Black Networking Group

The scandal of ‘criminalising’ mental health patients

BNG — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:37:18 +0000

Community and faith groups condemn the rapid rise in prisoner suicide rates

Tuesday 2 January 2008

Human rights group Black Mental Health UK have added their voice to the growing numbers of community and faith organisation who have condemned the rapid rise in the numbers of suicides of people in prison over the last 12 months.

Government statistics indicate that black prisoners are currently in the system at a rate that is five times higher than that of white prisoners; this has led to fears that these latest stats will hit the black community hardest.

‘Clearly there are concerns about this and we need to have an ethnic breakdown of exactly who has died in prison in the last 12 months in order to establish current trends.

One suicide is one to many and we have seen figures on the over representation of ethnic minorities within prison settings but not been given any answers as to why this is not being addressed’ Lord Herman Ouseley, former head of the Chairman of the Commission For Racial Equality said.

The Ministry of Justice announcement has revealed that 93 people lost their lives last year and comes in tandem with a statement from The HLPR (Howard League for Penal Reform) which shows that 45 percent of those who died were either being held on remand, unsentenced or awaiting sentence after conviction.

‘It is disturbing to see that half of the people who have lost their lives in these institutions were not actually convicted of any crime but rather were on remand or awaiting sentencing,’ Rev Paul Grey, New Testament Church of God, Nuneatun branch said.

Penal reformers blamed overcrowding for the increase in deaths. HM Inspectorate of Prisons thematic review of mental health published last October showed staffing levels in prison mental health care are just one-third of what is needed with the majority of prisoners with mental health problems getting inadequate care and are being released with the same, or worse, problems.

‘It is not conducive to anyone’s mental well being to be behind bars, human potential was never meant to be locked away it was meant to released. The current models that are being used are flawed, if they weren’t’ then people staying in the system would not be dying,’ Rev Paul Grey, New Testament Church of God, Nuneatun said.

BMH UK have welcomed prisons minister Maria Eagle call for an inquiry into the reasons behind the increase, to look into measures to improve security for those suffering from mental health problems. ‘An inquiry is welcomed and urgently needed, what we must ensure is that there is appropriate and equal representation of all stakeholders, especially from communities group most adversely effected by this.

It is horrifying to think that there has been at least one death every week in 2007 in prison settings. We need an ethnic breakdown of these figures to gauge the extent of the problem so we can establish effective strategies to ensure that these figures come down.’ Matilda MacAttram director of Black Mental Health UK said.

For interviews please call M: 07852 182 750

Notes to the editor

* Black Mental Health UK is a human rights campaigns group established to address the over representation of African Caribbean’s within secure psychiatric care and raise awareness to address the stigma associated with mental health.

* African Caribbean’s are 44% more likely to be sectioned, 29% more likely to be forcibly restrained, 50% more likely to be placed in seclusion and make up 30% of in patients on medium secure psychiatric wards despite having similar rates of mental illness as British white people.

* African Caribbean’s make up 14% of the prison population but are less than 3% of the national population.

The Forum for Preventing Deaths in Custody report was published in September 2007

http://www.politics.co.uk/press-releases/bmhuk-community-and-faith-groups-condemn-rapid-rise-in-prisoner-suicide-rates-$483681.htm

Facebook Petition for awarding Walter Tull a Posthumous Military Cross.

BNG — Mon, 04 May 2009 01:55:30 +0000

Walter Tull

Walter Tull was born in Folkestone on 28th April 1888. His father was a carpenter from Barbados who had moved to Folkestone and married a local woman. By the age of nine, Walter had lost both his parents, and when he was 10 he and his brother Edward were sent to a Methodist orphanage in Bethnal Green. His brother left the orphanage two years later, was adopted by a Scottish family and became a dentist. Meanwhile, Walter played for the orphanage football team, and in 1908, began playing for Clapton FC. Within a few months he had won winners’ medals in the FA Amateur Cup, London County Amateur Cup and London Senior Cup. In March 1909 the Football Star called him ‘the catch of the season’.

In 1909 he signed as a professional for Tottenham Hotspur, and experienced for the first time spectator racism when Spurs travelled to play Bristol City. According to one observer, ‘a section of the spectators made a cowardly attack on him in language lower than Billingsgate.’

He was the first British-born black army officer and the first black officer to lead white British troops into battle.

For more see:- http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=33844959524

PLEASE SUPPORT THE WALTER TULL CAMPAIGN BY SIGNING THE ONLINE PETITIONS:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/waltertull/index.html

Below an online petition calling on Spurs FC to erect a memorial to Walter Tull as part of the redevelopment of the White Hart Lane ground. It is an ideal opportunity to honour his memory and the suggestion is a conventional statue that will be a constant visible reminder to the local community and all visiting supporters of this remarkable man’s life.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/waltertullmemorialTHFC

Report percieved racial comment found on the web – Internet Watch Foundation

BNG — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 21:35:44 +0000

Interested in reporting any perceived racist comments? The UK Hotline for reporting illegal content specifically: Child sexual abuse content hosted worldwide and criminally obscene and incitement to racial hatred content hosted in the UK

To deal with the constant issue of what appears in the ‘your comments’ section of the Plymouth Herald’s website! This is a quick on-line incident reporting system – operated by a highly influential body.

http://www.iwf.org.uk/

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans History Month

BNG — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 21:57:48 +0000

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans History Month takes place every year in February. It celebrates the lives and achievements of the LGBT community. We are committed to celebrate its diversity and that of the society as a whole. We encourage everyone to see diversity and cultural pluralism as the positive forces that they are and endeavour to reflect this in all we do.

http://www.lgbthistorymonth.org.uk/

Plymouth City Council – Report It

BNG — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 21:50:24 +0000

Disablist, faith and belief, homophobic, racist and transphobic incidents

We are committed to eliminating discrimination from all aspects of our work and to ensuring we contribute to making Plymouth a safer place for minority communities. If you have experienced or witnessed an incident we want to hear about it.

Incidents may include:

assault
vandalism
harassment
damage to property
name calling
graffiti
phone calls

http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/homepage/communityandliving/socialinclusion/racisthomophobicincidents.htm

Plymouth Pride Forum

BNG — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 21:44:26 +0000

Mission Statement

“To make the City of Plymouth an area where LGB/T people and Communities can live, work and celebrate life free from discrimination and Prejudice.”

Objectives

To work in the Plymouth area for the benefit of LGBT communities.
To be a collective voice for the LGBT communities.
To provide environments where LGBT individuals can meet for support and social activities.
To actively promote equality in services for LGBT people by influencing and responding to change in the wider community.
To establish Plymouth Pride Forum as an organisation which will ensure effective communication, information and publicity for members and wider LGBT communities.
To actively promote LGBT issues, including equality and other rights.

http://www.plymouthprideforum.org.uk/index.html

Black Mental Health UK

BNG — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:59:19 +0000

About us

Black Mental Health UK (BMH UK) was established in 2006 to raise awareness and address the stigma associated with mental illness.

The aim of our work is to see a reduction in the inequalities in the treatment and care of people from African Caribbean communities who use mental health services, and to inform these communities on how to influence the strategic development, policy design and implementation of services.

BMH UK’s focus is on empowering African Caribbean communities to improve the Black service user experience and reduce the over representation of Black people at the coercive end of psychiatric care.

Please note
The Black Mental Health UK does not provide help, treatment, counselling, care service or advice for those in crisis. We are not able to discuss individual cases.

http://www.blackmentalhealth.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22&Itemid=56

Hidden from History

BNG — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 19:45:48 +0000

Hidden from History: The Canadian Holocaust

The Untold Story of the Genocide of Aboriginal Peoples by Church and State in Canada

http://canadiangenocide.nativeweb.org/

The International Slavery Museum

BNG — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:29:06 +0000

The International Slavery Museum explores both the historical and contemporary aspects of slavery, addressing the many legacies of the slave trade and telling stories of bravery and rebellion amongst the enslaved people. These are stories which have been largely untold.

For more than 2,000 years people in many different parts of the world have forced their fellow humans into slavery. Between about 1500 and 1900, Europeans forcibly uprooted millions of people from throughout West Africa and West Central Africa and shipped them across the Atlantic in conditions of great cruelty. To refer to the Africans who were enslaved only as ’slaves’ strips them of their identity. They were, for instance, farmers, merchants, priests, soldiers, goldsmiths and musicians. They were husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters. They could be Yoruba, Igbo, Akan or Kongolese.

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/ism/

Gypsy Roma Traveller History Month

BNG — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:12:03 +0000

Britain’s 300,000 Gypsies, Roma and Travellers have lived, worked and travelled throughout Britain for over 500 years, yet we have been almost entirely written out of British history.

Go to most museums, libraries and schools and nothing about our history and culture is kept or taught. The result is a widespread ignorance about who we are, which sometimes turns to hatred, fear and misunderstanding. In schools, children learn more about the Romans, Vikings or even fairies than they do about our cultures and what we have contributed to this world.

http://www.grthm.co.uk/index.php