Abolition & Psychiatric Systems

This is the very first episode of Roots up with host Sera Davidow. Sera will be joined by Nze Okoronta, Stefanie Lyn Kaufman-Mthimkhulu and Leah Harris in a conversation about abolition and what that word means in the context of madness, the psychiatric system and our communities.

Together, Nze, Stefanie and Leah explore what abolition is and looks like, how it compares to anti-carceral approaches and how co-optation and the phenomenon of 'buzz words' factors into it all.

As discussed in the podcast:

Mad Futures: This is Mad :: Futures, a new abolitionist publication run by and for mad, neurodiverse, and disabled artists, writers, and organizers. Things will be up and running here shortly, but you can subscribe in the meantime if you'd like to stay up to date and receive emails when we begin to publish.

Guests:

Nze Okoronta:

Nze is a harm reductionist, facilitator, and consultant. They are known for work surrounding crisis services, public health impact and social policy. They provide consultation around crisis alternatives, peer run respites, peer run warmlines, peer support supervision, and harm reduction. Nze has past experience in housing, diversity, equity, and inclusion, clinical substance use counseling, and population-specific SUD program development for Black and Brown communities. Nze is currently the Peer Services Program Director at SOAR Case Management Services Inc., overseeing Solstice House Peer Run Respite in Madison, WI. They also work as a Technical Assistance Consultant for PRCoE (Peer Recovery Center of Excellence) and Harm Reduction Equity Consultant for PeerPride. Nze centers the historical and ongoing truths of psychiatric survivors in their work, believing our stories hold power, community is our home, and pride is a path to liberation.

Stefanie Lyn Kaufman-Mthimkhulu:

Stefanie Lyn Kaufman Mthimkhulu (they/she) is the Founder and Director of Project LETS. As a multiply Disabled, Mad, psychiatric survivor, they are deeply committed to interrupting patterns of historical and present-day ableism that impact Disabled people and those perceived as/labeled with mental illness in medical and psychiatric systems. They have over a decade of experience as an anti-carceral crisis responder, care worker, certified perinatal doula, death worker, and peer supporter in the so-called United States and eSwatini; and have supported multiply marginalized folks in a wide range of psychiatric and medical crises in community-based settings. They are rooted in historical and political lineages of Disability Justice and Mad Liberation; and are committed to creating options for folks to access self-determined care without police or cages of any form. Stefanie also supports care workers in building access-centered, trauma responsive practices that facilitate whole bodymindspirit healing. Stefanie is also the editor of Abolition Must Include Psychiatry and the author of We Don’t Need Cops to Become Social Workers.

Leah Harris:

Leah Ida Harris is a second-generation psychiatric survivor, advocate, and writer who has worked for two decades for radical change in America’s approach to mental health policy and practice. Leah experienced psychosis for the first time during the menopause transition and is passionate about raising awareness on this little-discussed phase of life. Leah's bylines include Mad in America, the Disability Visibility Project, Truthout, and the Milwaukee-Journal Sentinel, and the Progressive Magazine. Her essays appear in the anthologies We’ve Been Too Patient: Voices from Radical Mental Health, and the forthcoming Mad Studies Reader. She has been a guest on the podcasts Committable, Death Panel, and the Depth Work podcast, among others. She was most recently published in Truthout on the topic of Involuntary Outpatient Commitment which you can read here.

Credits:

Production & editing: Sera Davidow

Intro music: Blue, Blood Harmony

Stinger (Transition): Morgontimma, Christian Nanzell

Outro music: Oh Dandelion, Gamma Skies