Sidibe, a gifted storyteller, more than entertained the audience with topics including her love affair with [Black] Twitter, casual, on-the-street encounters with fans, and her friendship with director Lee Daniels; however, things took a more serious tone when she talked about her battles with depression.
For her, it was important to include this subject matter in her book. “I wrote about depression because it was a huge deal to me. I had actually been showing signs of depression since I was nine years old but everyone ignored it.” She went even further by discussing African-Americans and mental illness, a topic that has long been taboo.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health reported that, “African Americans are 20% more likely to experience serious mental health problems than the general population.”
The notion of “suffering in silence” is all too familiar to Sidibe as she asserted, “Depression is a real thing for all of us—for every human being regardless of gender or sexuality or race.” She added, “But for some reason, I think in the Black community, it’s hard to wrap your head around being sick with something that you can’t see.” Knowing something was “medically wrong” with her, she took her mental health into her own hands and eventually got the help she needed.
Sidibe hilariously and candidly engaged the audience throughout the evening and judging by the long line of fans who eagerly waited for her to sign their copy of her book, a follow-up to This Is Just My Face might not be too far behind.
LaShawn Williams is a freelance writer and editor from Chicago, Illinois. She is an arts and entertainment enthusiast who has a serious thing for stand-up comedy, music and dance. Follow her on Twitter:@MsWilliamsWorld.