Care about Mental Health? Believe #BlackLivesMatter? Some resources and links

Follow me because you care about faith and mental health? Take a look at these resources:

1) Campaign Zero's recommendations on ending "broken windows" policing, which include establishing alternative approaches to mental health crises:
joincampaignzero.org/brokenwindows
((Edit: Since I created this list, some important critiques of Campaign Zero’s most recent initiative have come out, including the way they utilized data around their highlighted reforms. I don’t think its my place to adjudicate debates between pro-reform and pro-abolition movements, but the point about alternative approaches to mental health crises still stands. Here’s another framing of this matter from a pro-abolition group: 8toabolition.com/invest-in-care-not-cops))

2) CAHOOTS (Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets) in OR is one example of this model:
whitebirdclinic.org/cahoots

3) Britney Wilson (Esq.)’s article in The Nation, #BlackDisabledLivesMatter, on intersections between race, mental illness, and police violence:
thenation.com/article/archive/blackdisabledlivesmatter

4) Particularly if you’re a therapist or other form of practitioner, check out my friend and colleague Hayden Dawe’s article, “An invitation to White therapists”:
medium.com/@hcdawes_32629/an-invitation-to-white-therapists-a04cc93b1917

5) TRACC 4 Movements provides trauma care and trauma education for movements and in movements, with a particular focus on supporting BIPOC activists and organizers:
tracc4movements.com

6) Add Monica A. Coleman's book, Bipolar Faith: A Black Woman's Journey with Depression and Faith, to your reading list

7) Add Tonya D. Armstrong's book, Blossoming Hope: The Black Christian Woman's Guide to Mental Health and Wellness, to your reading list

8) Add Romal Tune's book, Love is an Inside Job: Getting Vulnerable with God, to your reading list

9) Particularly if you're a clergy person or a scholar-practitioner with access to a library (or a church credit card!), order Cedric C. Johnson's book Race, Religion, and Resilience in the Neoliberal Age

10) A list of Black Mental Health resources from the Mental Health Coalition: thementalhealthcoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Black-Mental-Health-Resources-MHC-2.pdf

11) “44 Mental Health Resources for Black People Trying to Survive in this Country,” by Zahra Barnes:
self.com/story/black-mental-health-resources

12) Want to order some books? Check out a black-owned bookstore and see if they'll ship!
publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/83495-black-owned-bookstores-to-support-now.html

Overall, remember: being mental health advocates also means advocating for alternatives to policing and incarceration, standing against racism, and educating ourselves about intergenerational trauma. I know it can feel overwhelming -- my bipolar brain gets easily overwhelmed, too! But that's ok! Pick one place to start!