June 2021 | ANA Equity & Advocacy Bulletin by Sana Arastu, M.S.
We want to begin our bulletin by highlighting the challenges that many of our members in India and those with family and friends in India who are affected by the surge of COVID-19-related cases and deaths are facing. We have provided some resources below to support those impacted by these challenges. We also want to acknowledge the multiple mass shootings that have occurred in the last month and want to offer our condolences to these victims and those affected. Amongst incredibly heavy events and in light of Pride month, we present to you some upcoming events, resources, updates, and action items that may encourage continued advocacy in our ANA community.
UPCOMING EVENTS
June 15 Deadline – Psychologists for Social Responsibility are now accepting submissions (due June 15th) for workshops, trainings, panel discussions, or other proposals on the topic of ending mass incarceration for their upcoming virtual conference “Uprooting Carceral Psychology: Healing Justice”
June 16 – The Alzheimer’s Association will be hosting a strategic focus meeting on health disparities and dementia in LGBTQIA+ populations as part of their conference focused on discussing health disparities related to Alzheimer’s and other dementias held from
June 14-16. Register here for FREE.
June 17 at 6 PM CT – The Medical Student Pride Alliance is hosting the first of its “Pride in LGBTQ+ Medicine Virtual Shadowing” series of events which will be on How to advocate for LGBTQ+ patients no matter your specialty. Register HERE.
Tentatively June 24th 8 PM EST – Discussion on book The Remedy: Queer and Trans voices on Health and Healthcare edited by Zena Sherman hosted by Med Book Club and Medical Student Pride Alliance.
June 25th 10AM- 5PM EST – National Academy of Neuropsychology, Asian Neuropsychological Association, and Society for Black Neuropsychology will be hosting a one-day workshop dedicated towards informing mental health practitioners regarding cultural facets to consider when assessing individuals from underrepresented populations (i.e., Hispanic, Black, and Asian American). Six CE credits will be provided following completion of the workshop.
Check out virtual and in-person events to celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride Month, as well as other ways to support Pride organizations.
RESOURCES
Anti-Asian Violence Resource List
Includes recent news, bystander intervention guides, where you can report an anti-Asian hate incident, where you can donate, and recommendations for AAPI advocacy social media accounts to follow.
List of Mental Health Organization/Resources for the South Asian communities (shared by AAPA and DoSAA):
- The Hume Center https://www.humecenter.org/south-asian-community-health-promotion-services
- South Asian Therapists https://southasiantherapists.org/
- Sahara: Caring for the South Asian Community https://saharacares.org/
- South Asian Mental Health Initiative & Network https://samhin.org/
- MannMukti https://www.mannmukti.org/
- Taraki https://www.taraki.co.uk/
- SOCH Mental Health https://www.sochmentalhealth.com/
- South Asian Mental Health Alliance http://samhaa.org/
- South Asian Public Health Association http://joinsapha.org/
- South Asian Americans Leading Together https://saalt.org/
- National Alliance on Mental Illness – New Jersey SamHaj https://www.facebook.com/SAMHAJNJ/
- South Asian Sexual and Mental Health Alliance https://www.sasmha.org/mental-health
A weekly healing space for those impacted by the upsurge of COVID-19 cases in India and Nepal:
June 14 – July 26: A Group for Understanding Me is a closed support group facilitated by Hume Center’s South Asian Community Health Promotion Services that will be held Mondays at 2 PM for South Asian queer adolescents and teens (18 years and younger) who are California residents interested in exploring their sexual/gender identities. Interested participants can fill out the following survey: https://forms.gle/kE8TNcfgSGXGM1ep7. or email southasianprogram@humecenter.org for more information.
Queer Neuropsychological Society (QNS) Resource List
Includes practice guidelines, publications, and LGBTQ+ organizations
NIH’s diversity related funding opportunities
LISTEN/WATCH
READ
Naomi Osaka adds to the conversation about mental health in athletics.
One of the 10 victims of last week’s mass shooting in San Jose, California was Taptejdeep Singh, a Sikh American man. Read this statement from Taptejdeep Singh’s family.
Learning for Justice toolkit for talking with K-12 students on Sikh experience in the US
Learning for Justice article: Queer People Have Always Existed – Teach Like it – on committing to undoing the systemic silencing of queer figures throughout history.
A database of local/national alternatives to calling the police
The Tulsa Massacre took place 100 years ago on May 31 and June 1st, 1921, when a White mob attacked Black residents, homes and businesses in an affluent Black Greenwood neighborhood in a span of 18 hours.
- An interactive virtual exhibit of the pre-massacre Greenwood, and identifies all the offices, businesses and other buildings that made up this bustling community
- A Century after the Race Massacre, Tulsa Confronts it’s Bloody Past
Understanding Antisemitism, Zionism, and anti-Zionism: how clarifying terms can facilitate productive conversations.
APA’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Framework: the framework intends to promote the coordination and streamlining of EDI efforts across the association for maximum impact; build knowledge and a common ‘language’ that we all can use to talk about EDI (reflective of the resolution just passed by Council); and support APA’s long-term strategy toward dismantling systemic inequities that exist within the association, discipline, and society.
LEGISLATION AND POLICY UPDATES
The COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act was signed into law on May 20 with bipartisan support! The law requires a designated officer of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to facilitate expedited reports and review of hate crimes. DOJ will issue guidance for local law enforcement on establishing hate crime reporting (including grants for states to create state-run reporting hotlines), collecting data disaggregated by protected characteristics (e.g., race or national origin), and expanding education campaigns. DOJ and the Department of Health and Human Services will issue guidance aimed at raising awareness of hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic. See here for the full text of the law.
Since George Floyd’s murder, more than 260 police reform bills have passed state legislatures. Check the status of your state’s policing bills and executive orders in this database compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures.
APA helped to reintroduce the Immigrants’ Mental Health Act. The bill will require the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to provide training for its agents to (1) identify mental health issues and risk factors in immigrants and refugees, (2) provide crisis intervention using a trauma-informed approach, and (3) better manage work-related stress and psychological pressures. CBP will also be required to assign at least one qualified mental health expert to each Border Patrol station and other ports of entry. It will also restrict the sharing of mental health information for use in certain immigration proceedings.
ACT NOW:
Contribute to the BIPOC Liberation from Psychiatric Harm Project presented by Academics for Black Survival and Wellness who are hoping to use community funds to “investigate the traumatic experiences of BIPOC who have been involuntarily hospitalized to understand what these survivors deem to be traumatic about their hospitalization, and how they make sense of it”.