Despite the richness, diversity, and complexities that shape the landscape that is my homeland, Africa is often depicted as one big safari (or war zone). Why is that? Because Africa’s stories are rarely told by Africans themselves.
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Afrofeminism - Blog - Creative Corner - Gender and LGBT Issues - Movement-Building - Poetry - Race, Culture, Ethnicity - Thought LeadershipReflections from a Woman of Color on the War on Women: “My Sisters-in-Arms, We Are Not United”
I'm sharing the remarks I gave at the MA Women United Against the War on Women rally in Boston (in poem-ish form). I found myself thinking about the concept of "unity," and the fact that so many women of color, immigrants, transgender women etc are often left out of mainstream…
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African Feminism - Afrofeminism - Blog - Gender and LGBT Issues - International Development - LGBT Africa - Philanthropy - Social CommentaryThe African Union Protocol on the Rights of Women: Progress and Pitfalls for LGBT Rights
The African Union Protocol on the Rights of Women is the first comprehensive legal framework for women’s rights in Africa that seeks to "improve on the status of African women by bringing about gender equality and eliminating discrimination." Except, it doesn't explicitly name protections for LGBT African women. Moreover, Liberia…
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Afrofeminism - Blog - Film - Gender and LGBT Issues - LGBT Africa - Media - Race, Culture, Ethnicity - Social Commentary - Special SeriesRacism and LGBT Rights: Where are the African Films in the South African LGBT Film Festival?
South Africa's 19th Out in Africa LGBT Film Festival opens this weekend and there is certainly no shortage of films about women, quite an achievement to note given how often the LGBT community is depicted as male. Yet, within the context of Africa, the LGBT community is also frequently perceived…
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A Word to the Wise On The Culture of Naming (and Divisive Labels)
I decided to tweet about "The Culture of Naming" one evening, and am sharing the archive via this post. My main point was that naming can be as powerful as it can be silencing, and that we should consider the purpose of them before blanket use; for affinity groups, naming…