mental illness
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A Black Woman Takes Us Into the Swirl of Bipolar Disorder in New Memoir, I’m Telling the Truth, But I’m Lying
Bassey Ikpi’s I’m Telling The Truth, But I’m Lying, the 43-year-old’s journey into her mental health struggle, is not a traditionally written memoir—neither in its structure nor in its nonchronological narrative. It is poetic, it is revelatory, it is distressing; it is, at times, exhausting. It is a literal entree into the mind of someone…
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Galveston Asks Texas AG to Block Release of Officers’ Body Cam Footage From Day Mentally Ill Black Man Paraded Through Streets
In the latest development in the deeply disturbing incident where Donald Neely was arrested on Aug. 3 for misdemeanor trespassing, the city of Galveston has asked the Texas attorney general’s office if it can stop the release of the officers’ body camera recordings. Also, the so-called “mounted patrol policy” that the city said the two…
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Suicides in Jails Are Preventable: How a Unique Approach May Help Curb Self-Harm in Confinement
Conspiracy theories aside, Jeffrey Epstein is one of the latest and most prominent of the hundreds that die by suicide yearly in America’s jails. His untimely death saw the Bureau of Prisons chief fired and caused heads to roll at the federal Metropolitan Correctional Center: the warden of the jail was reassigned, and two staffers…
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Texas Rangers Decline to Criminally Investigate Officers Who Paraded Black Man in Street Like Runaway Slave
No surprise here. If police are barely investigated, hardly charged, and scarcely convicted for killing black people—on video—why would they face any sort of consequence for parading a black man through the streets tied to a rope while on horseback? And so it goes. The Texas Rangers announced on Friday that the actions of two…
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Black Man Walked With Rope by Mounted Police Has Mental Illness, According to Family: ‘They Don’t Care to Know the Whole Story’
Family members of Donald Neely, the 43-year-old homeless man who was handcuffed and led by a rope by two white Galveston, Texas, officers on horseback last weekend, said he has struggled with mental illness for years—and that his condition was well documented. Neely—whose arrest went viral after photos of him walking down the street, flanked…
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Patrisse Cullors, Reform LA Jails Lead the Charge to Decriminalize Mental Health with #CancelMcCarthyContract Campaign
For years, activist and community organizer Patrisse Cullors has poured her passion for the people into cofounding movements and coalitions such as Black Lives Matter and Reform LA Jails. But with the announcement of her #CancelMcCarthyContract campaign comes one of her biggest challenges yet—the fight for the mental health and wellbeing of incarcerated individuals. As…
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Chicago Prosecutors Drop Charges Against Cop Said to Be Caught on Video Beating Man Undergoing Psych Eval
Attorneys for a man whose vicious beating, allegedly by a Chicago cop, was captured on surveillance video are calling out Chicago’s Cook County prosecutor’s office for deciding to drop all charges against the cop. “I think anyone could look at that video and make a determination that it’s excessive force,” Andrew M. Stroth, a lawyer…
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YouTube Star Etika Is Found Dead in NYC, Leaving Thousands of Fans in Mourning
YouTube gaming star Etika was pulled lifeless from New York City’s East River days following his disappearance after he posted video that had fans and loved ones concerned for his safety. New York City police on Tuesday announced the death of the 29-year-old Etika, born Desmond Amofah, after having put out a missing persons alert…
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She’s Not Your Superwoman: Miko Branch of Miss Jessie’s Pays Homage to Her Sister Titi on Her 50th Birthday
With over 46 million Americans experiencing mental illness in any given year, it is something which directly or indirectly affects us all. Yet, black women, in particular, often suffer in silence because of shame, stigma or frankly, lack of resources or time to take care of themselves. That black woman muttering to herself on a…
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'Where Is My Mommy? She’s Gone': Tiffany Haddish Discusses Her Childhood Abuse With David Letterman
It’s no secret that there are profound tragedies at the root of many comedic success stories. As Tiffany Haddish revealed in her 2017 autobiography, The Last Black Unicorn, hers occurred in childhood when her mother suffered a traumatic brain injury. “When I was 8, about to be 9, she had a car accident and her…