The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing forms of structural racism and inequality, and generated new social divides.

As we emerge from it, we are beginning to see the legacies of stigma and trauma that have disproportionately impacted certain groups – especially marginalised groups who are underserved by the state.

This participatory short film animates longer-term ethnographic research conducted over the past 24 months across the UK by LSE’s COVID and Care Research Group, led by Professor Laura Bear. It highlights the story of psychotherapist Suad Duale and the Somali single mothers who have stepped up to support their community in this time.

Co-directed by Suad Duale, Dr Nikita Simpson and Dr James Rattee, it provides insight into the profound work done by some people to ferry their communities through this crisis. A screening of the film will be followed by a conversation on its themes. 

Meet our speakers and chair  

Suad Duale is a doctorate student of Counselling Psychology, a pychotherapist, researcher, community leader, consultant, Director of Marston Wellbeing and advocate of mental health and women well-being.

Joanna Lewis (@JoannaILewis) is Associate Professor in the Department of International History at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Her latest book, Women of the Somali Diaspora: Refugees, Rebuilding and Resilience (Hurst, 2021), is a history of Somali women who fled from a regional conflict in the 1990s and came to London, home to one of Britain's oldest African diaspora. 

James Rattee is a self-shooting producer director based in London. He has worked across op-docs and documentaries, as well as short fiction and podcasts. He currently produces explainer films for Bloomberg (for broadcast and online) as well working as an independent freelancer. Between 2015 and 2022 he made short documentaries about research at LSE and was a producer on the award-winning podcast LSE iQ. 

Nikita Simpson (@NiksSimpson) is a Postdoctoral Research Officer in the Department of Anthropology at LSE, where she leads the COVID and Care Research Group. 

Deborah James (@djameslse) is Professor in the Department of Anthropology at LSE and a specialist in the anthropology of South and Southern Africa, and has recently begun research at some sites in the UK. 

More about this event  

This event is part of the LSE Festival: How Do We Get to a Post-COVID World? running from Monday 13 to Saturday 18 June 2022, with a series of events exploring the practical steps we could be taking to shape a better world. 

LSE Anthropology (@LSEAnthropology) is world famous and world leading. Our work is based on ethnographic research: detailed studies of societies and communities in which we have immersed ourselves via long term fieldwork. Placing the everyday lives and meanings of ordinary people - whoever and wherever they are - at the heart of the discipline, we take nothing for granted.

Twitter hashtags for this event: #LSEFestival

Podcast & Video

A podcast of this event is available to download from Trauma, Inequality and Healing from COVID-19.

A video of this event is available to watch at Trauma, Inequality and Healing from COVID-19.

Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.