How do you put feminism into action at Womankind?
Sharing space with Grace. This, along with Joy, are a praxis I have learned to embrace, enjoy and exude as a praxis in my work. It is a continuum of African Queer excellence I do not take for granted given the many layers of systemic oppression, violence and injustice I have and continue to navigate. It lies in lived experience, decision making and deploying expertise where needed. In this case, in supporting Womankind strategically; I envision a collaborative, intentional and intersectional sharing and holding of space in deliberation and discretion. I bring almost a decade of governance experience at various levels, a breadth of grassroots feminist organising experience and the stories of many folks, institutions and ideas I have come across, co-created and supported.
Tell us about your feminist journey?
I was a feminist before I even knew the word. Starting as a volunteer and eventually leaving corporate and embracing activism full time has not been an easy road. It has included economic, social, psychological and historical survival, healing and navigating civil society politics to truly understand what feminism can look, feel and sound like. It has brought me to a higher level of consciousness, particularly Black, Pan African, Decolonial consciousness, intellect and celebration. It draws form the vast depths of legacies, efforts, and works of Toni Morrison, Audre Lorde, Brenda Fassie, Stella Nyanzi, Zanyiwe Nomzamo Winifred Madikizela-Mandela, Nina Simone, Mariam Makeba, Phumzile Mblambo-Ngcuka, Maya Angelou, and Angela Davis. My work has always been intersectional and intentional – destabilising normative movement, funding and narrative frameworks that reduce and narrow our lived experiences as complex and magnificent beings who carry our ancestors with every breath and own agency in its full beauty.
A feminist hero of yours?
They are two. Zanyiwe Nomzamo Winifred Madikizela-Mandela, she was the face of the anti-apartheid movement for over two decades whilst Nelson Mandela and the ”creme de la creme” (as she puts it) of the movement was in prison or in exile from South Africa. She and her children endured the brunt of indignity and inhumanity. Having faced nighttime raids of at least dozens of state militant force personnel breaking into her home to arrest her multiple times and frequently. She challenged state machinery and militarism whilst caring for communities and going in and out of prison, detention, interrogation and paying the price of being Mandela’s wife and a human rights defender in her own right.
The other is Toni Morrison – thats it, her name in two words – in all her glory.
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