"Building a Sane Society and Transforming Psychology and Mental Health-Care"

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Update

Aloha Everyone:

I met with Paul Pedersen for lunch a couple of days ago and he has a great suggestion for an action strategy that could be implemented in Atlanta the day before the ACA Convention in March 2005.  I helped participate in a similar project that Paul organized in New York several years a go and it was a wonderful success.  I asked Paul to send description of this concept to all of us to see how much interest there may be in participating in such an event next March.  Thanks, Paul.

You will be happy to also know that the members of the subcommittee that is planning strategies that help to expand the implementation of the APA Multicultural guidelines and ACA Multicultural and Advocacy competencies is in motion across the country.  I expect that they will be able to give an update of the progress they are making on some pretty exciting plans soon.

You can soon expect to get an announcement about being registered for a Moveon.org-like listserve where you will get short weekly or biweekly articles/commentaries from noted multicultural and social justice researchers and theorists about a range of issues of importance to psychologists and counselors.  We believe this new form of technology will greatly enhance our ability to maintain communication and expand our mobilization efforts.

Lastly, discussions continue about the feasibility of re-initiating a National Dialogue on Race that builds on the work of several leaders in APA who participated in the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance (WCAR) in 2001.  We hope to have more definitive announcements about this possible intervention in the next few weeks.  If anyone is interested in participating on the committee that is exploring the possibility of implementing this strategy, please let me know.

The discussions and action plans that members of this group are undertaking represent efforts to help build a more sane, just, and peaceful society.  Many of us believe that the revolutionary nature of the work we are doing is pragmatically manifested when we intentionally implement the APA multicultural guidelines and ACA multicultural and advocacy competencies in our daily work.  While the members of the various committees that were formulated from the July 28th meeting are working on strategies that have national implications, I want to remind all of us of the grassroots work that we are all involved each day of our lives.  It the this daily struggle for justice, peace, and mental health that we are all engaged on a daily basis in our local communities that strengthens us all and provides the hope and determination to continue to use our knowledge and skills and psychologists and counselors to build a better world.

Thank you all for the work you are doing.

In the continuing struggle for justice and peace,

Michael D'Andrea

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