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MoonDrop Production Performers (from left to right: Cassandra Dallett, Ayodele Nzinga, adrienne danyelle oliver, Audrey Williams, Kelechi Ubozoh, Tureeda Mikell, James Cagney, and Karla Brundage) "Sometimes, I remember the future."Ayodele 'wordslanger' nzinga MoonDrop Productions had a big night last night. For some background context, MoonDrop Productions is a quarterly submission based/themed reading created by me (Kelechi Ubozoh) and Cassandra Dallett. We encourage writers to share their personal evolution, revolution, feelings on love or lust and we strive to hear from a diverse group of writers. Cassandra Dallett and Kelechi Ubozoh of MoonDrop Productions Our May show (which was seriously postponed) was our 15th quarterly show. We opted for the theme Transcendenc...

Dear California,  This month marks our 10 year anniversary, where I quit my job, packed my bags, and my mother and I drove across the country (from Georgia to California) to start my work in mental health. Inspired by the power of the consumer movement and hopeful because of the funding of the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), I stop everything to start anew.   Kelechi Ubozoh in 2012 looking out in front of the San Francisco Bay. After a traumatic psychiatric hospitalization at 13 where I was told I was broken and would never recover, I spent years hiding behind a mask of happiness and tried to make everyone feel comfortable. As a journalist, it was easy to get lost in other people’s lives, to feel deeply connected to them, but truly isolated. Overtime, the mask s...

Free Britney/Advocating to End Expansion of LPS Conservatorships The last couple of months have been a whirlwind! I'm heading out on an extensive Winter Soulbatical, but I wanted to share some of what I've been up to! Recently, I advocated for voluntary intensive services instead of expanding LPS Conservatorships. Remember the #freebritney movement? Well Britney is free, but the State of California is considering expanding the legislation that would make it easier to conserve folks.... YIKES! I've been spending the past month putting together a witness statement to present at the LPS Conservatorship Special Hearing to the Assembly Health Committee and Judiciary Committee. I shared my personal story of how racist and traumatic involuntary treatment negatively impacted my recover...

Full of Mad Black Pride, She Tells Her Story and Helps Others Tell Theirs By Rob Waters Kelechi Ubozoh spent her childhood straddling two different worlds. She spent summers with her Nigerian father in New York, where she was born, and the rest of the year in suburban Atlanta, where her African American mother worked as a doctor. In Georgia, “I just didn’t fit in,” she says. “I was a Black Goth in Stone Mountain, Georgia.” (Which also happens to be a birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan.)  Feeling split and out of place became a regular feeling. By 13, she was contemplating suicide, and for the next decade, she struggled on and off with depression. What helped her most was the support of peers – people who’d been through similar experiences and were willing to help. In the end...

April is National Poetry Month. I'm starting early and sharing my poetic anthem born in Thea Matthew's Writing for Poetry and Resiliency class. Poetry is part of my healing and self-care. What is your personal anthem? Photo by: Adrianne Mathiowetz Black on Purpose By: Kelechi Ubozoh I am Black on purpose Magic in my DNA There is power in my lineage  Strength and sweat with my ancestors Dance in my hips and love in my bones I am Black on purpose Why else would they try to break my heart, mind, and body?  Silence my words? Brainwash my intellect? I am Black on purpose Not to serve you, save you, or reflect you I am Black on purpose, but not your Black heroine  Liberation whispered as libations are poured Altars built from...

In December of 2017, my co-conspirator Cassandra Dallett (the other 1/2 of MoonDrop Productions) and I held the most magnificent reading. It was a reading inspired by the San Francisco Exhibit: The Black Woman is God created by Karen Seneferu and Melorra Green. The Black Woman is God Exhibit celebrates Black women, culture, and spirituality through musical, performing, and visual arts. Our inspired performers paid tribute to these divine artists. We heard stories about pain, laughter, and light. We heard music that made us crave our old crushes and ignited us to dance it out. We watched women receive honors for their community organizing work with The Black Panthers. We held sorrow and moved in joy. It is a balancing act to be Black in this world. I think about the collective healing our ...

In 2015, I was approached by Lisa Klein, a documentarian, who lost both her father and brother to suicide. Her previous documentary, Of Two Minds, explored living with bipolar and she was looking for stories from suicide attempt survivors and loss survivors for a new film, The S Word (which is open for interpretation-"suicide", "silence","stigma", "struggle" and "survive"). She said she started the film because she was looking for answers about her family. At the time, I had just called off my engagement and was navigating my own despair... How could I share my story as a suicide attempt survivor during deep grief? I was so worried about having the "right" recovery story--especially since I felt a sense of deep responsibility to represent the "black community". I also grappled wi...

Yale Mental Health Symposium https://www.theyalementalhealthsymposium.com/ Update: Next week on September 15th, I'll be joining the Yale Mental Health Symposium on their Hospital Panel. Register to all the events kicking off this week for free! https://www.theyalementalhealthsymposium.com/ This week is Suicide Prevention Week- a time to reflect and heavily outreach around suicide prevention, awareness, and interrupting silence and stigma. This week is usually pretty busy for me and it also feels vey different because of the kind of conversations I'm having. People want to talk more about race and mental health, more communities of color are reaching out to have dialogue and I am grateful and overwhelmed at the experience. I found this incredible graphic by The Depression Proje...

As someone with lived experience of mental health issues, this is an important time to consider our collective experiences and diverse needs and talk about some things that might be helpful for us to consider while we are home. I've found isolation helpful and harmful, and the thought of required isolation an entirely new experience. Many of us might be feeling an array of emotions. From fear, to numbness, to anger, exhaustion, calmness, and peace- there are an array of things that might be activated. When there are a lot of unknowns, there may be an urgency to fix or plan or figure things out.  I want to say that your feelings are valid and sometimes, (through possible good intentions) people may try to censor or change your feelings. Many of us have questions about the future, safety,...