Setting up Lincoln Detox
May 14th | 1-3pm Eastern Time
Join moderator Johanna Fernández in conversation with speakers Cleo Silvers and Panama Alba to discuss the early formation of Lincoln Detox.
About the Event
The takeover of Lincoln Hospital November 10, 1970, was a pivotal moment in the story of Lincoln Detox. Equally important is what happened next. How did the takeover happen? And how did it lead to Lincoln Detox? What was the programming and structure? In our second installment of our 2021 Community History Dialogue series we’ll hear from the firsthand experience of Cleo Silvers and Panama Alba about the takeover and everything that happened next to set up a Detox Program that served the people of the South Bronx.
About the Speakers
As a community mental health worker and member of the Black Panther Party and Young Lords, Cleo Silvers played key roles in events which led to the 1970 people’s takeover of Lincoln Hospital.
Vicente “Panama” Alba was a member of the Young Lords Party and counselor at Lincoln Detox Center in the South Bronx, New York in the 1970s. He now lives in Puerto Rico.
Johanna Fernández is Associate Professor of History at Baruch College (CUNY) and author of The Young Lords: A Radical History on the Puerto Rican counterpart of the Black Panther Party. Her Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) lawsuit against the NYPD, recovered the largest repository of police surveillance records in the country— over one million NYPD surveillance files, including those of Malcolm X. She is a leading member of the movement to bring home Mumia Abu-Jamal and other political prisoners.
About the 2021 NADA History Series
Over the course of 2021 we are exploring questions of how we got to where we are today and the stories we’ve told and not told about NADA’s origins. We held our first event ‘Setting the Scene’ in March 2021 (view the recording). The series will be a space for community dialogue, connection, and healing. Our goal is to have a more complete understanding of NADA’s roots and legacy. With a more conscious awareness of these origins, we can intentionally fulfill our mission of making the NADA protocol available and accessible to all as a tool for community building, healing, and liberation. Learn more.
Can’t Make it Live?
Register to receive the recording directly once it’s available. Sign-up to stay in touch.
Related Resources
- Recording of Part I: Setting the Scene
- Virtual Screening of The People’s Detox, 2018 Documentary by Jenna Bliss (available until April 18, 2021)
- Announcing a 2021 NADA History Series
- Looking Forward: NADA’s Role in Genuine Social Change (February Membership Café with Walter Bosque Recording)
- History of the NADA Protocol (Assorted articles & resources to learn more)