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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

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

August 16, 2022 By MsAfropolitan 1 Comment

I’m so excited to share that I am writing a new book! It is titled “Can Feminism be African?” and will be published by William Collins early 2024. This book has been a long time in the making. I can’t wait to share it with the readers of this blog. Read on for the full…

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Filed Under: Africa, Can Feminism Be African?, feminism Tagged With: Africa, african diaspora, African feminism, feminism, gender

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

Woman, don’t conspire against yourself

August 17, 2017 By MsAfropolitan 5 Comments

  I am sitting on his couch surrounded by books. There are books everywhere in his house; under the tables, by the coat rack, all over the stair case, on the window panes not to mention the walls of bookshelves. If there are two things I love, it is men and books and here I…

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Filed Under: feminism Tagged With: gender, happiness, Psychology, Relationships

7 films directed by African women to see at Film Africa

October 28, 2015 By MsAfropolitan Leave a Comment

The fifth edition of the Royal African Society’s annual film festival, Film Africa, is taking place on the 30 Oct – 8 Nov in London. Film Africa celebrates the best African cinema with a wide-ranging film programme. This year, over 60 films from 26 African countries will be screened. As one of the Friends of Film Africa, I have selected seven…

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Filed Under: Africa, feminism, Pop Culture, seven Tagged With: African feminism, African Film, Afrocentric, Female Directors, Film Africa, gender, identity

Black or woman?

April 27, 2015 By MsAfropolitan 8 Comments

In a forthright interview published in The Guardian on Saturday, the eternally inspirational Toni Morrison reflects on Obama’s upcoming end of term. And on Hilary Clinton, she says, I respect and appreciate her. It was difficult in the beginning to choose between her and him. I didn’t want to do the, ‘Which is better? Gender or race? The…

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Filed Under: Decolonisation, feminism, Social Criticism Tagged With: black feminism, dartboard theory, feminism, gender, intersectionality, race, toni morrison

So you want to know what men really gain from patriarchy?

July 2, 2014 By MsAfropolitan 19 Comments

Patriarchy is an unfashionable term. But it is also the only term that describes the oldest, most widespread and most enduring form of governance. It is much older than democracy, for example. It seems to me that patriarchy, which is the ‘system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are…

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Filed Under: feminism, Social Criticism Tagged With: feminism, gender, immortality, Life, patriarchy, politics, Religion, Spirituality, symbols

Awra Amba, an Ethiopian village where gender equality is real

May 30, 2014 By MsAfropolitan 10 Comments

If I were an alien visiting our planet this week I’d think, “Whoa, how’s that for a mess, one half of the species trying to annihilate the other half!” We on earth don’t see it that way ourselves; or we would be in revolution against misogynist warfare. Yet an eye that has not been conditioned to normalise the…

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Filed Under: feminism Tagged With: Africa, African women, African Women's Decade, Awra Amba, Ethiopia, gender, Life, Spirituality, Young Women, Zumra Nuru

Seven things that women want in Africa’s future

May 21, 2014 By MsAfropolitan 11 Comments

This week, more than 3000 delegates are at the annual meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Kigali discussing new strategies to tackle poverty, underdevelopment, and put their weight behind global schemes that ensure Africa’s progress. To mark the occasion, UN Women Executive Director, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, published an OpEd today titled Women’s Role in the Next 50…

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Filed Under: feminism, seven Tagged With: Africa, African feminism, African women, African Women's Decade, feminism, gender, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Women, women's issues

5 things my vagina does not make me. A guest blog by Doreen Akiyo Yomoah

April 19, 2014 By MsAfropolitan 18 Comments

“You’re a woman.” These three words are quite possibly my least favorite words strung together in the English language. When people repeat them to me it’s usually to judge how I can or cannot behave, or how I should or shouldn’t behave. But aside from the genitalia that I was born with, no other assumptions…

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Filed Under: feminism, Guest Posts Tagged With: African feminism, chimamanda ngozi adichie, gender, Ghana, identity, stereotypes, women's issues

What is conscientious feminism?

February 6, 2014 By MsAfropolitan 11 Comments

In July 1992, an international conference on Women in Africa and in the African Diaspora (WAAD) was held in Nigeria. WAAD was a rare incident: an interdisciplinary and international conference about African women in Africa. The conference, which took place in the Eastern town of Nsukka during an unusually dry week in July (precipitation for this month…

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Filed Under: feminism, Social Criticism Tagged With: African women, conscientious feminism, feminism, gallery, gender, identity, Life, women's issues

The difference between feminism and humanism

January 23, 2014 By MsAfropolitan 28 Comments

When it comes to labels, I like mine earnest but not intransigent. So there is something almost moving about someone (most often a man) asking a self-declared feminist like myself why I call myself a feminist and not a humanist. Almost. What prevents me from exultingly throwing my hands up in the air when a…

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Filed Under: feminism, Social Criticism Tagged With: African feminism, feminism, gender, humanism, identity, Life, stereotypes, women's issues

The African Femme Fatale

December 21, 2013 By MsAfropolitan 18 Comments

As the year comes to an end, I thought that I would like my last post of the year to be about something exciting, a feminine energy we could do well channeling more of in 2014. Scrolling through old posts and comments, I recognised an energy brewing, one not yet defined but one which can…

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Filed Under: Africa, feminism, Pop Culture Tagged With: Africa, African feminism, African women, femme fatale, gender, identity, Life, sex, Spirituality

The objectification of men

November 14, 2013 By MsAfropolitan 3 Comments

I am intrigued, despite my previous post about how African women’s art is feminist, by how seldom women artists (from Africa but also elsewhere) objectify the male body. We lose out from this disengagement with the male as object. Whether it is fine or digital art, photography or sculpture, we are culturally deprived of an artistic female…

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Filed Under: feminism, Pop Culture, Social Criticism Tagged With: Africa, art, gallery, gender, masculinity, sex, women

What makes African women’s art feminist?

November 10, 2013 By MsAfropolitan 6 Comments

It has been said that artistry in Africa is an intrinsic part of life rather than a commercial or careerist enterprise. I’d say that this notion is not only applicable to African art, all across the world art has explored the sensitivities of life and the social environment. However, it is in this process of examining life…

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Filed Under: feminism, Pop Culture Tagged With: African feminism, African women, art, gender, Nigeria, sex, Spirituality

What does feminine power look like?

October 24, 2013 By MsAfropolitan 13 Comments

Women and power is a current hot topic. It was much discussed at the Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society, for instance, where I too spoke about this very theme last week. It has also been recently debated at the Harvard Business School, FEMNET and  BBC’s 100 Women campaign. I welcome the increased emphasis on this topic because…

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Filed Under: feminism, Social Criticism Tagged With: feminism, gender, identity, politics, power, women's issues

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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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Enlivenment, Sensuous Knowledge and Postactivism at the World Ethic Forum

August 10, 2022 By MsAfropolitan Leave a Comment

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