evolve: You speak about sensuous knowledge. What do you mean by that? Minna Salami: The word “sensuous” is a unique word in the English … [Continue Reading...]
Sensuous Knowledge – My debut book is out now!
Recent blogposts
100 things to recolonise
The indigenous Waorani activist, Nemonte Nenquimo, wrote in an unforgettable GuardianOp-ed titled This is my message to the western world – your … [Continue Reading...]
What is Sensuous Knowledge? A visual exploration
I spoke to the Institute of Arts and Ideas about the key explorations in Sensuous Knowledge. In line with the book's argument of bringing together … [Continue Reading...]
What liberating effects does writing have?
I spoke to the Institute of Arts and Ideas about the below key themes in Sensuous Knowledge. What is sensuous knowledge compared to … [Continue Reading...]
The question of blackness in writing
How do contemporary African artists, curators and writers deal with the question of blackness in our work? How does blackness inform the creative … [Continue Reading...]
A Black Feminist Approach to Life
I had a fun book event at Columbia University last week titled "A Black Feminist Approach to Life" where I spoke to the lovely Abigail Ony Nwaohuocha … [Continue Reading...]
Without feeling, knowledge becomes stale. Without reason, it becomes indelicate.
I grew up in Lagos in Nigeria, in a multifaith household, where I lived with my parents and my extended family. Lagos is a very cosmopolitan city, … [Continue Reading...]
A feminist analysis of the soul
What is the function of the soul in society? In culture, in religion, in politics? Emotionally, what role does the soul play? If the … [Continue Reading...]
What I’m reading now
I am drawn to books that are imaginative, playful, and passionate. I am drawn to books that are insightful and eye-opening. I am drawn to books … [Continue Reading...]
Redefining, renegotiating and beautifying masculinity
Progressive contemporary discussions about masculinity typically call for a reframing of the notion. Even the project that this article belongs to has … [Continue Reading...]
Goldilocks Syndrome – A creative nonfiction essay about decolonisation
I'm delighted to have a creative nonfiction essay about decolonisation in the spring issue of World Literature Today titled Goldilock Syndrome. The … [Continue Reading...]
Ecofeminist values in Dalai Lama’s and Greta Thunberg’s zoom conversation
In The Death of Nature, published in 1980, ecofeminist philosopher Carolyn Merchant wrote, with foresight and exactitude, of how natural ecosystems … [Continue Reading...]
Beauty and nonconformity
The Cooper Gallery in Scotland has launched a major five-chapter exhibition and event project titled The Ignorant Art School: Five Sit-ins towards … [Continue Reading...]
A review of Netflix docudrama “The Social Dilemma”
There are many ways to look at the word social – it can imply human characteristics (the social animal), events (social gatherings), and civic … [Continue Reading...]
MsAfropolitan curates “Oya’s Daughters: Connecting Black African Feminisms Around the World”
I'm thrilled to be collaborating with the Africa Centre in New York on an event titled Oya’s Daughters: Connecting Black African Feminisms Around the … [Continue Reading...]
De-centring whiteness in black liberation
Most eras end imperceptibly – and most eras also end abruptly. It may seem a contradiction that social change is both barely noticeable and drastic, … [Continue Reading...]
A better way to talk about oppression is as a ‘crisis of relationship’
This blog is the English version of an OpEd I wrote for EL PAÍS published 21.12.20. The original version in Spanish can be read here. Let’s begin … [Continue Reading...]
My message about feminism and the environment at the UNDP’s Nature for Life Hub
It was truly an honour to be invited to share a 90-second pre-recorded message at UNDP's Nature for Life Hub this week. I chose to speak, of course, … [Continue Reading...]
Sensuous Knowledge featured on Al Jazeera
Earlier this month I spoke with Malika Bilal, host of Al Jazeera's podcast The Take, about the journeys that led to my writing Sensuous Knowledge. I … [Continue Reading...]
Sensuous Knowledge Masterclass with Africa Writes X Arvon At Home
I'm looking forward to teaching a nonfiction masterclass at Arvon At Home in collaboration with AfricaWrites. We'll be applying a rounded and … [Continue Reading...]
Sensuous Knowledge references and recommended reading
"The only thing that can save the world is the reclaiming of awareness of the world. That's what poetry does." So said the poet Allen Ginsberg, and he … [Continue Reading...]
Exousiance – a series of essays on love and power
I'm producing a series of essays on love and power for Emerge, a platform highlighting ways of thinking that are sowing the seeds of a new … [Continue Reading...]
Reflections of desire in lockdown
A friend called me the other day overstrung. She was worried because I'm alone in lockdown. I’m concerned and acclimatising to the new normal but I'm … [Continue Reading...]
Sensuous Knowledge audiobook narrated by Robin Miles
I'm thrilled to share that actor Robin Miles is the narrator of Sensuous Knowledge. Robin is a multiple-award-winning, grammy finalist whose … [Continue Reading...]
New questions for the world, old pleas for black feminism
A poem by the Somali-British poet, Warsan Shire, goes, “later that nighti held an atlas in my lapran my fingers across the whole worldand … [Continue Reading...]
Sensuous Knowledge – launching a book in a pandemic
It is almost exactly one week since the World Health organisation declared a coronavirus pandemic. It's as though we are living in a World War. This … [Continue Reading...]
The missing feminist politics of the cyclical
If women had power parity the notion of the cyclical would be of central importance to how we structure everything—our politics, economics, laws, … [Continue Reading...]
What to do when everything seems to be falling apart? Covid-19 and more.
It's increasingly clear that most people are dissatisfied with the governing of the world. Even those who can't articulate exactly what disturbs them … [Continue Reading...]
Blackness as a character in Queen & Slim
Steamy sex and clashing protests. Is the overlapping of a sex scene and a protest scene halfway through Melina Matsoukas’s film Queen & Slim … [Continue Reading...]
The Mother Instinct
One of the first topics that you study when you do a Masters in Gender, is the dichotomy between nature versus culture. It's an interesting place to … [Continue Reading...]
What quality do we need for feminist change in the future?
Happy New Year! I'm especially excited about two things in 2020. Firstly, the 10th anniversary of my blog on 16 March. Then three days later, on … [Continue Reading...]
Sensuous Knowledge: A Black Feminist Approach for Everyone – Cover Reveal
As many of you know, I have been working on a book titled Sensuous Knowledge: A Black Feminist Approach for Everyone. The book is a collection of … [Continue Reading...]