSER of Ohio, USA has

published a new essay today on his web site about the importance of Mad

Pride in his personal recovery from the harm of psychiatric labeling

and segregation. Pat calls on people to support Mad Pride, and is

joining the Mad Pride International Coordinating Committee. See his

essay here:

 

http://home.att.net/~LetFreedomRing/updates/MadPride.html

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

FROM TORONTO, CANADA

 

Friday, July 14, 2006 has been proclaimed Psychiatric Survivor Pride

Day in the City of Toronto. To celebrate we are coordinating The Mad

Pride 2006 Weekend September 14th to 17th 2006.

 

In 1993, Toronto Psychiatric Survivors, a burgeoning political and

cultural movement of people whose autonomy had survived the psychiatric

system, and local organizations, primarily West End Survivors (a peer

support group), and Parkdale Community Legal Services began holding a

yearly event to educate each other, and the public about who they were,

and the issues that impacted them. Issues like poverty, psychiatric

abuse and assault, and lack of safe, affordable housing.

 

Beginning in the year 2000, Pride Day, as this day was known by many

survivor communities in Toronto, aligned itself with its global

counterpart, Mad Pride Worldwide Day, celebrated on July 14th.

 

Today, the issues of poverty, psychiatric abuse and assault, and lack

of safe, affordable housing are still here, but SO ARE WE!. Therefore,

with true survivor spirit, The Mad Pride Toronto 2006 Organizing

Committee and The Friendly Spike Theatre Band, a company dedicated to

producing theatre with marginalized individuals and communities,

Parkdale Community Legal Services, and Parkdale Activity and Recreation

Center announce the official proclamation of July 14, 2006 as

Psychiatric Survivor Pride Day in the City of Toronto and encourage

everyone to support Psychiatric Survivors in their work for equal

rights!

 

In celebration and recognition of Psychiatric Survivor Pride we will

present THE MAD PRIDE TORONTO 2006 WEEKEND:

 

** Opening and Awards Ceremony and Rights Forum: 12 noon - 3pm on

Thursday, September 14th at Parkdale Activity and Recreation Centre,

1499 Queen St. West, hosted by Parkdale Activity and Recreation Center,

and Parkdale Community Legal Services.

 

** Community Treatment Orders: Imprisoning With Drugs in the 21st

Century: 4pm - 5pm on Friday September 15th at The Peace Lounge, 7th

floor, OISE Ontario Institute for Studies in Education 252 Bloor St.

West (accessible from St. George Subway). Presented by Erick Fabris.

 

In the last few years, psychiatry has brought its commitment powers out

into the community. This research presentation brings forward how

psychiatric inmates have dealt with forced treatment outside of

psychiatric facilities. New psychiatric laws across the US and 3

Canadian provinces, including Ontario have introduced a law to enforce

treatments, monitoring, and appointments for people released from

hospital, supposedly with their consent. This new legal power is named

the " Community Treatment Order " or " CTO " (or " Involuntary Outpatient

Committal " in the US). Many of the myths about CTO's are discussed in

this presentation. Survivors and allies continue to struggle against

these laws, and have even prevented them >from being passed in New

Mexico this year. Horrible experiences by CTO inmates shed light on how

mandatory treatment beyond psychiatric facilities are being used and

abused in Ontario. Treatment orders may be a cheap new form of

institutionalization by use of chemical restraint.

 

** CAPA Reception 5pm - 7pm Friday September 15th at The Peace Lounge,

7th floor OISE Ontario Institute for Studies in Education 252 Bloor St.

West (accessible from St. George Subway)

 

Come and join CAPA (Coalition Against Psychiatric Assault) on Friday

evening to schmooze and enjoy refreshments. CAPA members will be

present to share information of Toronto's antipsychiatry organization

and to answer any questions.

 

** The Places We Share, a new play by The Friendly Spike Theatre Band,

8pm to 9:30 pm Friday September 15th and Saturday September 16th at The

Alchemy Theatre, 133 Tecumseth St. (one block west of Bathurst ,south

of Queen St. West). A lighthearted and thoughtful story examining the

nature of our shared existence on the margin of society.

 

** Scenes from The House on Lippincott: 2pm - 3pm Saturday, September

16th at The Alchemy Theatre 133 Tecumseth St. (one block west of

Bathurst, south of Queen St. West)

 

A reading from The House on Lippincott by Bonnie Burstow especially for

Psychiatric Survivors.

 

** Reception and Open House 4pm - 6pm Saturday September 16th, at CAMH

(Center For Addiction and Mental Health), The Empowerment Office, 1001

Queen St. West. hosted by The Empowerment Council and featuring the

work of PSAT (Psychiatric Survivor Archives Toronto).

 

** Now, Who's Crazy Now? 10pm - 11pm Saturday September 16th, Alchemy

Theatre, 133 Tecumseth St (one block west of Bathurst and South of

Queen St. West) Written and presented by Elly Litvak. This one woman

show from Vancouver, Canada chronicles Elly's journey from chaos to a

fulfilled life of balance and recovery.

 

** Writer's Open Stage 2pm - 4pm Sunday September 17th, The Alchemy

Theatre 133 Tecumseth St. (one block west of Bathurst and South of

Queen St. West)

 

An open stage will be offered to writers of every ilk whose work uses

experiences of psychiatric survivors, and or madness. Featuring Mel

Starkman - Hope For Change, Lorretta Clark - 3 Rivers of Blood and

Destiny, and Caroline Fei-Yeng Kwok - The Tormented Mind, and many

more!.

 

** Patient Built Wall Tour 6pm - 8pm Sunday September 17th, The Ground

of CAMH Center for Addiction and Mental Health 1001 Queen Street West.

 

Guided by Geoff Reaume. The purpose of this tour is to remember the

contributions of the men and women who lived, worked and died in the

Toronto Insane Asylum, as is represented by the boundary walls that

they built which stand as enduring testament to their abilities and to

use the past to challenge discrimination experienced today by people

who have a psychiatric history.

 

** Remembering Patients Past = The Last Harrah - closing reception

hosted by Angel Queen - 8pm - Sunday September 17th, The Garden, The

Grounds of CAMH Center for Addiction and Mental Health, 1001 Queen

Street West. We will gather in the Garden by the wall in remembrance of

patient past with the hope of growing.

 

For more information contact Ruth Ruth at Friendly Spike Theater at

(416) 516-4740 or by e-mail at

friendlyspike

 

Friendly Spike Theatre Band is a Sponsor Group of MindFreedom

International.

 

- end Mad Pride 2006 event listing -

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

ACTIONS * ACTIONS * ACTIONS

 

** Please forward this Public Service Announcement far and wide, both

on and off Internet!

 

** Hold your own Mad Pride event at any time!

 

** Want to coordinate your event with others, participate, join in and

support the international MAD PRIDE campaign? E-mail to

pride

 

~~~~~~~~

 

Join MindFreedom International, donate, or renew your membership

today!

 

Do you want to...

 

* Win human rights campaigns in mental health?

 

* End abuse by the psychiatric drug industry?

 

* Support the self-determination of psychiatric survivors?

 

* Promote safe, humane and effective options in mental health?

 

You are not alone! MindFreedom is a nonprofit human rights group that

unites 100 sponsor and affiliate groups with individual members, and is

accredited by the United Nations as a Non-Governmental Organization

(NGO) with Consultative Roster Status.

 

MindFreedom is one of the very few totally independent groups in the

mental health field with no funding from governments, drug companies,

religions, corporations, or the mental health system. While most of

MindFreedom's members are psychiatric survivors, *all* who support

human rights are invited to join and become active leaders.

 

JOIN, RENEW, DONATE, or give GIFT MEMBERSHIPS to MindFreedom

International today:

 

http://www.mindfreedom.org/join.shtml

 

For a MAD MARKET of books and other products to support human rights

campaigns in mental health: http://www.madmarket.org

 

MindFreedom International Office: 454 Willamette, Suite 216 - POB

11284; Eugene, OR 97440-3484 USA

 

web site: http://www.mindfreedom.org

e-mail: office

office phone: (541) 345-9106

toll free: 1-877-MAD-PRIDe or 1-877-623-7743

fax: (541) 345-3737

 

Please forward.

 

 

 

_____________

 

If you are not on the MindFreedom-News alert list already, sign up for

this free non-profit public service here:

http://www.intenex.net/lists/listinfo/mindfreedom-news

 

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