The Crisis Teams:

In Minnesota, a landmark piece of legislation promised better resources for people experiencing mental health crises. Advocates worked hard to get Travis’ Law passed – it was named after a man killed by the police while in the midst of a mental health crisis. And it was written to ensure trained professionals would respond to these kinds of calls. But the work doesn’t stop there. Today, advocates say the law isn’t always being enforced. We’ll hear from families and organizations in Minnesota – and around the country – who are teaming up to keep their communities safe and supported during mental health crises. 

In this episode, we’re talking about creating new systems to support mental health.

BEAM's mission is to remove the barriers that Black people experience getting access to or staying connected with emotional health care and healing through education, training, advocacy, and the creative arts. They center their work around a healing justice framework that identifies how someone can intervene and holistically respond to generational trauma and violence.

CUAPB is a Twin-Cities based organization that was created to deal with police brutality on an ongoing basis. They work on the day-to-day abuses as well as taking on the more extreme cases. Their overriding goal is to create a climate of resistance to abuse of authority by police organizations and to empower local people with a structure that can take on police brutality and actually bring it to an end. They also provide support for survivors of police brutality and families of victims so they can reclaim their dignity and join the struggle to end police brutality.

Find more candidates and organizations to support here!