Spotlight on
Depression

Kieva Campbell:
A Tribute to April Savino,
the Sister I Never Met

On October 27, 2025, El Camino College and Actions Speak Louder, Inc. will launch a months’ long campus wide Symposium, Spotlight on Depression, bringing together luminaries in entertainment, sports, politics and the medical profession to address DEPRESSION.

Did you know?

Depression is the #1 disability in the United States and world, yet little public action has been taken to examine or address it. The secrecy and shame attached to Depression has resulted in tragically missed cues and opportunities for help.

or that...

The sectors that have paid the greatest attention to Depression are the arts andathletic communities. Many people claim that creating art, or participating in artistic orathletic endeavors, helped end their cycles of despair and even saved their lives.

and so...

SPOTLIGHT ON DEPRESSION, which extends until April 27, 2026, is an unprecedented opportunity for the public to learn about Depression. The months-long event will feature artists, poets, musicians, academics, athletes, doctors, and others, sharing their experiences of Depression, and the solutions they have found.

Our Participants

Artist
Kieva Campbell

Artist whose experience with Depression and her relation to the sister she never met provided the seed to grow this project. A Tribute to April Savino, the Sister I Never Met will be a Multidisciplinary Exhibition on Depression

UCLA Researcher & Professor
Dr. Jonathan Flint

Discovered the genetic link to depression and now runs UCLA’sGrand Challenge, aimed at solving Depression.

Quilter & Public Speaker
Gary Tyler

The youngest person on Death Row in America, arrested and framed for murder at age 16, with an execution date of May 1, 1976. His role in the Summit will be to talk about how he avoided depression and lived a productive life in prison, before finally being released after41 ½ years in Angola Prison

Painter, Filmmaker, & Art Professor
Kim Anno

Japanese-American painter, photographer, and film/video artist whose work has been collected and exhibited nationally and internationally. Art Professor at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco.

Fiber Artist
Karen Hampton

Internationally recognized conceptual Textile Artist who addresses issues of colorism and kinship.

Intricate Paper Artist & Stop Motion Animator
Miranda Kahn

Filmmaker of “SHADOW LIFE: Shining Through Colorism and
Depression”. We will show the animated film at the exhibition.

Poet
Father Amde Hamilton

Poet, widely recognized for being one of the original poets in the world famous Watts Writers Workshop during the 1960’s, where he and two other poets formed the legendary rap group, the Watts Prophets. Last living of the Watts Prophets.

Ex Detroit Lions QB
Erik Kramer

Ex-Detroit Lions QB, suicide survivor who works with youth and Athletes on Depression. Fox and NFL Films just released the documentary “Ultimate Comeback in the runup t the Super Bowl. It covers his career, the suicide attempt and path through recovery

1989 Ex- NFL Special teams players of the year
Sam Anno

Ex-NFL Special Teams Player of the Year, 1989 . It is only recently, after learning of Erik Turner’s story that Sam has been able to speak about debilitating suicidal ideation.

Muralist
Jules Muck

Internationally famous muralist

Sculptor
Jeremy Kidd

British-born Internationally known artist and sculptor,

Filmmaker
Mindy Alper

Artist and filmmaker; known from the Oscar winning documentary “Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405”.

Founder of GET LIT-Words Ignite
Diane Luby Lane

Founder of GET LIT-Words Ignite. A Los Angeles-based nonprofit that uses Spoken Word poetry  to expand literacy among teens. The program has mentored many teens through Depression and will bring in several young Get Lit teen poets.

Professor
Comfort Opkala

Professor at North Carolina AT&T, thesis mentor for Antoinette Candia-Bailey who interviewed Black academics regarding the racial hardships they faced in moving upwards in their careers. After being denied paid leave to deal with her own Depression, Candia-Bailey was fired and ordered to vacate her campus apartment. Candia-Bailey then committed suicide. The College president who fired her, white, then took paid leave himself.

Blues Singer
Sunny War

Blues Singer

Singer-Songwriter
Janileigh Cohen

Singer-songwriter from Bolton, UK, makes her living busking with her
music...a genuine street singer!

Olympic Track & Field Athlete
Anna Cockrell

Olympic Silver medalist, 400 Hurdles,  2024 . Anna has been very vocal about depression throughout her track career at USC and Olympics and discussed this several times on television.

Olympic Track & Field Athlete
Tasha Danvers

Olympic Bronze Medalist 400 Hurdles 2008. From USC, Tasha has been going public about Depression starting a few years back.

Model & Singer
Mahalia Jean Pierre

Formerly unhoused, now model and singer

Our Organizers:

Bob Zaugh

Actions Speak Louder, Inc. is a non-profit organization founded by activist, creative executive at Bongo Comics Group, and founder of Peace Press, Robert Zaugh, that uses artists, musicians, performance, and spoken word to educate and inspire communities to eliminate inequality. racism, gender discrimination, mass incarceration and depression. 

Los Angeles native and El Camino College alumnus, Bob Zaugh has been pivotally involved in events impacting society starting in the 1960s and has produced socially relevant music concerts, play readings, art exhibits, comedy events, and lectures. In addition, Bob Zaugh was instrumental in the post-prison life of Gary Tyler in 2016, falsely incarcerated at Angola Prison for 42 years, promoting his work as an motivational speaker and textile artist.

During the Vietnam war Mr. Zaugh turned in his draft card and refused induction. Indicted and facing  prison, he defended himself  in federal Court . Sentenced to “work in the national interest”, he insisted upon working at Peace Press, a publishing company he founded dedicated to writers speaking out against the war. He became a key organizer in the Los Angeles Resistance, working with others who refused to cooperate in the war.  After leaving Bongo Comics Group in 2018, Mr. Zaugh founded Actions Speak Louder, Inc. and has been speaking in colleges and law schools about how the work of The Resistance can be relevant today.

Mr. Zaugh has been developing the Depression Project for the last several years.

Michael Miller

Michael Miller, Director, Gallery & Museum Programming at El Camino, has been bringing innovative and interactive programming to museums and colleges for decades. Los Angeles based, Miller is an educator, artist, exhibition/program organizer, scientist, and gallery and museum director. He has masters’ degrees in science and art and worked for the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs for 30 years while teaching at several colleges and universities in Southern California. Miller has exhibited his own artwork internationally.

Our projects:

Project Archive
Spotlight on Depression
Ash Grove Alumni
Our Town