In January of this year, Cat Brooks and the Anti Police-Terror Project launched a service where trained professionals respond to mental health crises; it's an alternative to people calling the police to handle the situation.

The service, Mental Health First, or M.H. First, initially launched in Sacramento, and began serving Oakland this summer. Brooks says that M.H. First's work is just one part of the effort to refund the community and divest from overspending on police.

This week on Rightnowish, Brooks discusses M.H. First, the racism she encountered as a young person and she traces her origins in organizing back to the killing of Oscar Grant-- a case which was recently been reopened.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices