(this is an e-mail from Sascha)

 

Hey NYC Icaristas and Co-conspirators,

This is a big shout-out to the NYC Icarus community and an invitation to plug into the work that we're doing, via the events we're having this week or as a part of our ongoing projects. We'd like to extend a joyful and heartfelt MAD THANKS to everyone who worked behind the scenes and hands-on to pull off the Open Minds conference at NYU and the Get Your Freak On skillshare/celebration at the Judson Memorial Church.

As a community, we're actually creating the listening spaces and building the support network we've been talking about for so long. And the connections are happening:
people who are going to end up changing the world together are just meeting for the first time at our events.
people are reading and discussing things in and out of classrooms that are altering the course of their lives.
people who have been alienated and confused are finding a community out there for folks just like them.

Below you'll find upcoming events, a job description, announcements, ongoing projects and a report-back on recent happenings. If you'd like to find out how you can become involved, or to get more information, contact nyc@theicarusproject.net

Mad Love!


This Week's Events:

Tues. 10/10, 6:30 pm - Meeting and Outreach for World Mental Health Day
We'll be meeting at 6:30 pm at the 6th St, Community Center (638 E. 6th St btwn B and C), doing a little inward support, and then walking over to Washington Square Park to flyer and do outreach around World Mental Health Day.

Wed. 10/11, 11 am-1 pm - Office Open House
Folks will have the opportunity to come by and check out our new space, meet some of the NYC Icarus/Fountain House Crew, and help us to catch up on distribution. Fountain House (425 W. 47th between 9th and 10th Aves, 4th Floor.)

Wed. 10/11, 7 pm - NYU Info Session
This event, for NYU students only, will be a chance for people to learn about the Icarus Project happenings at NYU and to get plugged into our work. Gallatin Lounge (719 Broadway, 5th Floor)

Thurs. 10/12 - Dismantling Monoculture
This event is a collaboration between the Icarus Project of New York City and University and the Beehive Collective of Maine,



Ongoing Projects and News

New Office + Job Opening
The Icarus Project now has an official office space on the 4th floor of the Fountain House building at 425 west 47th street and we're in the process of setting up a distribution system for all of our beautiful materials to make their way around the nation. We're also looking to hire someone to coordinate this space. The job description is available here:
https://site.icarusprojectarchive.org/community/discussionboards/viewtopic.php?t=6697

NYU Organizing
The Icarus Project has four super-sharp and creative NYU student interns who are receiving credit for organizing a mental health support network on their campus and researching the possibilities of creating a long-term Icarus influenced peer education mental health program officially sanctioned by the administration.

NYC Icarus
The New York-based Icarus local group has now been meeting successfully at the 6th Street Community Center for almost a year now, and we just moved into a beautiful space on their first floor.
We meet every Tuesday from 6:30-8:30, 638 E. 6th St. between B and C.
http://www.sixthstreetcenter.org

Support Manual
We're actively distributing a draft manual that folks around the country are using to organize Icarus inspired support groups (you can find a printable version of the manual on the homepage of our website):
https://site.icarusprojectarchive.org/Icarus_support_man_7_18_06DRAFT.pdf

National Wiki
We've recently started using a wiki - come join us behind the scenes of the Icarus Project on our Open Plans Wiki:
http://www.openplans.org/projects/icarusproject/

In The Media
The acclaimed alternative health radio show Global Medicine Review recently interviewed Sascha DuBrul from the Icarus Project and you can listen to the entire recording here:
http://archive.wbai.org/files/mp3/060830_120001gmr.MP3


Recent Events

Open Minds: Cultural, Critical, and Activist Perspectives on Psychiatry (Saturday, September 23)
Dr. Bradley Lewis from the Gallatin School at NYU successfully organized this academic conference, with a diverse group of presenters from across the world-wide post-psychiatry movement. These are links to a video of a powerful speech from keynote speaker, Mindfreedom's David Oaks:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4324564008090056984&hl=en
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6977560277131104143&hl=

Get Your Freak On: A Celebration of Mad Diversity (Sunday, September 24)
The Icarus Project organized our first ever Radical Mental Health Skillshare, which featured acupuncturists, yoga instructors, freaky sex experts, urban shamans, Hellerwork practioners, and a whole bunch of folks representing different cultural organizations and healing modalities. The skillshare was followed by performances from friends like Transmitting, Kid Lucky, and Kate Bornstein, author of Hello Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Freaks, Teens, and Other Outlaws
http://katebornstein.typepad.com/kate_bornsteins_blog/2006/09/fly_high_enjoy_.html#more
See an image of the opening ceremony of the event here:
http://imageigloo.com/images/5083circle.jpg

Some of the other awesome groups who represented at the Freak On event:
Rita Project www.ritaproject.org/ A Global Movement to Stop Suicide and Celebrate Life
Misled Youth Network http://www.misled-youth.org/ Deinstitutionalizing Education
Olive Leaf Wholeness Center http://www.oliveleafwholenesscenter.com/ Holistic Approaches to Health Care
Freedom Center http://freedom-center.org/ Radical Mental Health Advocacy from Western Mass

Sascha Altman DuBrul The Icarus Project Organizing Collective
scatter@theicarusproject.net https://site.icarusprojectarchive.org germantowncommunityfarm.blogspot.com
Building Radical Community-Based Mental Health Support Systems in a World Gone Mad