*African Feminism(s) in Popular Culture*<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom Miriam Makeba\u2019s music to Oumou Sy\u2019s fashion to Nike Ogundaike\u2019s art,
\nAfrican feminists are at the forefront of using creativity to express that
\nprogressive thought is not only cerebral but also visceral and expressive.\u201d
\n*~ Minna Salami, MsAfropolitan*<\/p>\n
In March 2013, the African Women\u2019s Development Fund (AWDF) and the African
\nFeminist Forum co-hosted a panel discussion: \u2018What\u2019s new in African
\nfeminisms: Pop, People and Politics
\n<http:\/\/wow.southbankcentre.co.uk\/events\/whats-new-in-african-feminisms\/>\u2019
\nas part of the Southbank Centre\u2019s Women of World (WOW) festival in London.
\n[1] <https:\/\/mail.google.com\/mail\/u\/0\/#146aeaee42e8381a__ftn1> The dynamic
\npaneldiscussed a myriad of issues including the potential popular culture
\nhas for social transformation and feminist consciousness-raising in Africa.<\/p>\n
One of the panelists, African music specialist DJ Rita Ray noted that the
\nthing about popular culture (going back to my admittedly broad definition)
\n\u201c\u2026is that it is everywhere the people are \u2013 in the buses, in the market, on
\nthe radio, on television, on the internet, in classrooms and so on.\u201d Popular
\nculture (and by extension the arts) have the ability to influence people on
\nan emotional level and \u2018to catalyse action in ways that court cases and
\nacademic lectures and even protest marches may never achieve.\u2019[2]
\n<https:\/\/mail.google.com\/mail\/u\/0\/#146aeaee42e8381a__ftn2> On that basis,
\npopular culture provides a means by which to open up feminist discourses in
\nAfrica and to turn feminist consciousness-raising and activism into a more
\ncentrally held, political, and educational project.<\/p>\n
Current expressions of feminisms in Africa reveal the pressing need for
\nactivists (and organizations) to acknowledge and address engagement with
\npop culture and the arts as an authentic activist strategy. To return to
\nbell hooks who once insisted, \u201cIt\u2019s great to have libratory academic
\ntheory, but if we can\u2019t bring it out to the public, it\u2019s not very useful.\u201d
\n[3] <https:\/\/mail.google.com\/mail\/u\/0\/#146aeaee42e8381a__ftn3> To follow
\nthis assertion with the voice of a fellow African feminist sister Theo Sowa
\nwho once said: \u201cWe can have the most powerful legislation throughout the
\nworld \u2013 yet if women don\u2019t know about it, how can they use it to change
\ntheir lives? Just as importantly, real change is not externally
\nimposed\u2026true and sustainable change in any area has to be powered by
\nindividual, internal understandings and decisions that come together in
\ncollective action and movement\u2026Change in our heads, in our hearts, in our
\nbeliefs and in our actions\u2026\u201d[4]
\n<https:\/\/mail.google.com\/mail\/u\/0\/#146aeaee42e8381a__ftn4><\/p>\n
There have been a few examples of formal efforts to actively facilitate
\nstronger connections between the \u2018politics and the people\u2019 through pop
\nculture and the arts. Notably, AWDF\u2019s most recent partnership with popular
\nNigerian musician Nneka Egbuna is one; *Nyangoma* a blog managed by a
\ncollective of African feminist artists working to \u2018\u2026create a space to share
\neach other\u2019s work and learn about the artistic expressions of African women
\nis another, and finally the inclusion of the \u2018poetic licence\u2019 segment at
\nOSISA\u2019s 2012 \u2018Money, Power, and Sex\u2019 Open Forum highlighting African
\nartists who are using their work to tackle social injustice is yet another
\nexample. And while these are only a few scattered examples, in the context
\nof all the exciting creative work that we see emerging on the continent it
\nis clear that there is much more work to be done.<\/p>\n
This is the task for the African feminist movement – to find ways to more
\neffectively (and creatively) support positive transformative African
\npopular culture that advances the ideas of resistance, power, and
\nself-identification. Ultimately, supporting these multiple platforms and
\nmeans of creative expression, allows African women the agency to identify
\nand represent themselves as they are, and not as they are presented by
\nothers. It also provides the means for us (as African women) to document
\nour own creative contributions, and to actively support multi-generational
\nmovement-building while simultaneously mobilizing new constituencies.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, while a focus on popular culture and the arts is only one
\nstrategy in our efforts to achieve broad based social change and justice it
\nis an important one. Popular culture and the arts will continue to be a
\nmeaningful force and we must use it to articulate our outrage, express our
\nresilience, and develop new ways of responding to the challenges
\nexperienced in our everyday lives.
\n*Biography:* Amina Doherty is a Nigerian feminist ARTivist whose work
\nfocuses on feminist philanthropy and creative arts for advocacy. Amina
\nactively supports several community-led media platforms across Africa and
\nthe Caribbean and brings to her activism a passion for music, art, travel,
\nphotography, fashion and poetry. She has facilitated several learning
\nprograms on women\u2019s rights, youth development, resource mobilization and
\neconomic justice. Amina is the founding coordinator of FRIDA | The Young
\nFeminist Fund. She holds a BA in Political Science & Women\u2019s Studies from
\nMcGill University (Distinction) and an MSc in Gender, Development and
\nGlobalization from the London School of Economics (LSE).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
*African Feminism(s) in Popular Culture* \u201cFrom Miriam Makeba\u2019s music to Oumou Sy\u2019s fashion to Nike Ogundaike\u2019s art, African feminists are at the forefront of using creativity to express that progressive thought is not only cerebral but also visceral and expressive.\u201d *~ Minna Salami, MsAfropolitan* In March 2013, the African Women\u2019s Development Fund (AWDF) and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n