Responsible Journalism

           I was distinctly asked, “Where do you get your voice?” I was not trained as a writer. However, my voice comes from a deep-seated need to better my life’s ordeals and triumphs. Therefore, my voice comes from deep sorrows and joys and a lived experience searching for God’s purpose for me. For Americans with disabilities it will come a time when you will have to plead your case about why you deserve to be alive in the greatest country in the world. There is always a new standard set down by people who had nothing until you walked through the door, which states why you cannot get ahead.              My goal and mission is to remove barriers for those shut out of the cultural and social mainstream through my photography and playwritings. As consumers with mental disabilities, our quest is to function and improve our ability to live meaningful and productive lives.             Responsible Journalism portrays Washington, now a mature woman, in her search of understanding her life struggles with spirituality and depression. Often stumbling and falling into a web not of her own design, she is always seeking clarity and wisdom from her shortcomings. She encounters many professionals, some she finds sympathetic and others, cunning and crafty. Through it all, she tries to maintain a code of ethics and stay true to her integrity and faith while facing a shrewd system of deceit.             During 30-some years of her struggles with depression, she is among one in a generation of consumers who has grown up in the mental health community and is now finding a voice and telling her experience. Too many mistakenly judge that being labeled disabled is equivalent to being labeled as a criminal or being disenfranchised; this should not be. Many would like to reinforce and perpetuate old stereotypes and misconceptions that violence, homelessness, poverty, and mental illness must go hand and hand. However, with awareness of the Black Lives Matter Movement and special note in President Barak Obama’s 2015 State of the Union Address, it opens new doors of hope. This gives people with mental disabilities an open door to communicate and create new self-images and develop constructive dialogue on mental health issues today. Through my playwritings and photography, I hope to plant more positive seeds in our quest to depict mental health consumers in a better light as citizens in our country, communities, and beyond. http://www.purplepenpublication.com