Tennessee Human Rights Day Celebration to Honor Human Rights Heroes

The Tennessee Celebration of International Human Rights Day will take place in Nashville at the First Amendment Center on December 6th, 5pm – 7pm.  

The Tennessee Celebration of International Human Rights Day will take place in Nashville at the First Amendment Center on December 6th, from 5pm – 7pm.  The celebration centers around the presentation of awards to human rights champions in three categories: Rising Advocate, Outstanding Service and Lifetime Achievement. Past recipients of these prestigious honors have included the Rev. Bill Barnes, Rev. James “Tex” Thomas, Rosetta Miller Perry, Father Joseph Breen, Avi Poster, Yuri Cunza and many more.

A committee of human rights organizations and nonprofits, including the Tennessee Human Rights Commission, Metro Human Relations Commission, United Nations Association, UNICEF, Tennessee Board of Regents, Amnesty International, Tennessee United for Human Rights, the Church of Scientology, Muslim Women’s Council and others, work together each year to plan the event.

This year, Rising Advocate Awards will be given to three individuals who have made great strides for human rights and show even greater promise for the future. They are Anna Carella, who has worked both locally and in other parts of the world to help others in need and most recently with Advocates for Women's and Kids' Equality (AWAKE); Justin Jones, a Fisk University senior who has already proven himself as a strong advocate for social justice and peace by organizing several events, marches and protests with the purpose to help others; and Mohamed Shukri, who works with the Tennessee Immigrants and Refugee Rights Coalition, American Center for Outreach and was on the first Mayor’s New Americans Advisory Council.

The award winners in the category of Outstanding Service are Juan Canedo for his work on issues that affect the wellbeing of the Hispanic community and the community at large, with particular emphasis on empowering Hispanic immigrants; and Derri Smith, who is the Founder and Executive Director of End Slavery Tennessee.  

The Lifetime Achievement award this year is going to Dr. Charles Kimbrough, a longtime civil rights activist who established and organized NAACP chapters in four different cities across the South and served as President of the Nashville Branch, where he saw a surge in chapter membership, addressing civil rights issues within the local African American community.

International Human Rights Day occurs every year to commemorate the ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations on Dec 10, 1948. The theme for 2016 is “Hidden in our Midst: Child Trafficking in Tennessee,” and the planning committee is bringing together experts for a public conversation at the event.

The event this year is ticketed at $10, with proceeds going to a Tennessee non-profit dedicated to human rights. For more information or to reserve a seat, visit www.nashvillehumanrights.org.  

Citizens Commission on Human Rights Holds Workshop to Help Parents

Mental health watchdog Citizens Commission on Human Rights held a lunch and learn to educate the community in honor of World Mental Health Day in October.

The Nashville Chapter of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights was proud to have a special workshop to help parents learn how to raise healthy children in honor of World Mental Health Day. Working with a special chiropractor who is also a Maximized Living professional, the organization was able to bring awareness to several parents on children’s mental and physical health needs.

CCHR is determined to help educate people, especially parents, on their rights. “It’s important to us that parents know the dangers of psychiatric drugs, as well as the other options available to them so that their children lead happy and healthy lives,” says Meg Epstein, Executive Director of the Nashville CCHR Chapter.

The guest chiropractor laid out what to do if a child is experiencing a variety of health issues, and what parents can do to help their children be at a more optimum health level. She discussed societal norms where people are given a pill, and how that merely masks the problem without fixing it. Then she gave the five steps to maximize health, and how to really help children lead healthy lives.

CCHR is a non-profit, non-political, non-religious mental health industry watchdog whose mission is to eradicate abuses committed under the guise of mental health.  It works to ensure patient and consumer protections are enacted and upheld as there is rampant abuse in the field of mental health.  In this role, CCHR has helped to enact more than 150 laws protecting individuals from abusive or coercive mental health practices since it was formed five decades ago. For more information on CCHR, visit cchrnashville.org. 

Tennessee Native American Tribes Receive the Way to Happiness

The Way to Happiness Association of Tennessee participated in this year’s Intertribal Powwow in Clarksville, Tennessee.

The Native Cultural Circle (NCC) of Clarksville held its nineteenth annual Intertribal Powwow this month with festivities all weekend long. Attendees came from all walks of life and enjoyed learning about and exploring Native American culture and traditions.

The Powwow is held each year in a location with special significance to Native peoples. According to the website, “during the Indian Removal of 1838, the Cherokee nation was taken from their traditional homes in Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, and Alabama, and forcefully relocated to the Indian Territories in what later became Oklahoma. The Powwow grounds lay along the northern land route. Diary records of the removal identify Port Royal, as ‘the last stop before leaving Tennessee, and as an encampment site where the Cherokee stayed overnight or longer to re-supply, grind corn and rest.’”

During the removal, an estimated 4,000 - 6,000 Cherokee died. The journey became known as “The Trail of Tears” or, as a direct translation from the Cherokee Nunna daul Tsuny, “The Trail Where They Cried.” The powwow is a time to commemorate the Trail of Tears and special ceremonies are held in remembrance of it.

This year, Rebecca Carter, a volunteer from The Way to Happiness Association of Tennessee (TWTH-TN) was welcomed to the powwow to distribute booklets written by humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard in the early 1980s. The Way to Happiness booklet contains a common sense moral code that is interreligious and can be used by anyone. Carter said, “This booklet, when distributed to people in need, has such a great effect. You see whole communities uplifted once they learn the values contained within.” Two-hundred booklets were distributed to those attending.

For more information, visit thewaytohappiness.org. For more information on the Intertribal Powwow, visit clarksvilleonline.com. 

Citizens Commission on Human Rights Celebrates Cultures

Mental health watchdog Citizens Commission on Human Rights distributed materials to people of all cultures attending the Celebrate Nashville Cultural Festival.

Tens of thousands of people attend the Celebrate Nashville Cultural Festival each year during the first weekend in October. “This festival is absolutely incredible, and we knew we had to be part of it,” says Meg Epstein, the Nashville Director of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, “Our mission is to end abuses in the field of mental health, and the first step toward this is spreading awareness to people.”

Mental health abuse doesn’t discriminate. Many different types of people have suffered it at the hands of psychiatrists they thought they could trust. So the Nashville Chapter of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) has been on an all-out effort to reach everyone with the facts.

Most recently, volunteers had a booth at the Celebrate Nashville Cultural Festival, which this year was celebrating its 20^th anniversary. The festival began as the Celebration of Cultures in 1996 at the Scarritt Bennett Center. During that time, the foreign-born population was still small. Now, the foreign-born make up 15 percent of Davidson County, with many Latinos, and also refugees, like Kurds and Somalis. Mirroring that growth, the festival draws some 60,000 attendees. Organizers say that places the event among Nashville’s most popular — and it has become a model for other cities.

CCHR was at the festival distributing information about the common and well-documented side effects of psychiatric drugs, which include mania, psychosis, hallucinations, depersonalization, suicidal ideation, heart attack, stroke and sudden death.

CCHR is a non-profit, non-political, non-religious mental health industry watchdog whose mission is to eradicate abuses committed under the guise of mental health.  It works to ensure patient and consumer protections are enacted and upheld as there is rampant abuse in the field of mental health.  In this role, CCHR has helped to enact more than 150 laws protecting individuals from abusive or coercive mental health practices since it was formed five decades ago. For more information on CCHR, visit cchrnashville.org.

Artlightenment 2016 Art and Film Festival Coming in November

Eighth Annual Multi-media Art and Film Festival Slated for November 10-12.

Artlightenment, the annual multi-media art show and film festival, which showcases dozens of  visual artists, painters, sculptors and filmmakers, is slated to run November 10-12 at the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre Nashville, 1130 8^th Ave. S., Nashville, TN, 37203. Created by painter, sculptor and film producer, Robyn Morshead in 2009, this three day event also features workshops, live music and a fashion show, making it a vital force in Nashville’s creative community.

The theme of this year’s festival is “America-Its Cultures and Influences” and will feature the work of legendary painter Jim Warren, one of the most versatile and successful artists living today. The whimsically surreal and amazingly unique creations he paints have inspired artists from around the world. Winning a Grammy Award for his cover art of Bob Seger’s “Against the Wind” album, Warren has also painted portraits of such notable figures as Brooke Shields, the Beach Boys and Kelsey Grammar for the Fame-Wall project in New York and continues to collaborate with Disney Studios on various projects. Ticketholders will enjoy a rare opportunity, not only to see Mr. Warren’s work, but to meet him in person during a brief reception, on Saturday, November 12 at 6:30pm. He will then speak about his legendary career, which has spanned four decades.

In addition to Mr. Warren’s work, over 30 visual artists will have their art on display beginning at 6:00 pm on Thursday, November 10. The 2016 Film Festival will include short films created by both Nashville filmmakers and filmmakers from 35 countries around the world. These films will be screened nightly throughout the Festival.

Artlightenment is also proud to feature professors and student filmmakers from MTSU, including well-known Documentary Filmmaker Tom Neff who will showcase some of his photography. These works will be shown throughout the Festival’s three day run.

Tickets for this revolutionary event are $10 for three days. Ticketholders have access to all exhibits and workshops as well as the Film Festival and closing-night awards and fashion shows. For more information on the Artlightenment 2016 Art and Film Festival, to see the schedule of events, or to purchase tickets, please visit: http://www.artlightenment.com.  

Enjoy a sneak-peek of Artlightenment’s Art Show, (no ticket required) on November 5, which will dovetail with the WEHO Art Crawl, beginning at 6:00 pm at 1130 8^th Ave. S., Nashville, TN, 37203.