A London father documents the stories of black carers in a new web series

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When London-based filmmaker Moses Latigo Odide walks out the door, a world of stereotypes awaits.

Picking up an item for her four-year-old via Facebook required Odida’s wife, who is white, to “warn” the seller that her husband, who is receiving the item, is black.

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“When I go to some places, people have always been spontaneous or there has been some kind of response or reaction to the situation that I now feel the need to announce,” Odida said.

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Talking about stereotypes became a common practice in Odida’s family, especially after he and his wife learned that their son would be born with Down syndrome, another group targeted by harmful stereotypes.

Adding another layer to the label is Odida’s long battle with clinical depression.

At the time of the birth of his daughter in 2019 He was experiencing one of the “dark moments” of his life. “So dark” that Odida considered “the value of life”.

“While Selah When she was born, I had this renewed determination to be the best father she could be,” he said.

Odida started looking for support. He was looking for black Parents who care for differently-abled children, but who also understand the Black experience and dealing with mental illness.

“I knew I needed all the help I could get to be the healthy father I needed to be to her,” Odida said. “What I knew then, being born and raised in Uganda, is that we often face a problem by solving it within the community.”

Odida found ubuntu, an African principle that means “the humanity of others,” described as “I am what I am because of who we all are.”

A former refugee settlement volunteer in Uganda, Odida has always had a “true belief that storytelling is an integral part of justice.”

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Odida’s help and the community she craved took her far from London, to the shores of Canada, on a journey from Nova Scotia to British Columbia, requiring her to be “at her most vulnerable.”

Her starting point was a simple Google search for black educators in Canada. “There wasn’t much that didn’t surprise me,” she said, but once Odida introduced herself, other caregivers introduced her to the community.

Odida featured the story in the web series Stories for Caregivers, an initiative of BC producer Bannister Bergen to raise awareness about caregiving.

“I wasn’t sure about my application. “I didn’t have the work that seemed to convince the decision makers that I could do it alone,” Odida said. “What I had was the intention to focus on black stories. My approach was to tell my story and also motivate other caregivers. “

The web series debuted Monday, January 22 on the Stories For Caregivers YouTube channel.

“Until this series, I hadn’t seen the story of the carers in the same way that I had seen others around me. So I wanted to contribute to those stories and experiences,” he said.

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Down — an eight-episode mini-documentary directed and written by Odida in 2023 — tells the stories of black educators, reflecting the conversations she says need to happen in the black community about mental illness and disability.

“Conversations that a lot of us (black people) didn’t grow up having, that we don’t have to talk about,” Odida said. “I also wanted to balance it with the joy that characterizes our lives.

The series highlights the realities of feeling emotionally drained by the challenges caregivers face, remaining under the constant responsibility of raising loved ones with disabilities, including those born with Down syndrome.

“It is imperative that the general Canadian public be informed about the unique experiences of black caregivers so that the audience can be better informed as their advocates,” Odida said.

She realized she had found a “village” of people like her by interviewing black caregivers, their families and experts, people who would help her “get through this life of caregiving,” she said.

“It’s a journey that I want to document in a way that I’m not just in charge of the process,” Odida said. “But I can also, hopefully, motivate or inspire others.”

If you are looking for support, help is available at blackmentalhealth.ca or 1-833-456-4566.

bbaleeiro@postmedia.com

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