The Association of Black Psychiatrists-UK Culture Club: The Experience So Far and Proposed Future Directions

Abstract

AimsMedia coverage and representations in popular culture can positively and negatively impact wider social attitudes to mental health and illness.In the light of the George Floyd and Tyre Nichols murders and the discussion about racism and its legacy on Black mental health, it has become especially important to discuss the effect of popular culture on Black mental health and vice-versa. The Culture Club was formed in 2021 as an offshoot of the Association of Black Psychiatrists-UK (ABP-UK) with the aim of analysing popular culture and black mental health with a view towards finding recurring themes about Black mental health and our lived experiences of racism and racial trauma. The Culture Club comprises doctors at all levels and medical students affiliated with ABP-UK. We initially started off reviewing films as the cinema offers an accessible and enjoyable way to explore the link between popular culture and mental health. The proposed future direction is to further incorporate other media to offer a more holistic experience and to further support public education efforts.MethodsMedia from across the world featuring the intersection of racial trauma and black mental health are selected. The feature is watched individually, with a club discussion occurring virtually. Discussions are centred on the plot, characters, mental health correlations, and themes relative to our own lived experiences. We then note major or recurring themes for further exploration.ResultsTo date, we have discussed “Thirteenth”, a documentary by Ava DuVernay, “Da Five Bloods” by Spike Lee, “Red, White and Blue” by Steve McQueen, The Nollywood blockbuster series “Blood Sisters” created by Temidayo Makanjuola and “Queen and Slim” by Melina Matsoukas.The emerging critical themes from the screenings and our lived experiences are systemic racism, differential attainment, vicarious trauma, stigma and its impact on mental health, and the law.ConclusionKey themes underpin black mental health and racial trauma. These themes, if studied further, could potentially be targeted to improve the lived black experience and, in turn, black mental health.Popular culture remains an important tool in understanding Black mental health.We welcome further ideas towards improving the culture club experience.