It’s mental health awareness month. A friend recently asked me whether I identify as mentally ill, if that’s a term that defines me. I said I evaluate these terms, almost all terms, by the solidarities and possibilities for community and power that they produce. So yes, I proudly call myself mentally ill, just as I proudly call myself disabled, a Mad man, a psychiatric survivor, and an institutionalized person. All these not only describe my experience of the world, but bind me deeply and powerfully to others, people I trust, people I love, people I’m building the future with. We are the mad, the disabled, the survivors, the institutionalized, and yes, we are the mentally ill.