Steve,
Justice for All is a strange outfit. Seems like the "constituency"
they serve is not nearly so important as their own agenda. Wonder who funds
them. If you know any of this juicy stuff let me know. They are obvoius all
for humans rights, it just that the humans they are interested in are a
very precious and enigmatic few.
Bobby
>What intrigues me, Bobby, is why JFA sends this info last minute or after
>the fact.
>
>Be "informed" but don't participate in policy or decision making.
>
>I keep asking who are these people because I don't know them or of them, nor
>have I been asked to give consent for their activites.
>
>Something in this process leaves me uneasy.
>
>Jailing the MI? A new HUD subsidized housing program?
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Bobby Greer" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Monday, April 17, 2000 5:07 PM
>Subject: Re: Highlander 30 Call to Action
>
>
>> Steve,
>>
>> Seems Ironic this meeting took place in my home state, which has
>> one of the worst public mental systems in the nation. We have just closed
>> out last public psychiatric hospital amd are now jailing most of the
>> MI(homeless).
>>
>> Bobby
>>
>>
>> >Seems like the "latest" group to speak out are speaking.
>> >
>> >S.
>> >----- Original Message -----
>> >From: "Justice For All Moderator" <[log in to unmask]>
>> >To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> >Sent: Sunday, April 16, 2000 9:13 PM
>> >Subject: Highlander 30 Call to Action
>> >
>> >
>> >>
>> >> Justice For All
>> >>
>> >> [log in to unmask]
>> >>
>> >> Highlander 30 Call to Action
>> >>
>> >> The following is a joint statement from leaders from the psychiatric
>> >> survivor movement following meetings at the Highlander Training and
>> >> Education Center, near Knoxville, Tennessee. Names of those signing
>> >> the statement are at the bottom.
>> >>
>> >> The Highlander Statement of Concern and Call to Action
>> >> March 25, 2000
>> >>
>> >> In the tradition of Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Eleanor Roosevelt
>and
>> >> thousands of men and women concerned about social justice and
>progressive
>> >> change, thirty people with long histories of fighting for human rights
>in
>> >> mental health gathered for three days at the Highlander Center in
>> >> Tennessee. We argued, came to consensus, and then quietly shared our
>pain,
>> >> our concerns, our fears, and our hopes for the future.
>> >>
>> >> We came to understand that our personal stories have power and that
>they
>> >> must be heard. We must tell them to other people who have been damaged
>by
>> >> psychiatric treatment, to the public, to lawmakers and to political
>> >> candidates as well. We are compelled to share our collective struggle
>and
>> >> claim our place as a civil rights movement alongside those who have
>been
>> >> similarly discounted, disenfranchised, and marginalized: people of
>color;
>> >> gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people; people with physical
>or
>> >> cognitive disabilities; women; people belonging to religious, ethnic,
>and
>> >> linguistic minorities; and people forced to live in poverty amidst the
>> >> great wealth and abundance of the corporate economy.
>> >>
>> >> We are obliged to be vigilant and to help others realize the horrible
>> >> consequences that arise when certain groups are seen as less than fully
>> >> human and less deserving of basic civil rights. We must never forget
>that
>> >> in Nazi Germany "mercy killings" of mental patients, people with
>> >> disabilities and others labeled asocial preceded the attempted genocide
>of
>> >> Jews and other oppressed groups during the Holocaust. To prevent
>similar
>> >> atrocities from occurring we pledge to speak out for equal human rights
>> >> for everyone throughout the world.
>> >>
>> >> In the Highlander tradition, we came away from those three days on the
>> >> mountain determined that we will not allow anyone to do for us, to
>> >> discount us, or to pat us on the head instead of looking us in the eye.
>We
>> >> came away invigorated and ready to act individually and collectively to
>> >> insure that self-determination, respect, ethical behavior, and humane
>> >> voluntary services and supports become the foundation of a reinvented
>> >> mental health system. This system must first and foremost do no harm.
>We
>> >> came away ready to make this a reality.
>> >>
>> >> The Highlander Call for Action:
>> >>
>> >> ***We call upon all people committed to human rights to organize and
>fight
>> >> against the passage and implementation of legislation making it easier
>to
>> >> lock up, shock, and forcibly drug people labeled with psychiatric
>> >> disorders,legislation that is creating the back-wards of the
>twenty-first
>> >> century not just in hospitals, but also in our own homes.
>> >>
>> >> ***We call upon all people committed to human rights to work together
>to
>> >> build a mental health system that is based upon the principle of
>> >> self-determination, on a belief in our ability to recover, and on our
>> >> right to define what recovery is and how best to achieve it.
>> >>
>> >> ***We call upon people who have used mental health services to heal
>each
>> >> other by telling our stories. We call for the creation of literature
>and
>> >> other art forms that use our truths to educate, to inform, and to
>validate
>> >> our culture and our experience.
>> >>
>> >> ***We call upon elected officials, political candidates, and those with
>> >> power over our lives to recognize and honor the legitimacy of our
>concerns
>> >> through their policy statements, legislative proposals, and their
>actions;
>> >> and we hereby give notice that we will do whatever it takes to insure
>that
>> >> we are heard, that our rights are protected, and that we can live
>freely
>> >> and peacefully in our communities.
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >>
>> >> The Highlander 30: Laurie Ahern, Patricia Deegan, Ken Schlosser, Judi
>> >> Chamberlin, Tom Behrendt, Carla X Cubit, Celia Brown, Anne Krauss. Ron
>> >> Bassman, George Ebert, Mary Ann Ebert, Linda Morrison, Janet Foner, Tom
>> >> Olin, Lawrence Plumlee, Gayle Bluebird, Cookie Gant, Vicki Fox
>> >> Wieselthier, Mickey Weinberg, Beverly Jones, Loren Mosher, Ty Colbert,
>Jay
>> >> Mahler, Kris Yates, Sally Zinman, Ted Chabasinski, Lynda Wright, Sue
>> >> Parry, Linda Sisson, David Oaks
>> >>
>> >> Comments to: [log in to unmask]
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> Fred Fay
>> >> Chair, Justice For All
>> >> [log in to unmask]
>> >> http://www.jfanow.org
>> >>
>> >> Register to Vote Online at http://www.fec.gov/votregis/vr.htm
>> >>
>> >> =====================================================================
>> >> Justice-For-All FREE Subscriptions
>> >> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send mail to [log in to unmask]
>> >> with one or the other in the body of your message:
>> >> subscribe justice
>> >> unsubscribe justice
>> >>
>> >>
>>
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