[act-ma] 7/7 White People & Suicide: Is White Privilege Killing Us?

[Janet]

     Community Change Inc.

Brown Bag Anti-Racism Discussion Series 2009
Changing the Public Discourse around Race


White People and Suicide:

Is White Privilege Killing Us?

  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, non- 
Hispanic white people have the highest rate of suicide in  
Massachusetts and nationwide. The racial aspect of this health  
endemic is rarely discussed, and the “white experience” is often  
overlooked in discussions of mental health. How does “white culture”  
factor into a white person’s inability to counter suicidal thoughts?   
What practices and behaviors might white people engage in to avoid  
cycles of depression and other symptoms that trigger suicidal  
thoughts and actions?  Please join us for an engaging discussion of  
these issues.

July 7, 2009 (Tuesday)
12 noon – 1:30 pm
Community Change Library on Racism
14 Beacon Street, Room 605
Boston MA 02108
Presenter: Alison T. Brill is the Community Suicide Prevention  
Program Coordinator at the Massachusetts Department of Public  
Health.  She works to address disparities in suicide and depression  
rates among communities of color, veterans, LGBT, and youth  
populations, as well as expanding the view of suicide prevention to  
include mental health promotion.

The current public discourse around race assumes that we live in a  
color-blind society where the American Dream is attainable by all  
individuals who work hard enough. This deeply flawed discourse  
obscures the racial disparities in employment, education, criminal  
justice, housing, health care, etc. and provides a powerful but  
faulty rationale for leaving our systems and institutions the way  
they are. The issues presented at the Community Change Brown Bag  
Discussion Series are concrete examples of the structural racism that  
affects the lives of all, most acutely communities of color. The 2009  
Series places these issues in their social/historical context and  
gives attendees a truthful discourse, as well as ways to put that  
discourse into action, in order to challenge institutional and  
systemic racism.



Please bring your lunch. Beverages will be provided. $5 contribution  
requested.

RSVP (617) 523-0555 or janet at communitychangeinc.org
Community Change, Inc 617-523-0555 www.communitychangeinc.org
Visit us on Facebook!
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