Freedom Center is organizing a spring Speak Out and we want your help! Join slam poet and mental health activist Leah Harris from DC, Caty Simon, Lee Hurter and others. We need speakers and volunteers for this upcoming event -- get in touch with caty(at)freedom-center(dot)org.

Leah Harris, DC mad movement activst & slam poet performer, is a longtime, active Mind Freedom organizer, an an accomplished slam poet, published recently in the anthology _Word Warriors_, a collection of women slam poets, with other luminaries of the third wave feminist movement & slam poetry like  author Michelle Tea, punk singer & disability & fat movement activist Nomy Lamm, Lynn Breedlove (the
lead singer of the popular underground punk lesbian band Tribe 8), Sini Anderson, Staceyann Chin, and acclaimed poet Eileen Myles. (You can look at the profile here,  but remember to support your local independent bookstore!)  She also writes a widely followed blog about her experiences as a single mother at dharmamama [http://mamadharma.net/].We're<http://mamadharma.net/%5D.We're>looking at late March for this event.

The speakout will include spoken word pieces from Harris and others, personal speakout on psych survivor/mental health industry experiences, and other topical speeches. Caty Simon, Freedom Center member, will be talking about the pathologization of women's sexuality, and Lee Hurter, FC member, will also be speaking about trans people's issues with the psychiatric industry and the prejudicial diagnosis of "gender dysphoria".

We're looking for more speakers, more people to help with organizing and publicity, and we also want to collaborate with our sister group, the Icarus Project, on this. Please share your talents and experiences with us!  The focus will be around women and queer/trans folks experiences with the psychiatric industry, but your speakout or spoken word piece need not be limited to those topics.