Hailed as the “female Michael Jordan,” Chamique Holdsclaw was a basketball superstar. From leading the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers to three straight NCAA national championships with her team and legendary Coach Pat Summitt to the Olympics to the WNBA, nearly no one has had more focus or drive on the court. Yet underneath, she was pushing down mental health issues that eventually led to a total mental and physical breakdown.

Chamique suffered from serious bouts of depression and manic episodes, a suicide attempt, and an incident in Atlanta involving a firearm. After the episode in Georgia, she was finally open to getting help and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and severe anxiety. After a long journey of learning to manage her illness, Chamique has come back just as fierce. But this time, she’s dedicated her life’s work to mental health and wellness activism–sharing her own personal struggles with depression depicted in her documentary, Mind|Game: The Unquiet Journey of Chamique Holdsclaw.

As a speaker, her talks are incredibly inspiring and have helped many others open up about their own mental health issues or assisted those dealing with loved ones who suffer to seek support. Or as Chamique describes it, “being transparent, raw, and real to help as many people as I can.”

The Osaze Osagie Lecture is named to honor the memory of Osagie, a former Penn State student who was shot and killed by local police in 2019 while experiencing a mental health event. It is the featured event in the annual “Global Black Communities and Mental Health” series led by the African Studies Program in the Penn State College of the Liberal Arts, which seeks to elevate attention to issues of mental health among Black communities across the African Diaspora and other communities of color; foster meaningful connections between scholarly research in the social and behavioral sciences and the humanities; and advance everyday applications of this research for families, service providers, advocates and allies working to improve the quality of life in Black communities.

Other events scheduled in conjunction with the series include and lunch and a screening of “Mind|Game” at 1 p.m on Monday, March 30, and a “Lunch and Learn” with Holdsclaw at noon on Tuesday, March 31. Both events, which are free and open to the public, will be held in the Paul Robeson Cultural Center (21 HUB-Robeson Building); however, advance registration is required.