Your brief background and ‘frequently asked questions’ about Mad Pride events in 2007, from the MindFreedom Mad Pride Chair, Krista Erickson.
For news reports, photo, video and a directory of known Mad Pride 2007 events from Africa to Canada…
click here.
Background on Mad Pride ’07
by Krista Erickson, chair, MFI Mad Pride Chair
A few highlights of 2007 events include:
- Bonkers Fest was celebrated earlier this month in England with Mad Pride events planned from now until early October.
- The Great Escape Bed Push. For the third year, activists in England will symbolically escape psychiatric institutions, dressed in pajamas and ‘hot tail’ it with a psychiatric bed to a place of safety and celebration while raising awareness about the over-use of forced treatments in mental health services and the need for holistic choice based services. This year the Great Escape goes international with bed pushes scheduled in Canada and the US.
- The first-ever Mad Pride parade in Belgium.
- A street march and other Mad Pride events in Ghana.
- Several events in Toronto and Vancouver Canada.
- A vigil in Albany, New York and a rally in Buffalo, NY.
- Mad Pride celebration at MindFreedom’s Creative Revolution conference.
If you are planning a Mad Pride celebration, please let us know at pride@mindfreedom.org
For news reports, photo, video and a directory of known Mad Pride 2007 events from Africa to Canada…
Frequently Asked Mad Pride Questions
What is Mad Pride?
Mad Pride counteracts some of the discrimination and prejudice often shown towards people who have experienced mental distress and difference by promoting the economic, political, social, and cultural integration of users/survivors of psychiatry into the larger society. Mad Pride celebrates the creativity, strength and resilience of the human spirit. Mad Pride empowers psychiatric survivors and raises public consciousness through various activities such as art, theatre, music, poetry, protests, vigils and more.
It doesn’t have to cost you much! To view a brief video of a really inexpensive and incredibly fun “Mad Pride” event in England click here.
How do I join the Mad Pride 2007?
MindFreedom has a Mad Pride Committee made up of interested MindFreedom members to help promote and support Mad Pride events worldwide in 2007. Representatives from Ghana, Ireland, Canada and the US held an international teleconference planning meeting. We want more members to join us.
If you are interested in being a part of this committee, or holding a small or large Mad Pride event, please email pride (at) mindfreedom.org.
Special Mad Pride 2007 News Preview: IAACM!
With support from MindFreedom International, Mad Pride 2007 will launch a vision of Martin Luther King, Jr.! In ten speeches over five years and in his writings, Dr. King said the world was in dire need of new organization, the “International Association for the Advancement of Creative Maladjustment,” or the IAACM. It has taken psychiatric survivors to help make this dream come true. During July — Mad Pride Month 2007 — watch for news of the launch of the IAACM. All who follow Dr. King’s nonviolence guidelines may consider and call themselves an IAACM leader.
For background on the IAACM see: