State Terror is a primary theme on this show – often emphasizing the myriad things that go wrong when cops enter a situation they are not built for, trained for, or even wanting to engage in. One of those situations is mental health crisis. Around fifty percent of all folks murdered by law enforcement are physically disabled or experience mental health issues. When those issues intersect with Black bodies – as we saw with the police killing of Sonia Massey for example – the encounters are too often fatal. A new report shows that, beyond the incidents in which policing leads to the death of individuals dealing with mental health crises, use-of-force experiences are extremely high among people interacting with police while experiencing a mental health issue, and that number is significantly higher for Black men in particular. Our guests today are two of the journalists behind that new report. Josh McGhee is an investigative reporter covering the intersection of criminal justice and mental health with an emphasis on public records and data reporting. He is the Chicago Bureau Chief for MindSite News, a nonprofit journalism organization focused on mental health. Audrey Azzo is a project manager, researcher and investigative reporter, focused on data driven reporting on human rights abuses.
You can read the MindSight report here: https://mindsitenews.org/2025/01/31/police-use-of-force-mental-health/
Then, the UC San Francisco administration has continued to retaliate against professors, students, and medical staff who have identified themselves publicly as pro-Palestinian. Intimidation, suspensions, threats and a culture of fear are some of the collateral damage the institution has created one could almost say or say in defense of a genocide. We’re joined by one of UCSF’s medical staff who has experienced retaliation for her political speech, Dr Rupa Marya, a doctor and Associate Professor of Medicine at UCSF, as well as an activist, musician and writer, whose book is called, “Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice.”
Check out a petition on behalf of Dr Rupa Marya: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/reinstate-dr-rupa-marya
This week’s Resistance in Residence artist is Palestinian playwright, author, and screenwriter Betty Shemieh, who has a new novel out called Too Soon.
Check out Betty Shemieh’s website: https://www.bettyshamieh.com/
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