Why I am committed to making Mind an anti-racist organisation

One of the defining moments of this incredibly difficult year was the killing of George Floyd. It sparked protests around the world. More importantly, this event reached far deeper into individual and organisational consciousness. Every major sporting event from football to Formula 1 now starts with players taking the knee, there is a strong and often uncomfortable debate raging in the media, and organisations are looking deeply into the question of why we have made such limited progress around tackling racism in our society. The disproportionate impact of coronavirus on so many people from Black and Asian communities has reinforced the feeling that this is a watershed moment in our society.

The impact of society’s injustices are often at their most apparent inside the mental health system. We know that Black people are disproportionately more likely to be sectioned, to be found in inpatient units and experience less good outcomes for their mental health. Despite some positive focus on this, in reality little has changed - in fact data suggests it has worsened over the last four years. At its most serious, people like Oloseni Lewis lose their lives because they are failed not by one but many systems.

Like many white people in a position of privilege, I have felt deeply uncomfortable about my failure to properly understand the experiences of Black colleagues, people who use mental health services and the experiences of Black people in our wider society. At Mind, we have a long tradition of standing up for the most marginalised. We are proud of the including 300 voices project in Birmingham which gave young black men a voice in engaging with the police and mental health staff, our role in the change of law on restraint as a result of the death of Olaseni Lewis, the work of our local Minds working with BAME communities - for example with Imams on a Koran and Emotional Health resource, and our involvement in the NHS Mental Health Inequalities work, leading to clear ambitions about what should change in the next few years.

However, it's clear our previous efforts have failed to create significant enough change. We have to take a different approach.

We have been thinking and reflecting with our Trustee Board and staff across the Mind network. We are embedding the clear ambition to be an anti-racist organisation in our new strategy, which will launch next year.

If we are to achieve that ambition, if the mental health challenges rooted in the lived experience of Black people is truly our core business, then Mind needs to change. We need to change how we look, feel and act across the organisation and within our networks. We’re moving towards this by diversifying our trustee board, ensuring Black people are meaningfully part of top-level decision-making. Also one of recent Trustees, Richard Addy, will be chairing the Race Equality in Mind Initiative, a root-and-branch approach to changing our work internally and externally. These, along with other measures, will reposition Mind, enabling us to deliver on our anti-racist commitment.

We need to work hard to gain and build the trust of millions of people from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic background, especially people with experience of mental health problems. We need to work with many partners to develop a clear picture about what needs to change, and what we need to do about it. I’m really looking forward to working with local Minds, and Black led organisations to bring about that change.

Racism is a systemic, deeply rooted issue that requires deep-rooted, systemic responses. One way or another we’re all involved, therefore we all have a part to play in eradicating it. 

For more information on:

-      Oloseni Lewis and “Seni’s Law”- https://www.mind.org.uk/news-campaigns/legal-news/legal-newsletter-december-2018/mental-health-units-use-of-force-act/

-     Our Trustees-Mind welcomes new trustees and Chair of Race Equality Advisory Board | Mind, the mental health charity - help for mental health problems | Mind, the mental health charity - help for mental health problems

-      the 300 Voices project and our work with young Black men please see: https://www.mind.org.uk/about-us/our-policy-work/equality-and-human-rights/young-black-men/

You can find information and support around mental health at mind.org.uk