Doctor Mehret

The connections between social issues and health are wide spread. But mental health is an incredibly important crossroads.

I recently came across a free PBS documentary that poses the disturbing question: Have America’s jails and prisons become its new asylums? Check out the following link to see the full documentary: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/asylums/view/

As many of you know, I have been working on a new documentary, David the Piano Player, which tells the story about trauma and HIV. Trauma is the mental health issue that often gets trivialized or ignored. In “All of Us”, trauma was where the ‘all of us’ argument completely fell apart. For the past two years, I have been studying trauma and men to complete the story I started about HIV in urban communities.

It’s impossible to tell that story without mental health.

The Women: Body and Soul interview went great. I talked about All of Us, HIV prevention and more. You can listen to the show by clicking here.

Thank you Nathalie for having me on your show.

The responses from the Showtime airing of All of Us across the country have been so awesome! I have no words to express the intensity of the email messages I have been receiving from young, old, men, and women. Thank you so much for the encouragement, support, blessings, and well wishes.

Fundamentally, the HIV epidemic is about the connection between health and human rights as well as the obligation we all have to serve. As the saying goes, “start where you are, use what you have, and do what you can.” For all of you who never had a connection to HIV and are now inspired to be part of the movement, jump in. Here are some suggestions:

1) Call a local AIDS service organization in your neighborhood and get involved.
2) Register at www.truthaids.org and stay connected to us by taking our free online classes.
3) Get HIV tested and encourage a friend to do the same.
4) Try using a female condom if you never have. Practice makes perfect.
5) Hold a truth circle!

And just in case you need some more inspiration… check out MLK below:

First and foremost, thank you Atlanta and SisterLove Inc. for the wonderful World AIDS Day screening of All of Us as well as the awards ceremony.  I was overwhelmed with the love, no pun intended.  I have no doubt that bringing our voices together to create tender spaces like the one we created in the Shrine of the Black Madonna last night is the key to how we begin to have difficult conversations amongst ourselves. I would also like to say thank you to the “hostess with the mostest” Debra Mlambo for feeding us wonderful food, housing us, and catering to our every need. I already miss you!!

I would also like to thank Orange, NJ and the First Presbyterian Church for showing warmth to Chevelle and I the day before.  We both agreed that these last two events have been our favorite to date.  Chevelle and I are both committed to the outreach work we started in All of Us and feel blessed that churches have extended their arms to us.

It is not easy to share personal matters. Trust me… I would know.  What I have learned is that it takes the support of community to do it.  Women supporting women, men supporting men, and then vice versa. None of us can do this alone.  The emails from the Showtime airing are starting to pour in and I can see Chevelle and I have our work cut out for us. We are up for the challenge and the best part is there are many of you out there that are ready to help us.

I have started a free online “class” called the Truth About AIDS that will be answering all the questions that have been coming in. You can register for it for free by subscribing to the TruthADS iTunes podcast or by registering at www.truthaids.org.  Please keep your questions coming.  The first of six lectures is posted below: