BLKHLTH hosted Part 1 of BLKHLTH Conversations: Imagining Safer Futures, a youth-centered gathering in Johannesburg about what safer, healthier, and more supportive futures could look like for young people. Upon arrival, participants were invited to reflect on the prompt: “When you think about the future of young people in Joburg, what is one word that comes up for you?”
Their words filled the room with energy and possibility. They wrote things like freedom, fast, loud, reimagined, fierce, liberated, healed, and hopeful. From there, we opened into an honest conversation about what is shaping young people’s lives right now, including safety, mental health, money, relationships, and community.
The session was a creative space for young people to name what they are experiencing and imagine what could be different. Participants dreamed up headlines from the year 2045, including “Mental Health Becoming Mainstream,” “Harmony in a United Africa,” “Free Menstrual Products for All,” and “South Africa Celebrates an End to the HIV/AIDS Epidemic.” That HIV headline stood out because HIV is deeply connected to safety and violence. In fact, young women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa who have experienced intimate partner violence are over three times more likely to acquire HIV.
Participants then worked backwards to name what needs to happen to make those headlines real. Their ideas pointed to more youth-led advocacy, better mental health support, anti-stigma work, stronger community spaces, government accountability, and creative ways to make health information feel more relatable.
Part 2 of Imagining Safer Futures continues this Saturday, where participants will reflect on what came up in Part 1 and help shape the next steps for BLKHLTH South Africa’s work around youth health and wellbeing in Johannesburg.
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