Julianknxx considers breath and Black bodies in Black Corporeal (Between This Air)
“A critical examination of the relationship between materiality and the Black psyche.”
When we think about what it means to breathe in 2021, the shadows of the trauma of the global pandemic and the brutal violence of a relentless procession of contemporary manifestations of structural racism loom large. The effects of COVID-19 are inextricably linked with the act of breathing in the present day, just as is the memory of George Floyd, who was murdered by a white police officer with a knee on his neck. We might also think of Eric Garner, Javier Ambler, Manuel Ellis and Elijah McClain, all of whom repeated the phrase “I can’t breathe” before their breath was also stopped by the hands of police. In 2013 a nine-year-old girl, Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, became the first person in Britain to officially have air pollution listed as a cause of death. Living with her family next to South Circular Roa
Prominent arts figures front new Sightsavers film about trachoma
Prominent arts figures front new Sightsavers film about trachoma
Actors, poets and authors with African heritage are lending their support to the campaign
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The Queen Elizabeth Jubilee Trust/Julia Gunther
Prominent figures from the arts world are fronting a new Sightsavers campaign, which hopes to raise awareness of trachoma.
The two-minute film features actor and producer, Andrea Chika Chukwu-Ahern; editor and publisher, Ellah P Wakatama OBE; poet, author and hip-hop artist, Karl Nova; actor and Merlin star, ‘Tomiwa Edun, and playwright, filmmaker and poet, Zodwa Nyoni.
The film, which launched on 7 December, focuses on the first-hand experiences of people from several African countries where trachoma is still a public health problem.