Rundown

In this episode, Mexie sits down with Rachel Bromberg and Asante Haughton of the Reach Out Response Network in Toronto to talk about their work, which is revolutionizing crisis response in the city. Rachel and Asante are working to actualize a paradigm shift away from coercive, forceful, police-led intervention towards an anti-oppressive, trauma-informed model that will empower individuals in crisis and promote their dignity, autonomy, self-determination, and resilience.

Sources and Links

* Reach Out Response Network: https://reachouttoronto.ca/* Resources and Information: https://reachouttoronto.ca/resources* Reach Out Toronto on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reachout_to* Reach Out Toronto on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReachOutToronto* Reach Out email: [email protected]

* Nooch Design Co. on IG: https://www.instagram.com/noochdesignco/* LaborKyle on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/laborkyle* LaborKyle on Twitter: https://twitter.com/laborkyle

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Transcript

[MUSIC] 

F1:  How can we not only discover more compassionate relations with human beings but how can we develop compassionate relations with the other creatures with whom we share this planet?

F2:  There’s an us before the wound, there’s an us before oppression, and to me pleasure is the way that we tap down into that.

F3:  We live in capitalism.  Its power seems inescapable.  So did the divine right of kings.

MEXIE:  What is up everyone?  New year, new channel art, and new music.  Thank you so much to the incredibly talented Meneka Repka of Nooch Design Co.  That’s @noochdesignco on Instagram for the new channel art.  We absolutely love it.  This is Rodney, the anti-fascist raccoon.  Just absolutely love that.  Thank you also to the incredibly talented LaborKyle for the new intro music featuring some of the revolutionary women that we look up to the most.  We just absolutely love that as well.  LaborKyle is @laborkyle on Twitter and on YouTube and he’s making just absolute masterpieces on YouTube, so definitely go check those out.  Labor spelled in the American way.  Yeah, we’re just excited about the fresh, new face of the podcast, the fresh, new sounds of the podcast and we’re starting the year off by talking to Rachel and Asante of the Reach Out Response Network in Toronto.

This is a network dedicated to revolutionizing crisis response, basically moving away from having police be the responders to crises like mental health crises, moving away from police doing things like mental health checks or wellness checks because we know that those can go horribly awry.  You’re just escalating a situation that is already incredibly volatile.  Instead, the network and the project puts money into communities and funds community-led teams of mental health professionals and people who are of the community and know the community and are for the community to respond to things like this and to actually help people who are going through crises.  I cannot sing the praises of this project enough.  I think it’s fantastic.  I think you all will really enjoy the interview.

They talk about how this kind of model might be replicated in other p...