[HPN] 9Feb00 Report on Global Peace Walk 2000

[David Crockett Williams]

www.MindFreedom.org DENDRITE -- February 8, 2000
COPY & POST to appropriate places on & off Internet:
ALERT on human rights & "mental health system."
A free project of Support Coalition International.
http://www.MindFreedom.org email:<office@mindfreedom.org>
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     "THE SALVATION OF THE WORLD LIES WITH THE
     MALADJUSTED." -- Martin Luther King


     ARE YOU PART OF THE "MALADJUSTED MAJORITY"?

     THEN PITCH IN WITH PSYCHIATRIC SURVIVORS TO
     CELEBRATE MAD PRIDE WEEK, JULY 8 TO 14, 2000


LONDON: The UK organization MAD PRIDE has joined with
SUPPORT COALITION INTERNATIONAL to issue a joint
invitation to the whole world to participate in:

     * * * INTERNATIONAL MAD PRIDE WEEK * * *
     * * *    JULY 8 TO JULY 14, 2000   * * *

This is one PRIDE DAY that the whole word could
obviously get behind! Forward this announcement to
friends who march to very different drummers.

Inspired by other movement's holding "pride" events,
this week is set aside to celebrate psychiatric
survivors liberation. And YOU are invited to plan
something -- small or large -- to support human
rights and alternatives in the "mental health
system"... or just to "heal normality" and have fun!

Kicking off the week will be simultaneous events:

In UK: The SCI sponsoring group MAD PRIDE in UK
plans a Mad Pride Festival that starts Mad
Pride Week, in Clissold Park in London. Later, a
Mad Pride Stage is planned at the Festival of the
Unknown in Hackney, UK. For info see their new web
site: www.madpride.net.

In USA: Hundreds will participate in MAD PRIDE at
in a "Normal Free Zone" at the huge Oregon Country
Fair near Veneta, Oregon, with live photos on the
Internet. (OCF is July 7-9 this year.)

Capping off Mad Pride Week, on July 14, 2000 Mental
Patients Liberation Alliance in New York State will
begin a several-day protest in Albany, New York,
to RESIST the spread of forced outpatient
psychiatric drugging into people's homes. _The New
York Times_ estimates 4,000 residents of New York
State will be impacted annually by a new law
allowing court-ordered psychiatric drugs against
residents' wishes, even while living in their own
homes out in the community. Similar laws are now
proposed in Calif., Mass., Conn., and elsewhere.

Friday, July 14, 2000 will also be the 20th
anniversary of the psychiatric survivor liberation
movement use of "Bastille Day" as an annual day of
protest. (When the Bastille in Paris was overthrown,
at the *very* bottom were psychiatric inmates, too!)

MAD PRIDE CELEBRATION ROOTS IN UK:

The London grassroots group MAD PRIDE explains
that, "Mad Pride is committed to ending
discrimination against psychiatric patients,
promoting survivor equality and celebrating Mad
culture. Mad Pride is an idea which came out of the
1997 Gay Pride Festival in London. A few survivors
of the mental health system said 'we could do with
a festival like this.' And so a motley collection
of individuals got together and slowly started
organising themselves so as to put on events. These
Mad Pridesters did some research on the Name and
Aims of the thing. Then they set about forming a
non-profit-distributing company to develop MAD
PRIDE. In 1999, Mad Pride organised a series of
gigs and concerts. The hope is that MAD PRIDE will
really take off in the year 2000. "

Adding to the Millennium Madness: The year 2000 is
also the 30th anniversary of the founding of the USA
psychiatric survivors liberation movement. And the
year 2000 is also the 10th anniversary of Support
Coalition International.

     *** FREE ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE ***

Help MAD PRIDE take off in 2000!
Kick off a DECADE of Mad Pride!

SPREAD THE WORD! TELL A FRIEND! CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR!
PLEASE GET DATES INTO NEWSLETTER CALENDARS, ETC.

* * * AND HOLD AN EVENT YOURSELF! * * *

If you plan an event be sure to tell
***BOTH*** the UK and USA co-hosts:

* Register your event with Support Coalition
International at office@mindfreedom.org.

* And also with Mad Pridester MARK ROBERTS in
UK at mark@ctono.freeserve.co.uk.

Announcement of your event in the spirit of this
week -- grandiose or tiny -- will be put up on web
sites and broadcast around the world.

In the USA, people can call Support Coalition to
get information and join Support Coalition by
phoning toll free: 1-877-MAD-PRIDE [1-877-623-7743].

The Support Coalition web site has a history of
"healing normality," including the 10 Warning Signs
of Normality: http://www.MindFreedom.org. The
Heal Normality Campaign is endorsed by "the real"
Patch Adams, plus Lily Tomlin, Wavy Gravy,
Paul Krassner, and of course... Ken Kesey.

Announcements and updates about MAD PRIDE will be
e-mailed out via this free DENDRITE announcement
list. See the bottom of this alert for how-to
get these alerts, if you are not already on list.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
www.MindFreedom.org DENRITE ALERT BROUGHT TO YOU
FREE BY SUPPORT COALITION INTERNATIONAL

Support Coalition International is an independent
non-profit federation of 80 groups in 11 countries
united to win human rights and alternatives in the
"mental health system." SCI is open to the public,
and led by psychiatric survivors. For information
about joining, e-mail to: office@mindfreedom.org,
or click "participate" on the web site:
http://www.MindFreedom.org.

JOIN Support Coalition and *also* get _Dendron_
newsjournal. _Dendron_ is the print newsjournal for
all members of Support Coalition.
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