Spectra Speaks
Last year, I attended a conference about Africa’s development. In a session about African identity, we explored the question of whether one could claim to be African without being fluent in their mother tongue. Some said yes. But many said no. For this, I blame colonialism… and Sesame Street.
I was invited by a Caribbean feminist collective to participate as a virtual guest in their Audre Lorde appreciation event this past weekend. After weeks of fighting a winter slump, I ended my Skype session feeling nourished and optimistic, which has prompted some reflecting on the power of sister circles, even when they’re only experienced virtually.
The following interview was originally published at Ms. Magazine via the Femisphere, a profile interview series about feminists in the blogsphere. The series featured three Nigerian feminists, prompting my reflection on “internet lists” via the post, “What Does an African Feminist Look Like?” (and even a head-nod from Melissa Harris-Perry!). I’m reposting it on here because, apparently, some of my readers missed the original interview, and had trouble finding it on the Ms. Magazine site. Enjoy.
Given the tensions that exist within and around African feminism, I was pleasantly surprised to find (and get to know) three amazing organizations that have found a way to strike a balance between engaging all kinds of women from where they are and empowering women who already identify as feminists to “spread the good word.” Like them on Facebook :)
I am an African feminist cyborg! The feminist cyborg is at home both online and offline, and her activism is reflected in her online life (whether it is through blogs, tweets and general online presence) as well as in what she does offline (working for a feminist organization, working with women’s rights organizations and social justice movements, or in progressive media).
Check out these powerful films — Taxi Sister, KungFu Grandma, The Witches of Gambaga, and Ladies’ Turn — exploring the lives of African women through narrative documentary. They’re showing at the London Feminist Film Festival, which was set up as a response to the under-representation of women in the film industry. The festival showcases films from women directors from all over the world, including Africa.
My mother was the kind of woman that would toss harsh truths at you from the other end of the dinner table right before asking you to pass the salt. “I Dare to Say” captures the reality of that kind of resilience – the kind that has learned to live in the next second, the next minute, the next day, never having had the luxury of sitting on a rock for timed introspection; the kind that’s learned to convert detachment into the instinct to keep breathing despite the suffocating feeling of hopelessness.
The very first London Feminist Film Festival, held between Nov 29 – Dec 2, 2012 at the Hackney Picturehouse, is seeking submissions from African feminists. The organizers are actively working to solicit submissions from filmmakers with diverse backgrounds, including the LGBTI Diaspora. I may actually submit something, given how visually creative I’ve been feeling lately. Spectra, the aspiring filmmaker… I can see an Oscar already.
Melissa Harris Perry (host of NBC Show Nerdland) tweeted that my interview at Ms. Magazine, during which I talk about Afrofeminism, is now one of her favorite online reads. Okay, I can die now.
The Femisphere is a blog series in the popular Ms. Magazine that highlights the many diverse corners of the feminist blogsphere. Their latest installment focuses on African feminism, and I’m honored to have been featured along with two other African feminists, Ms Afropolitan and Lesley Agams. But, given that we’re all Nigerian, have lived abroad, etc, what assumptions will readers make of African feminists? In fact, what does an African feminist look like?
About Me
Meet Spectra: Queer Nigerian Afrofeminist Writer and Media Activist. Social Entrepreneur Nurturing Principled Diaspora and Women's Philanthropy in Media and Tech. Self-Care and Self-Love Evangelist. Idealist Warrior Woman. Big Dreamer. Big Thinker. Big Doer, Too.
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