Award-winning storyteller and media entrepreneur Chude Jideonwo will bring his critically acclaimed memoir, ‘How Depression Saved My Life’, to Columbia University this March as part of his global book tour. Hosted by the AfroDiaspora Colloquium at the Institute of African Studies, Columbia University, the event will hold at Knox Hall on March 9 from 4:00PM to 5:30PM, convening scholars, students, and members of the African diaspora for a bold and necessary dialogue on masculinity, depression, faith, and the disciplined practice of joy.
Titled “How Depression Saved My Life: African Masculinity, Mental Health, and Meaning in the African World”, the conversation interrogates one of the most urgent crises facing African communities at home and abroad: the culture of silence around men’s emotional lives. In societies where masculinity is often defined by endurance and public strength, vulnerability can feel like betrayal. Drawing from his memoir, Jideonwo reframes depression not as weakness but as reckoning, a disruption that forces identity to be rebuilt from within, and a portal through which healing, faith, and meaning can emerge.
For over two decades, Jideonwo has shaped Africa’s cultural and media landscape, creating platforms that centre truth-telling and emotional honesty. Through his viral talk show #WithChude and his mental health advocacy, he has consistently opened space for conversations many are afraid to have publicly. This Columbia convening extends that work into the academy and the diaspora, asking deeper questions about shame, reputation, spirituality, and the cost of performing strength in a watching world.
Attendance for the March 9 event is limited and registration is required. Guests are encouraged to purchase copies of How Depression Saved My Life in advance (available on Amazon, Kindle and book.withchude.com), with a limited signing session to follow the discussion for attendees who bring their books. As his global tour continues to spark conversations across cities and continents, this New York gathering promises to be more than a book event, it is an invitation to rethink masculinity, to confront silence, and to practice joy as an act of discipline and courage.
