2021 Annual Report - California Memorial Project
2021 Annual Report - California Memorial Project
The 19th California Memorial Project Annual Remembrance Ceremony
Disability Rights California's Peer Self-Advocacy program held its 19th annual virtual California Memorial Project (CMP) Remembrance Ceremony on September 20th, 2021.
This event honors the 45,000 individuals with mental health and developmental disabilities who lived and died in California state institutions without dignity or respect. It also recognizes and acknowledges the 6,000 people who currently live within the confines of state hospitals, many who have died this past year due to the devastating Covid-19 pandemic. We celebrated all our peers by honoring their importance and value as human beings.
Over 210 people throughout California and across the country gathered online to commemorate those who are often overlooked and neglected. State hospital residents, peers, facility staff, family and community members joined together to remember their lives so they are seen, heard and never forgotten.
Event Highlights
- Disability Rights California’s Executive Director, Andy Imparato, discussed the importance of creating more community-based treatment options to reduce the number of people living in state institutions;
- Poetry created and presented by Disability Rights California’s Peer Self-Advocacy staff;
- Personal stories from speakers about living in state hospitals;
- Family member spoke about experience having a brother at Patton State Hospital;
- Peers from the Black, Latinx, Asian-Pacific Islander, Native American and LGBTQIA-2S communities discussed their diverse perspectives about mental health and intersection with disability within their cultures;
- Testimony on the pandemic and dangers faced by peers living in conditions of confinement;
- Musical recordings from drc staff who sang in their native languages of Spanish and Amharic;
- Moment of silence to remember our peers; and
- A display of vivid drawings and paintings from peers in locked facilities and the community, reflecting their diverse life experiences.
