BRIC TV to Broadcast MENTAL HEALTH AS A CIVIL RIGHT #BHeard Town Hall

BRIC TV, in partnership with Brooklyn Community Services and The Marshall Project, will present Mental Health as a Civil Right, a live-broadcast #BHeardtown hall discussion, Wednesday, December 13, 6:30-8:30pm, at BRIC House in Downtown Brooklyn.

The event, moderated by BRIC TVSenior Correspondent Brian Vines, will bring together the voices of those who struggle with mental health, those who treat mental illness, and those on the front lines of securing mental health as a civil right for all.

The event kicks off with a special performance by the Brooklyn Poetry Slam Team. Audiences are invited to come early, grab a drink and catch a screening of The Marshall Project's We Are Witnesses, a series of powerful short films of people impacted by mental health and the criminal justice system.

Mental health is one of the nation's most pressing societal issues. Every year, one in five New Yorkers will experience a range of mental health challenges, from depression and anxiety to PTSD and schizophrenia. Every day, people deemed mentally ill are jailed against their will, denied due process in the justice system, and priced out of access to quality treatment. New York City is taking steps towards changing the culture and treatment around mental health, yet we still see persistent discrimination and stigma, especially in Brooklyn's communities of color.

Watch a preview below!

---

IF YOU GO:

Mental Health as a Civil Right, a live-broadcast #BHeardtown hall discussion

Presented by BRIC TV, in Partnership with Brooklyn Community Services and The Marshall Project

Moderator: Brian Vines, Senior Correspondent, BRIC TV

Featuring:
Michaela Angela Davis, Activist and CNN Contributor
Dr. Maysa Akbar, Yale Child Psychologist and author of Urban Trauma: A Legacy of Racism
Orlando Mendoza, Director of Mental Health Division at Brooklyn Community Services
Beth Haroules, Civil Rights Attorney, New York Civil Liberties Union
Jonah Bossewitch, PhD, Mental Health Advocate, The Institute for the Development of Human Arts (IDHA)
Akeem Browder, Executive Director of the Kalief Browder Foundation

WHEN: Wednesday, December 13, 6:30-8:30pm

WHERE: BRIC House, 647 Fulton Street, Downtown Brooklyn

ONLINE: Event page: BRICartsmedia.org/bheard

#BHeard: Join the conversation. Submit your questions on social media using #BHeard and they may be answered live during the broadcast.

---

BRIC is the leading presenter of free cultural programming in Brooklyn, and one of the largest in New York City. We present and incubate work by artists and media-makers who reflect the diversity that surrounds us. BRIC programs reach hundreds of thousands of people each year.

Our main venue, BRIC Arts | Media House, offers a public media center, a major contemporary art exhibition space, two performance spaces, a glass-walled TV studio, and artist work spaces.

Some of BRIC's most acclaimed programs include the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival in Prospect Park, several path-breaking public access media initiatives, including BRIC TV, and a renowned contemporary art exhibition series. BRIC also offers education and other vital programs at BRIC House and throughout Brooklyn.

In addition to making cultural programming genuinely accessible, BRIC is dedicated to providing substantial support to artists and media makers in their efforts to develop work and reach new audiences.

BRIC is unusual in both presenting exceptional cultural experiences and nurturing individual expression. This dual commitment enables us to most effectively reflect New York City's innate cultural richness and diversity.

Learn more at BRICartsmedia.org.

BRIC TV is the voice of Brooklyn on cable television and online video-reflecting the best that the borough has to offer with original, character-driven series, impactful short documentaries, award-winning local news and investigative journalism, and premier arts and live event coverage. BRIC TV's state-of-the-art media facilities are based in Downtown Brooklyn, NYC.

Programming airs live on Spectrum 1992, Cablevision Optimum 70, Verizon 46 and posts to YouTube daily at youtube.com/brictv.

Brooklyn Community Services (BCS) envisions one Brooklyn where all members of our community can access an excellent education, job opportunities, safe and affordable housing, and quality and affordable health care and wellness programs.

BCS celebrates the strength of the human spirit. Its mission is to empower at-risk children, youth and families, and adults with mental illness or developmental disabilities to overcome the obstacles they face. The organization strives to ensure opportunity for all to learn, grow and contribute to one Brooklyn Community.

To achieve this mission, BCS offers comprehensive and holistic services: early childhood education; youth development services and educationally rich after-school programs; counseling for at-risk families; treatment, recovery and job training to support the life goals of adults living with mental illness; person-centered rehabilitation and community living support for adults with developmental disabilities and disaster recovery case management and relief services. BCS also seeks to increase public awareness of the impacts of poverty on individuals and the community at-large. With a staff of over 500 and over 25 sites around the borough, BCS serves 18,000 people every year. Today, BCS is one of the longest serving nonprofit, non-sectarian social service providers in New York City.

The Marshall Project is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that seeks to create and sustain a sense of national urgency about the U.S. criminal justice system through award-winning journalism, partnerships with other news outlets, and public forums. In all its our work, The Marshall Project strives to educate and enlarge the audience of people who care about the state of criminal justice.

To post a comment, you must register and login.