HEROEs -- ALWAYS under construction

Latonya Reeves --
Disability Rights Icon & Immeasurable Friend
Memorial Service At Atlantis -- Saturday, April 22, 2023
Val's Take:  I hesitated a little bit in posting this music video because the sensibilities and reactions in the physical disability community with regard to being told you're somebody's hero are NOT ALWAYS POSITIVE --- "I'm NOT Your Inspiration, Thank You Very Much."

In the Mental Health Community ---- Well --- it so rarely happens that we're generally happy to get whatever positive comments come our way.

I think this is really about EQUALITY --- whether we're putting people on a pedestal or trying to kick 'em to the ground --- we are not treating them EQUALLY.

Also, I don't think Ben Platt is EVERYTHING he is because of the person he is singing about --- BUT we do need to acknowledge those people who are a part of our lives and we're a part of theirs and that is a lot of what MAKES LIFE MEANINGFUL.
Bennet Reintroduces Legislation to Help People With Disabilities Access Care in the Setting of Their Choice

April 19, 2023

Named After Colorado Activist, the Latonya Reeves Freedom Act Would Strengthen Civil Rights to Help People With Disabilities Continue Living Independently
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  • Amy Smith --- Colorado-Based Mental Health Visionary
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Dr. Ruth Shim of UC Davis whose courage prompted the recent statement of the American Psychiatric Association on Structural Racism in the profession
See Also:
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  • Attorney Kathleen Mullen --- Colorado's Dorothea Dix ---- many amazing Colorado attorneys are following in Mullen's footsteps.
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  • Attorney Carrie Ann Lucas --- before Carrie's death she was a passionate voice for services for parents in the Child Welfare System

  • Dr. Lacey Berumen --- former Executive Director of Colorado NAMI, and current board member with the national NAMI organization.


  • Mr. Universe --- A lifetime of mental illness, trauma, homelessness and incarceration in Colorado.  His appeal to HUMANITY --- is anyone listening?
60 Minutes":  Jails are the "New Insane Asylums"

This is a significant piece of journalism.

As far as we are concerned, Sheriff Dart of Chicago's Cook County Jail is an AMERICAN HERO.

We wouldn't agree with everything Sheriff Dart says -- we don't agree with "everything" that anybody says.

We probably disagree with Dr. Torrey more than anybody on this page -- BUT he had the COURAGE to speak up about the WIDESPREAD incarceration of people with mental illness when nobody else did.

​It's important to realize that  "mental illness" is not the only cognitive disability in jails and prisons --- brain injury, substance issues, ADHD, Autism and other Developmental Disabilities are right in there, too.

Val's Take
  • Neither the late D.J. Jaffe or even most Colorado Disability Activists would view me as a kindred spirit.
  • I am extremely sympathetic as well as critical of law enforcement, and know there are a lot people on the Law & Order side who have their own problems with "cognitive disability."
  • This is a lot about getting HONEST about the SCALE of the Problem --- who it's affecting and why --- and doing the best we can to bring housing, placements and services to scale.
  • We are just HUMAN --- and "UNDIVIDED."
"Undivided" by Tim McGraw & Tyler Hubbard