Various mental health providers gathered Saturday in North Beach to discuss ways to improve the psychological well-being of the city’s Black and underserved communities through conversation and camaraderie.
The event, titled “Respect My Mind,” was hosted by hip-hop artist Fillmore, actor and founder of the Isiain Foundation, Isiain Lalime, also known as GunnaGoesGlobal, and Hunter’s Point Executive Director Tinisch Hollins from Californians for Safety. and Justice.
The two organizations are joining forces to bring more mental health resources to underserved San Francisco neighborhoods, such as Bayview Hunter’s Point and Fillmore.
Approximately 30 community members representing a number of grassroots organizations working in various aspects of mental health services gathered at the Dream Event Space at 1524 Powell St., networking and sharing ideas on ways to make mental health services mental health more relevant and accessible to the communities they serve.
Topics covered at the event included suicide, depression, anxiety, and non-traditional forms of addressing mental health issues in San Francisco’s Black and Brown communities.
For Hollins, the topic of suicide struck a chord in her own life after her brother’s suicide in 2021.
“I’m never going to not deal with this loss. I don’t think it’s possible,” she said. “The one thing I learned from this experience is that it happens a lot more than we think. -not always look the same.
She said being surrounded by people who are also focused on their own healing from their trauma helps her cope with the loss of her brother.
Autumn O’Bannon partnered with Californians for Safety and Justice for her project, Concrete Rose Correspondence School in 2021. Her organization aims to provide currently and formerly incarcerated people with the opportunity to obtain a Class A California commercial driver’s license .
O’Bannon, a Hunter’s Point native, said she believes conversations about mental health in a community setting, like the “Respect My Mind” event, can help destigmatize the topic.
“When you think about mental health, you think about talking to therapists or something more individual,” she said. “For me, just being in this room and having these conversations – mental health can look like this, it doesn’t have to be just personal. »
Lalime — who came to the panel wearing a purple and black jacket with patches naming different San Francisco neighborhoods — has dedicated himself in recent years to representing the city’s culture through various media efforts.
He participated in projects such as the film “The Last Black Man in San Francisco” and released several hip-hop albums, such as “Feel More,” which celebrated Fillmore, San Francisco and the Bay Area as a whole, ” 21 SUMMERS,” which chronicles his upbringing in the city and his latest album released in May titled “Therapy in the Ghetto,” an ode to his recent work raising awareness for black mental health.
He said media and music can harm a person’s mental health if they are unbalanced.
“People don’t understand the power of vibrations,” Lalime said, describing how her grandmother would turn off her rap on Sundays and play songs by Michael Jackson, Prince and Patti LaBelle while she cleaned. “It’s important to balance the issues. I’m not saying that rap will make you commit crimes, but it is essential that there is balance in this art.
In the coming months, Lalime said he hopes to continue organizing the “Respect My Mind” project, establishing a network of mental health providers and bringing resources directly to community members.
The partnership with the Isiain Foundation, Hollins said, aims to establish a community support center to help residents get city resources directly, which can take months.
“We’re basically trying to create an underground railroad for people to access mental health support,” she said, adding that the city’s waiting lists won’t deter people to need services. “We are on the sidelines. It is time for us to consider this legitimate. It’s not informal. We are the formal mental health support for our communities.