In Our Own Voice: African-American Stories of Oppression, Survival and Recovery in Mental Health Systems
Source: Vanessa Jackson
Resource Type: Print Media (Brochure, Flyer, Poster)
Focus Population: BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), Peers, People experiencing First Episode Psychosis (FEP), People who have experienced Trauma
Topics: Crisis Response System, Culturally Specific Strengths and Resilience, Experience of Racism, Discrimination, and Oppression, Peer Support, Psychiatric or Mental Health Stabilization, Religious or Spiritual Support
Vanessa Jackson explores the oft uncited experiences of African-American psychiatric survivors and the experience of mental health treatment in America. Through her extensive research and documentation, she unpacks scientific racism, segregated hospitals, and the erasure of Black experiences in psych survivor movement (consumer, ex-patient, peers). She also explores the themes shared through oral histories around recovery and healing, and she creates a guide to support creating oral histories on other communities and strategies for using history projects as a tool for personal and community healing and social change.