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…
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 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…
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 about Sensuous Knowledge and SO much more. You can catch the talk on Vimeo or watch it below.
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 understandings that women held about the soul had the same historical significance and public presence that those of men do, in what ways would the soul be encoded into spiritual, cultural,…
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 the key aim to redefine masculinities. The conversation typically centres around two phrases–“toxic masculinity”, which has to do with men reinforcing conventional harmful gender norms that affect society negatively, and “a crisis of…
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 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…
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 built on interdependence and reciprocity were turned into mechanistic, economic resources to be exploited by men. It is, for once, suitable to use the word men rather than humans as the book grapples with…
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 organisation (social politics) to give some examples. In our times, the word social mosttypically has to do with digital connectivity and social networks such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. Conversely, the least popular connotation…
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, 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…
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 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…
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 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…
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 otherwise well, I assured her. It had not occurred to me that being alone during the lockdown was a worry in itself. Aloneness is never a problem for me…
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 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”….
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 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…
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 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…
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, media, education, and policy. The cyclical is a natural measure of temporality for women as it is encoded into our bodies. The cyclicality within our bodily functions prevents us from forgetting, in…
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