Spectra Speaks
I often get requests for practical day-to-day advice for caring for oneself as an activist. It’s prompted me to reflect on what it means for activists to really practice self care… not just as some fluffy theoretical concept reserved for the those who can afford fancy yoga retreats, but as an accessible set of principles, applied consistently towards a healthy, sustainable lifestyle.
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.
On March 13, as part of the Women, Action, and the Media’s annual feminist media festival, I’ll be hosting a live podcast about African women using media to subvert mainstream narratives about Africa: “African Women Storytellers in the Digital Age.” In true kitchen table conversation style, my guests and I will be pontificating on storytelling trends about the African continent, and the role of western media, social media, and the Diaspora in shaping these narratives. Join us live!
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.
Award-winning Namibian indie soul artist, Shishani, has just released the music video for her latest single, “Minority”, a catchy, upbeat, acoustic track that calls for freedom and equality for all people despite perceived differences. She recently sat down with me to chat about her rise to stardom, her thoughts on music in movements, and why she’s putting everything on the line now.
Rather than the prophetic force he’s been eulogized to be, imagine Martin Luther King Jr. as just another man walking down the street, or sitting at a bus stop looking down at his knees, pensive… wondering whether or not he was doing the right thing. Imagine him as human, so that we may walk in his footsteps, and view ourselves, too, as extraordinary.
This is my last post for 2012. I’ve been back in the states for almost two weeks, struggling with what words to send you in closing of my Africans for Africa new media training project. I’ve started about a dozen posts and letters, and have scrapped them each time. But I’ve settled for this stream of consciousness, this simple offering of gratitude. Thank you, for now, will have to do.
Last week, I had the pleasure of participating in the West African Civil Society Institute (WACSI)‘s Social Media Experts conference in Accra, Ghana. The conference brought together African social media experts, enthusiasts, and activists from across the continent, which got me thinking about ways we can strengthen “digital activism” across the continent.
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 :)
An articled called, “An End to Self Care” was recently published, in which an activist proposed bringing an end to all the individualism behind “self-care” and, instead, called for sustainable community care. His piece (and some of its praise) reminded me why I’ve made it a point to stay away from activist spaces: the martyr complex, and its groupthink masquerading as a kumbaya camping circle. Here’s my emotionally drained, sleepy, and over it response.
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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