Suicide Prevention Forum 2020
Join us on September 8, 2020 at 6pm for our first virtual Suicide Prevention Forum, featuring Dese'Rae L. Stage and Live Through This: A Lifetime with Suicidal Thoughts & Art as Social Justice.
Dese'Rae was featured in last year's forum in the documentary film, The S Word, where we heard part of her story and saw a preview of the Live Through This project. This year, the focus is all on her and her work. The event is free but RSVP is required. To attend the 2020 Suicide Prevention Forum, please register here. A Zoom link will be sent out one-week prior to the event.
To learn more about Dese'Rae and Live Through This, keep reading.....
In a series of "snapshots," Dese'Rae L. Stage shares her experiences with suicidal thoughts (and sometimes more) over the course of her lifetime. She covers family dynamics and the teenage years--the difficult transition from middle to high school; questioning her sexuality; an abusive relationship; divorce; infertility; and how suicidal thoughts cropped up in each. She shows the audience a living portrait reflecting CDC findings indicating that suicide is a response to adversity, rather than mental illness as a singular cause. She walks us down the path that led her to Live Through This and brings the voices of attempt survivors with her through portraits and quotations, and takes the audience into an interview with her via video. She discusses major themes that crop up in the stories of survivors, along with the impact the project has made in a number of contexts. Stage implores listeners to open their hearts and their minds to those who have literally lived through it, and provides evidence that suicide affects all of us. Audiences can expect a talk that will be revealing, often touching, always honest and, ultimately, hopeful. (Funny, too!)