Welcome to the Collective on Anti-Racism’s (COAR) first ever BIPOC Mental Health Roundtable - an interactive roundtable centering lived BIPOC experiences, powered by a grant from Mental Health Month ACT.

This won’t be your average roundtable where the audience plays a limited participatory role. Rather, COAR is always dedicated to facilitating a conversation that places the lived experiences of BIPOC people at the centre - both guest speakers and audience members alike. We will be tackling important and sensitive topics, such as lived experiences of ill mental health, racism in mental healthcare, and envisioning an anti-racist mental health support system. These conversations will be complex, insightful, reflective, and hopefully, healing. Audience members will be engaged through Q&A style and small group discussions under the guidance of our esteemed facilitator and research Psychology PhD candidate, Aseel Sahib (she/her).

🌟[star emoji] Meet our guest speakers:

🎤 [mic emoji] Nasteha Mohamed (they/she) is dedicated to co-creating BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ community spaces, shedding light on their lived experience of mental health, and healing through spirituality, community and rest.

🎤 [mic emoji] Tanvi Nangrani (she/her) is passionate about making mental health practice culturally safe and inclusive as well as addressing the interplay of issues concerning mental health and BIPOC communities.

The roundtable will also involve a debriefing exercise led by our very own Chips Jin (they/them), who is a Mental Health First Aid Officer and Trauma-Informed Worker.

Throughout the event there will be breaks from the challenging topics discussed. There will also be catering provided by the Food Co-Op (gluten free and vegan) and stim toys to maintain a supportive and accessible space as we delve into these important discussions.

🗓️ [calendar emoji] Date: Saturday, October 21, 2023

⏰ [clock emoji] Time: 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM

📍[pin emoji] Location: The West Wing Room in the Theo Notaras Multicultural Centre, 2nd Floor, North Building, 180 London Circuit, Canberra City. The building is accessible via an elevator.

🎫 [ticket emoji] Tickets: Ticketing is based on accessibility and recognising that COAR creates anti-racist spaces on stolen land. Become a COAR member here: https://forms.gle/CnpUiXpydXehBt3x7

This space will follow COAR’s principled space guidelines, which you can read more about here: https://coarcbr.wixsite.com/coarcbr/our-principled-space-guidelines

We also have an anonymous questions form for any questions you would like to ask anonymously at our roundtable: https://forms.gle/TmwxUjbs6Gr32Qyq6

This roundtable aligns with Mental Health Month ACT 2023 goals of raising awareness, fostering understanding, and equipping you with tools to navigate your mental health journey. We're here to empower one another to better understand and articulate our lived experiences, educate both ourselves and loved ones, raise awareness of racism in the mental healthcare space, and heal as a community.

Content warnings for this event: This event will be focused on discussion of mental health, ill mental health (including schizoaffective disorder, hallucinations and delusions, and substance abuse), and racism (including psychiatric racism). Please prioritise your wellbeing when making the choice to attend this event.

If you have any concerns or are interested in talking through anything more please feel free to reach out to us on COAR’s social media or email us at coar.cbr@gmail.com.

COAR acknowledges that our discussions will take place on the stolen lands of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples. We pay our respects to Elders past and present.

Sovereignty was never ceded.

COAR commits to standing with First Nations peoples.

This event is made possible thanks to funding provided by the Mental Health Month ACT Reimbursement Grants Program.