Do you know that scene in This Christmas when Ma’Dere looks around and is happy to have everyone home?
No matter the world’s stressors, she is just happy they’re all safe, loved, and two-stepping down her living room.
That’s what we want for you this holiday season. To know that everyone you care about is home for the holidays and wrapped in love. (And we want you to get your two-step on too, of course.)
To help you do that, we’re excited to announce that our newly updated community response guide will drop later this month.
With a new user-friendly interface and updated information, this guide will be vital in helping those experiencing a mental health or behavioral emergency get the support they need from first-response teams in their area.
How will this keep them safe? Well, by sending trained mental health professionals rather than the untrained law enforcement standard we turn to now, we actively decriminalize mental illness. And by doing that, we ensure that everyone who needs help gets the right help so they can make it home for the holidays.
“Dark children cannot thrive without a community of Love, Refusal, Protection, and Resouce Sharing.”
— Bettina Love
Sista Spotlight
Everything we do and the impact we make is not possible without the Sistas behind the scenes and on the front lines.
Today, we want to give a big shout out to our Policy Analyst, Sharron!
This past week Sharron visited Capitol Hill in the inaugural Inseparable mental health fellowship. We cannot wait to hear about her experience and how they plan to work together to improve mental health equity and access for all communities.
Case Update on Atatiana Jefferson
Although it has been almost a year since her murderer was convicted and sentenced, his legal team recently presented oral arguments in attempts to appeal the ruling.
Her family will continue to fight to ensure her murderer is held accountable. Follow their journey on her page for your next opportunity to support them by being in court hearings.
Legislative Policies to Watch:
This bill, recently signed into law, will automate voter registration and enhance voting rights. Among other initiatives it restores the right to vote for those who were formerly incarcerated and it will pre-register 16-17 year olds to vote.
What are your thoughts on this?
Article of the Week
Check out what we’re reading and make sure to hit reply and tell us your thoughts!
A Mental Health Tip For You!
Discussing mental health may not have been on your priority list this holiday season. But if we want to keep each other safe and make true progress toward decriminalizing mental illness and ending the stigma, it must be.
But how do we do that? How do we begin to delve into the intricacies of our mental health so that we can finally liberate ourselves?
We work to understand how it became stigmatized in the first place.
One great place to start is right here. If you scroll down on the linked web page, the Sozosei Foundation provides insightful articles on what societal biases have made our mental health so hard to achieve.
We hope that by understanding more of the obstacles in our way (obstacles we were taught to overlook), we’ll get better at breaking them all down.
Spread Some Blessings!
The consequences of police violence extend far beyond the loss of life. For families affected, it’s the loss of income, the sacrifice of basic necessities, and the start of a high-cost legal fight. If you have the capacity, consider donating to 1M4. Proceeds help support impacted families and sustain the work of 1M4 toward ending police violence for good.
The people in the 1M4 community come from all different backgrounds. We have allies, Sistas, and Brothas that have come together with one goal: to make this country safer for us ALL.
And we’re getting closer.
With the upcoming re-release of our guide and every single time you share it with those in your circle (and those not) you bring us closer to achieving our goal.
You’ll also help us get everyone home for the holidays.
And if that ain’t a gift this holiday season, we don’t know what is.
Your Sis In All Of This,
