Thanks! My Operation a Success. My Restraints. WHO Calls for Ending All Mental Health Restraints. Complex? It’s Simple: Revolution of Course!
May 15, 2017: I am OK, back at Mad Swan, what we call our home. Thanks all! In Lithuanian, the word for “thanks” is aciu! So: Aaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-chooooooooooooooooo! Two folks to single out for appreciation: Thanks of course to Debra, my amazing wife. Near the bottom of my blog entry are two very brief videos by her, just after the operation. In both videos I am mute. My being silent for a while may bring great pleasure to some beloved viewers. Also, thanks to one of my very helpful respiratory therapists (RT) Aaron...
read moreSpeak Out to Break the Silence: President Trump Appoints Mental Health Leader Who Campaigned for Involuntary Outpatient Drugging
By David W. Oaks I am a survivor of human rights violations in the mental health system. And even though this was a long time ago, back when I was a college student in the 1970’s, the issues are more relevant than ever. My friend, Patch Adams, MD, has connected the dots for me: Our society needs to be very agile right now, but has to overcome centuries of mental health oppression. But with compassion, we can have a global nonviolent revolution! Recent events show that mental health human rights violations are important for everyone....
read morePatch Adams: Love, Earth & Revolution Now!
My Chat with Patch Adams on Nonviolent Revolution Last week I talked with my friend Patch Adams, MD, the hero in the movie by that name. Patch is a peaceful revolutionary in many ways, especially on the topic of medicine. Our chat turned into an interview. Your comments here on this blog are invited. Do you support revolution? What kind? Every time I talk with Patch I learn a bit more about nonviolent revolution, from the very first time I worked with him in 1992 when he spoke at a MindFreedom International (MFI) event. Over the years,...
read moreYou Are Invited to a Free Street Theatre in Eugene! Ghost Buskers 40
Do you live in or near Eugene, Oregon? Then you will want to enjoy our free street theater skit tomorrow, Saturday, April 1, 2017. Really! Below is info about this, including a flyer you can download and a Facebook event page. Since the event is based on street theater in a busy location, we expect mainly an audience from passers-by. But the more the merrier, hope you can be there! Saturday, April Fool’s Day, April 1, 2017, at 6 pm, at Kesey Square, in downtown Eugene, a little troupe of us will be doing a free street theatre skit, Ghost...
read moreViolet Oaks, Mom, Would Be 100 Years Old March 29, 2017!
Dear friends, relatives, and readers! If you ever met my mother, Violet Oaks, you know that she almost always smiled. Wednesday, March 29, 2017, she would have turned 100 years old. She died just short of her 98th birthday, apparently in her sleep over at the Eugene Hotel, an active retirement center that she lived in her last decade here in Eugene, Oregon. If you did not know my Mom, her smile may reach you somehow. At bottom is a little letter that I shared with some friends and relatives. You will find links with bio info, still photos,...
read moreRuby Rogers Center in Danger of Being Defunded by Massachusetts
One of the very first community centers run by and for psychiatric survivors is at risk of losing its funding from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I know about the roots of this user-run space, because as a senior at Harvard College back in the 1970’s, I was placed at Mental Patients Liberation Front as an intern by Phillips Brooks House, Harvard’s social service group. MPLF, with the leadership of the late Judi Chamberlin, author of a book on empowered mental health centers, created the community gathering locations that...
read moreMy Return to Sam Bond’s: Stand-up Comedy (Or Should I Say Lean-back) This Saturday
You can download free one-page flier here: oaks-flier-20170225 Free! This Saturday: David Oaks, stand up comic …or should we say lean back comic One of many at Bleepin’ Funny, Sam Bond’s, 407 Blair, Eugene, OR Saturday, February 25, 2017, 5 pm – 7pm. Get there early and eat, drink, and tip well! More info...
read moreDisability Movement Tips About Supporting Each Other During Crisis (Like a Trump Presidency)
A Gold Lining: People Are Finally Using the Word, “Revolution”! More Than Ever, Let Us Support MindFreedom International By David W. Oaks Stand up now & fight back! “Now” in Lithuanian, my heritage, is “Dabar”! Dabar! Last month we watched my nation’s presidential inauguration. The reality of the USA’s catastrophic election started to sink in. Even if you voted for Donald Trump, my intuition is that your disappointment has already started, dabar. But I notice a number of gold linings,...
read moreWinona, Water Protectors, Kogi & Gold Thread: My Newest Letter in Eugene Weekly
Here is my brief letter to the editor this week in Eugene’s main alternative newspaper. So far, I am in dialogue with the editor of the University of Oregon Emerald, and he does not see any reason to publish it. LISTEN TO ELDER BROTHER Winona LaDuke, Native American environmental leader and executive director of Honor the Earth, spoke to many hundreds of us in Eugene in November. Before the program, attendees might have noticed a spool of golden thread was unraveled person-to-person, starting near the front and reaching individuals in...
read moreLetter to Editor of Eugene Weekly: Dakota Access Pipeline & Chamber of Commerce
The local alternative paper, Eugene Weekly, published my letter to the editor today, 12/15/16. At the end, please see a way you can email a peaceful, strong note to Mandy Jones. Climate Crisis The Native American Water Protectors’ victory over the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) may seem remote, but there is a way this climate crisis issue is directly in front of me, and all Americans. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, based in Washington, D.C., is one of the main groups championing DAPL and the petrochemical-industry rape of Earth. The climate...
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