FEBRUARY 22, 2015
‘A letter from
one African woman
to another’
BY
In January 2015, the Warrior Poets collective invited me to speak at Litanies For Survival, part of Afropean+ at The Bozar Centre For Fine Arts in Brussels.
The event turned out to be a vibrant, memorable night of African culture – music, fashion, talks, art, dance, flash mobs – taking over one of Europe’s leading art institutions. Other talks and performances were by Alpha Blondy, Sekouba Bambino, Nganji Leah, Obi Okigbo and Shishani to name a few.
My presentation in the clip below is titled “So Long A Letter”. It is after, and in honour of, the eponymously titled book published in 1980 by the late Senegalese writer Mariama Bâ. The book is written in epistolary format – the protagonist, Ramatoulaye, writes a long letter, over 28 chapters, to her friend Aissatou. This is what I imagined to be the 29th chapter, a letter that I imagine Ramatoulaye might write to Assaitou in 2015.
It was a mix of talk, performance and poetry, a new format for me, which I am exploring as a means of radical African feminist interventions, and one I find impactful. I hope you do too.
If so, please share the talk to help spread the message of Africa, Feminism, Women, Power & Radical change!!!
Image is a collage by Nontsikelelo Mutiti
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Welcome to the award-winning, pan-African feminist blog, MsAfropolitan. Written by Minna Salami, member of Duke University’s Corporate Educator Network & The Guardian Africa Network.