Diasporic feminist feels: Reflections on Edinburgh
I knew the conference would be lit as soon as conference organizer and opening speaker Dr. Akwugo Emejulu dropped the first of many gems on us and instead of the usual polite conference applause, the first 2 rows of fly black women affirmed her statements with emphatic YAASSSes and mmhmmms.
I’m one of the founders of the Amsterdam Black Woman Meetup. I came to Edinburgh with one of my co-founders Tracian Meikle. ABW Meetup was started a year or so ago along with 3 of our other good friends. We wanted to do some intentional work around creating community for black women expats in Amsterdam. Tracian and I came to the conference thinking we’d present on our little meet up and at best do a bit of networking. But what ended it up happening was more than either of us could have imagined.
As soon as Dr. Emejulu started speaking, I felt instantly seen and validated. I recognized myself as part of this international tribe of diasporic Black feminists roaming around Europe creating affirming and healing spaces as we go. Dr. Emejulu framed the conference by explaining how in Europe WOC are positioned as both passive victims and existential threats to the homogenized left.
As I listened, a chocolate brown sista with the smoothest skin ever seated across from me, complimented me on my outfit. Black women have a way of being both secure in their own flyness and affirming yours in the same breath. Love it. Dr. Emejulu went on to affirm that Europe has not and cannot exist without an alien other and we, fabulous WOC are those aliens. And this fact is not unfortunate, it’s calculated.
The first panel I went to was called, “The Politics of Home”. There, I listened enraptured as Fanny Essiye, a self identified French Afro Feminist, broke down the many ways that France has erased ‘race’ as a concept from the national discourse. I learned about the damage that stems from the romanticization of Europe by Black Americans living abroad like myself. The idea of Europe as a racism free space where Black folks are free and safe has been propagated since the Harlem Renaissance when James Baldwin, Richard Wright, Josephine Baker and others fled American racism for bluer skies across the Atlantic. What this narrative does is give license to French society to point to America as the place where racism of the worst kind exists and to vindicate the French of their own brand of it. As Essiye says, France points its finger at America’s tumultuous racial history while deflecting its own history of colonialism and institutionalized racism. She explained that the importance of a conference like the one we were all attending lies in the fact that in France the work of French Afro feminists has been erased making it impossible for women like her to see their experiences reflected and affirmed. Essiye ends on the imperative for us all to center and elevate the work and stories of our diasporic feminist foremothers.
Traci and I presented on the next panel called “Black feminist/Afro feminist collectives in conversation”. The highlight of presenting at this conference for me was not the presentation itself but all the positive and energy we received from all the dope women in the room. Our co-panelist was a tall and impressive organizer with a fro from an organization called Matters of the Earth, who made all our jaws drop each time she spoke. Also sat in the room was Siana, a spunky artist and poet with bright lipstick and hip glasses, a member of Abasindi – an autonomous cooperative for Black women founded in ‘79 and many more fly and brilliant sistas. Dr. Emejulu herself facilitated our panel where we discussed intergenerational movement building, policing blackness, and transphobia in feminist spaces.
After the final session of the day, we were all ushered into the main hall where we were blessed with reflections from British director and artist Cecile Emekewho shared the real challenges with centering Blackness in her work. My biggest takeaway from Emeke’s talk was that while we can’t control who consumes our work, we can control where we spend our time. As a writer who struggles with not writing for the white gaze, I really appreciated this nugget of wisdom.
Before heading back to Amsterdam the following day, Tracian and I got the chance to spend the day exploring Edinburgh. The sun was shining and the sky was blue (unusual for September from what I hear). We floated around the city glowing, carried by the energy of the previous day. Feeling a little less alone, a little less crazy and a lot more buoyant, bold and Black.
Originally posted here: https://woceuropeconference.wordpress.com/blog/