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MsAfropolitan

FEMINISM. PAN-AFRICA. SOCIAL CRITICISM. DIASPORA. CULTURE.

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A Historical Overview of African Feminist Strands

August 24, 2022 By MsAfropolitan 3 Comments

Recently launched by the Goethe Institute, The House of African Feminisms (HoAF) is a platform for feminist discourse, resources and enlightenment. The project aims at highlighting the works of various African feminist scholars, artists and thinkers around the world as well as providing a resource on African feminisms.  To mark the launch, the HoAF invited…

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Filed Under: Africa, Afropolitanism, Decolonisation, feminism, MsAfropolitanPosts, Social Criticism Tagged With: Africa, African feminism, feminism, gender, history

Knowledge that is alive

May 27, 2022 By MsAfropolitan Leave a Comment

Should dance performances be a part of studying philosophy? Can morality be objective? Are there alternative ways to think of IQ and EQ? Watch my interview at The Philosopher, which took place on 16 May as part of their Spring 2022 series, where we discuss questions such as the above. With thanks to host Adam…

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Filed Under: Decolonisation, events, feminism, Pop Culture, Sensuous Knowledge, Social Criticism, uncategorized Tagged With: Afropolitan, feminism, gender, identity

100 things to recolonise

January 7, 2022 By MsAfropolitan 3 Comments

The indigenous Waorani activist, Nemonte Nenquimo, wrote in an unforgettable GuardianOp-ed titled This is my message to the western world – your civilisation is killing life on Earth,that, You forced your civilisation upon us and now look where we are: globalpandemic, climate crisis, species extinction and, driving it all, widespreadspiritual poverty. In all these years…

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Filed Under: Decolonisation, feminism, Sensuous Knowledge Tagged With: feminism, Nemonte Nenquimo

What is Sensuous Knowledge? A visual exploration

December 11, 2021 By MsAfropolitan Leave a Comment

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 worlds of knowing, the feature blends words, visuals, and sound. I’m blessed to share this. Enjoy! 

Filed Under: Africa, Decolonisation, feminism, Pop Culture, Sensuous Knowledge, Social Criticism Tagged With: African feminism, black feminism, feminism, identity, Sensuous Knowledge

What liberating effects does writing have?

August 26, 2021 By MsAfropolitan Leave a Comment

I spoke to the Institute of Arts and Ideas about the below key themes in Sensuous Knowledge. What is sensuous knowledge compared to euro-patriarchal knowledge? How can black feminism provide a critique of euro-patriarchal knowledge? How is joy inherently political for black women, and how does it arise? Can euro-patriarchal knowledge be changed within the…

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Filed Under: Africa, Afropolitanism, Decolonisation, feminism, Interviews, Pop Culture, Sensuous Knowledge, Social Criticism Tagged With: feminism, Sensuous Knowledge

The question of blackness in writing

May 31, 2021 By MsAfropolitan Leave a Comment

How do contemporary African artists, curators and writers deal with the question of blackness in our work? How does blackness inform the creative process?  I’m really looking forward to sharing these discussions in an event titled “Blackness in Contemporary Art Practice” taking place online at the Tate Modern on Tuesday, 2 June.  Join us as…

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Filed Under: Africa, Afropolitanism, Decolonisation, events, feminism, Pop Culture, Sensuous Knowledge, Social Criticism Tagged With: African literature, art, tate modern, writing

A Black Feminist Approach to Life

May 14, 2021 By MsAfropolitan Leave a Comment

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 about Sensuous Knowledge and SO much more. You can catch the talk on Vimeo or watch it below.

Filed Under: Africa, Afropolitanism, Decolonisation, events, feminism, Sensuous Knowledge, Social Criticism Tagged With: adire, Columbia University, Events, Sensuous Knowledge

Without feeling, knowledge becomes stale. Without reason, it becomes indelicate.

May 10, 2021 By MsAfropolitan Leave a Comment

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, drawing in many different ethnicities of Nigeria, but also from Africa and around the world. My mother was Finnish, and my father is Nigerian Yoruba. He is a…

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Filed Under: Africa, Afropolitanism, Decolonisation, feminism, Sensuous Knowledge

Goldilocks Syndrome – A creative nonfiction essay about decolonisation

April 23, 2021 By MsAfropolitan 1 Comment

I’m delighted to have a creative nonfiction essay about decolonisation in the spring issue of World Literature Today titled Goldilock Syndrome. The issue commemorates the centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre but also emphasizes the current state of black multicultural vitality in the 21st century, anchored in the US but rippling out on a…

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Filed Under: Decolonisation, Social Criticism Tagged With: decolonisation, World Literature Today

MsAfropolitan curates “Oya’s Daughters: Connecting Black African Feminisms Around the World”

March 18, 2021 By MsAfropolitan Leave a Comment

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 World. Although there are many important Black feminists conversations taking place in Africa, in the UK, in the US, in Latin America and the Caribbean, I have long craved more cross-regional…

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Filed Under: Africa, Decolonisation, events, feminism

De-centring whiteness in black liberation

March 17, 2021 By MsAfropolitan Leave a Comment

Most eras end imperceptibly – and most eras also end abruptly. It may seem a contradiction that social change is both barely noticeable and drastic, but history teaches us that this frequently is the case. All of a sudden there is a shift, and long-held cultural symbols, social patterns, or value systems are no longer…

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Filed Under: Africa, Decolonisation, Social Criticism Tagged With: blackness, liberation, whiteness

A better way to talk about oppression is as a ‘crisis of relationship’

December 22, 2020 By MsAfropolitan 3 Comments

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 by saying that we are living through a time of peak oppression. This fact can’t be denied. After the disastrous events of 2020, even those who may be…

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Filed Under: Decolonisation, feminism, Sensuous Knowledge, Social Criticism Tagged With: El Pais, oppression, Sensuous Knowledge, social change

Exousiance – a series of essays on love and power

May 5, 2020 By MsAfropolitan Leave a Comment

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 civilisation. The series are centred around Exousiance, a concept I coined in Sensuous Knowledge with the purpose to reimagine power. Exousiance interweaves the nonhuman natural world, feminist theory, mythopoetic…

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Filed Under: Decolonisation, feminism, Sensuous Knowledge, Social Criticism Tagged With: black feminist theory, decolonisation, environmentalism, Exousiance, Sensuous Knowledge

Sensuous Knowledge audiobook narrated by Robin Miles

April 6, 2020 By MsAfropolitan Leave a Comment

I’m thrilled to share that actor Robin Miles is the narrator of Sensuous Knowledge. Robin is a multiple-award-winning, grammy finalist whose impressive list of book performances include N.K. Jemisin’s “Broken Earth” trilogy, Aminatta Forna’s “Happiness”, Chimamanda Adichie’s “Half of a Yellow Sun”, several bell hooks books, Maaza Mengiste’s “The Shadow King” and Nnedi Okorafor’s “Binti”….

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Filed Under: Africa, Afropolitanism, Decolonisation, feminism, Pop Culture, Sensuous Knowledge, Social Criticism Tagged With: Audiobook, Robi Miles, Sensuous Knowledge

New questions for the world, old pleas for black feminism

March 27, 2020 By MsAfropolitan Leave a Comment

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 whisperedwhere does it hurt?it answeredeverywhereeverywhereeverywhere.” Her words piercingly describe the events of the past few weeks and months. The world hurts everywhere – every region, every nation, every river, every home…

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Filed Under: Decolonisation, feminism, Social Criticism Tagged With: black feminism, covid-19, Sensuous Knowledge

Sensuous Knowledge – launching a book in a pandemic

March 19, 2020 By MsAfropolitan 1 Comment

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 feeling hit me strongly when Nigeria closed its borders to UK flights, which was well overdue, but nevertheless left me with a piercing sense of estrangement. Certainly, these are…

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Filed Under: Africa, Afropolitanism, Decolonisation, feminism, Pop Culture, Sensuous Knowledge, Social Criticism Tagged With: Sensuous Knowledge

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Feminism. Africa. Popular Culture. Social Criticism.

Hi! I'm Minna Salami, I'm a Nigerian-Finnish and Swedish writer and social critic, and the founder of the multiple award-winning blog, MsAfropolitan, which connects feminism with critical reflections on contemporary culture from an Africa-centred perspective. As a lecturer and keynote speaker, I have spoken at over 300 universities, cultural events and conferences, on five continents. I am the author of "Sensuous Knowledge: A Black Feminist Approach for Everyone - a collection of thought provoking essays that explore questions central to how we see ourselves, our history, and our world." (Harper Collins US) Read full bio

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An African Feminist mixtape

Essay: Oyalogy – A poetic approach to African feminism through Yoruba mythology

ESSAY: A brief history of African feminism

ESSAY: A brief history of African feminism

VIDEO: TEDxTalk – To change the world, change your illusions

VIDEO: TEDxTalk – To change the world, change your illusions

VIDEO: ARISE TV TALKING AFRICA INTERVIEW

VIDEO: ARISE TV TALKING AFRICA INTERVIEW

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more articles

On Abortion

August 23, 2022 By MsAfropolitan 1 Comment

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Book announcement! I’m writing a book about African feminism

August 16, 2022 By MsAfropolitan 1 Comment

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