This Black History Month, we have put together profiles on some Black British people with histories of campaigning for social justice and equity in mental health support for Black communities. Read on to find out more about Olive Morris, Dr. Aggrey Burke, and local icon Gertrude Paul... Olive Morris (1952-79): Racial Justice Activist and Feminist Olive Morris made a huge impact in the national
A Dream We call for freedom But She isn’t present today We scream loud like banshees But freedom didn’t live on our streets Painted like a dreamer on crack Addicted to optimism. But this Isn’t A dream And there is no rehab for nightmares When they follow you everywhere. Imprisoned Racists stealthily haunts us Like a cancerous tumour That takes your breath away Like Taeniasis Feeding Every breath you take
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzLe5a8iTkc&t=6s
Black History Month has sparked some great conversations about racism and white privilege during October. Some people have moved from conversation to action. Touchstone set up it’s own anti-racism library for staff as part of our BLM commitments, if you would like to support Danni’s campaign to set one up for people to borrow from in Leeds, here is the fundraising page - https://gf.me/u/y2av3x
For the last few months as part of the Black Lives Matter movement we have been having a lot of conversations, discussions and meetings about what this means to us as individuals and practitioners. Nicole Connor, Touchstone staff: “A few years ago I started my own journey of understanding and reflection on racism and white privilege. In the last few months amidst the murder of George Floyd and the resurgence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sdum5Gzmu98 Simone’s mum, Mabel Stephenson guides us through a cooking tutorial of Ackee and Saltfish, one of that national dishes of Jamaica. Since the pandemic Mabel has been using her love of cooking Caribbean food to bring something new to her local community and once a month does a ‘Cook up’ for neighbours on a nearby residential street. This monthly event has bought these neighbours closer together and has given
To celebrate BHM, Leeds Mind and Touchstone staff met to talk about their own experiences of being Black, the impact of BLM and their hopes for a better world – and the music is brilliant too! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hacRa_WmCUk&feature=youtu.be
For Black History Month, our CEO and her mum talked about interracial marriage, love, family and Leeds on BBC Radio Leeds. Follow the link to listen - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p08v12ng
My name Is Paul Parker, I’m a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy therapist with Leeds Mental Wellbeing Service, Touchstone. This is the first occasion that I have contributed towards Black History month. In previous years, I have dipped in and out of events as an observer but I haven’t known much about where the movement came from. I remember one year, as a family we enjoyed an African heritage based fashion show
Webinar with Dr Emily Zobel Marshall on Wednesday 21st October 11am to 12.30 pm. Black History Month was started to showcase the amazing contributions of Black people and communities from across the world. In Britain, our culture has been enriched and our society has been made stronger because of the people who travelled here to build new lives in the UK, as well as the achievements and contributions of their