Today marks eight years since Busy Being Black first came to life: on 21 October 2017, I produced and hosted an event called Forbidden Fruits, anchored by a conversation about love, intimacy and belonging among queer Black men. I couldn’t have known in that moment how much I would need this space.
Ben Ellis is a poet—and a poet in the way James Baldwin, Toni Morrison and René Ménil meant it: one ordained to dive into the unconscious and awaken the rest of us with their marvels. I am stunned and struck by the energy of Ben’s poetry, his vulnerability, his rage. I am enlivened by his sensitivity, his heartache and his desire for peace of mind. I am grateful to honour my own thresholds by bearing witness at the gates of his.
If you enjoyed this conversation, you’ll enjoy the Black Marvellous: a growing collection of conversations that adventure into Black imaginative vigour—in art, attitude and life.
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Chapters
00:26 Are you avoiding your own emergence?
02:04 The ordination of the bard: 8 years of Busy Being Black
12:43 Ben recites Pansies
16:32 All my poems are sad n*gga poems
24:19 There is no word for depression in my native tongue
29:25 Who is served by the performance of our grief?
33:16 Ben recites Milkshake
37:09 Can we reclaim any spirituality from within the religions that have harmed us?
47:23 I am Black first and Black also
51:00 Ben recites To Orlando
53:37 Peace of mind
55:55 Every gesture is a prayer when you know who you are
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Thank you:
- This episode includes wisdom from Candice D’Meza, Rev. Jide Macaulay and Bayyinah Bello.
- If this conversation resonates with you, there are three ways you can show your love: leave a comment, rating, or review; share this conversation on social media; or contribute towards production costs.
- The songs ‘Busy Being Black’ and ‘Baptism’ were created for Busy Being Black and in collaboration with Lazarus Lynch and Joshua Pleeter, and Dylan Halverson, respectively.
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