Tippa Naphtali of Catalyst 4 Change – Image Credit Veron Graham

source: The Voice Online
published: 14 December 2017

A rallying cry for black communities to play a greater part in their own wellbeing and push for improvement was made at a mental health conference in Birmingham on 25 November 2017.

Self-reliance and self-determination were themes that echoed throughout Stepping Out for Our Community, in which the harsh realities of fifty-plus years of failed policies and overlooked recommendations were brought into sharp focus by eminent speakers with tragic personal accounts alongside professional experience of mental illness.

Joanna Bennett, a professor of mental health with a 30- year history of campaigning for change in the UK and the Caribbean, talked to delegates at The H Suite conference in the Edgbaston area of the city through reports, enquiries and legislation dating back to the 1960s, en route to a damning conclusion: Continue reading