“Black people don’t get depressed” is a refrain heard in some white circles. Yet depression and mental illness exist in black communities – something that is hardly acknowledged or addressed. A session at the inaugural Abantu Book Festival made the links between violence, mental illness and creativity. Tiisetso Tselima was there and this is her report.
Tiisetso Tlelima
Lifestyle Hip-hop music: the soundtrack to the fight for black liberation
There are elements of hip-hop that can be used to advance civic engagement and validate black lives. Tiisetso Tlelima attended the seventh edition of Black Portraitures, a trans-Atlantic indaba, and discovered more about the place held by hip-hop in the civil rights struggle of black people.
Lifestyle Coming to America and the “othering” of black people
It’s been almost three decades since the release of the film Coming to America yet some would argue that the depiction of Africa hasn’t changed materially. South African writer Tiisetso Tlelima attended a session at the Black Portraitures conference in which the representation of Africa came under review.