African feminists, that is African women who are feminists, should not only read books by other African women. From my Afropolitan point of view, our reading should be cosmopolitan, we should enjoy books about all kinds of topics from anywhere in the cosmos. That is how you expand your mind, and not by repeatedly reading one genre. However,…
Repowerment rather than empowerment
I’m getting impatient with the idea that the reason we should empower African women is to lift African economies, as UN under-secretary-general and executive director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, argued in The Sowetan on Sunday. I’m not fed up with this proposition because economic growth isn’t important for African countries (although I do think…
Oyalogy – a poetic approach to African feminism
On April 1st 2003, Leymah Gbowee, an activist who would later win the Nobel Peace Prize, learnt that fighting was nearing Monrovia, her country’s capital. There were clashes between rebels and then president Charles Taylor, and the scheduled presidential elections seemed increasingly unlikely to take place. Distressed, Gbowee began to make calls to her colleagues at WIPNET, the…
Sexism is pan-Africanism’s Achilles heel
In the 19th century, books in the west were often published in weekly segments in journals and newspapers. Readers awaited each new instalment and the discussions that followed eagerly. Pigeonhole is a new publishing platform aiming to revive this communal spirit of reading. One of the series you can read on their platform at…
On the African Union’s message to women
Yesterday, to commemorate International Women’s Day, the former chairperson of the African Union, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, posted a message for African women on the union’s website. The focus of the update, one which I have pasted below, was to hone in on a political vision and action plan – ‘Agenda 2063‘ – which, among other things, “envisages a…
7 South African rebel women artists – in memory of Miriam Makeba
Today, 4 March, is the birthday of the unforgettable Miriam Makeba. To honour her memory I am posting a selection of my favourite songs by seven sensational South African singers who, like Makeba, embody/embodied the spirit of feminist pan-Africa and the African femme fatale. Pata Pata! Busi Mhlongo “Umoya ma-Afrika” Brenda Fassie – “Vuli Ndlela” Lebo Mathosa –…
‘Who will be the first African woman to sail the length of the River Niger?’
Here is a link to an interview that I did for The Corporate Canvas, a South African Careers, Finance, Culture & Lifestyle platform for African Millennial women. The questions were great, I appreciate the opportunity they gave me to reflect on things that truly matter to me. Below is my favourite question, you can read the rest of the interview…
‘A letter from one African woman to another’
In January 2015, the Warrior Poets collective invited me to speak at Litanies For Survival, part of Afropean+ at The Bozar Centre For Fine Arts in Brussels. The event turned out to be a vibrant, memorable night of African culture – music, fashion, talks, art, dance, flash mobs – taking over one of Europe’s leading art institutions. Other talks and…
Citizens and women – two neglected words in Nigeria’s elections
Nigerians have experienced some of the most unstable five years in their country’s history under the rule of President Goodluck Jonathan. Not so much because the problems we face today – such as poor infrastructure, oil corruption and terrorism – have not previously existed but because there is a heightened sense of awareness among citizens, a…
Commonwealth Writers hosts migration debate – read African feminist writers on migration
In the lead up to International Migrant’s Day, which took place on December 18th, Commonwealth Writers joined the migration debate by running brief stories by writers about their own migrations. My contribution is titled “Migrating to Myself” and you can read it on the Commonwealth Writers blog. It was good to read reflections of other African women…
Help! @CosmopolitanUK ‘discovers’ horrific African sexual practices
It has come to the attention of Cosmopolitan UK that women in Africa (the country) are using “various means” to reduce moisture in their vaginas and consequently tighten them so that men can enjoy sex more. This “dry sex” as Cosmo call it, making it sound like some weird pornographic fetish, is due to a “distinct lack of…
TEDxBrixton Talk – To change the world, change your illusions
Last month, I gave a TEDx Talk titled “To change the world, change your illusions” at TEDxBrixton, which has now been uploaded on YouTube. Watching the clip takes me right back to the day: all the great talks, the wonderful TEDxBrixton team, the excitement and nerves but most of all the energy in a room…
African men, are you still not listening?
Hey, it’s the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Violence against women is ginormous, ginormous, ginormous. It is so ginormous that the UN says it is a global pandemic. Other examples of global pandemics are Ebola, HIV and Bob Geldof. Due to its enormity I am thinking this post will be about how it is possible that male…
Speaking about African feminism at TEDxBrixton in October
I’m excited to share that on 11 October 2014, I will be one of around twenty speakers at TEDxBrixton, an independently organised event operated under licence from TED. The event will be taking place at the Evelyn Grace Academy in Brixton and will feature a selection of carefully curated speakers from Brixton and beyond to give inspiring…
September events, workshops and talks – Afropea Now!, Digital Women UK, Complicit No More
Complicit No More In creating a forum to discuss gendered racisms, ‘Complicit No More’ aims to encourage more generous and ‘conscientious’ feminist inspired dialogue. The panel event will highlight themes and challenges for black feminism and intersectionality, tackling topics that have been framed by Eurocentrism but which are also a part of intra-oppressions: how we relate…
Decolonisation, feminism, blogging, sexuality, poetry…discussion topics with the African Book Review
Sharing a link to an interview of mine posted at the African Book Review earlier this week. We covered a lot: decolonisation, African feminism, blogging, sexuality, poetry and more. I hope you like it, I put a lot into it. Minna Salami: An Interview with the Creator of Ms. Afropolitan Let me know if you have any…
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