Listen to a conversation between artist/writer Cheryl Martin and writer Rianna Walcott reflecting on their own experiences of mental health and care practices during and emerging from this global health crisis.
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 This is an interview with Rianna Walcott, the co-founder of Project Myopia – a student-led initiative to decolonise university curricula. The discussion explores the difference between ‘diversity’ and ‘decolonisation’: how these two concepts relate to and contradict one another. Walcott outlines some of the recent student efforts to ‘decolonise’ the university and we discuss the extent to which this represents a paradoxical ambition, as well as the limitations of attempting to change the university from the inside. Walcott also explores the significance of some practical measures which can be – or have been – put into place when attempting to diversify or decolonise curricula, and we close by discussing the significance of Philosophy in particular with respect to decolonising efforts, and the steps which need to be taken in order to begin the process of ‘decolonising’ philosophy.
This week were joined by the Rianna who is the co-founder of Project Myopia; co-editor of the Colour of Madness and PhD researcher at Kings College London. We discuss whiteness within the academy, decolonising H.E and mental health and illness for Black and Brown people in the UK.  As a black person, simply existing in institutional spaces can be a trial. When these spaces are soaked in colonial legacies, and cater to white cultural norms, expectations and experiences – just navigating these worlds that were not built for you takes an extra level of effort and energy that may be invisible to people around you.  In a world where asserting that your life does in fact ‘matter’ is a radical act, it can feel impossibly naive to dream of equality, of a black life lived in dignity. Patrisse Khan Cullors, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, dares to dream of that radical future. |
