When George Floyd’s murder re-ignited Black Lives Matter protests in the U.S. and around the world in May 2020, I was living in my mother’s house in Nuremberg, Germany, for the first time in five years. I felt lost and without a community to experience and welcome this moment in all its pain and possibility.…
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انا بقالى مدة مفكرتش ف عذريتى…من ساعة ما تقبلت اٍنى مش مصاحبة حد, الجنس و التواصل الجسدي بقوا حاجات بشترك فيها (سواء مع نفسى او مع ناس تانية) لسعادتى أنا. بس اقدر افتكر فترة كبيرة فى حياتى كانت مليانة بالتفكير فى العذرية, و اٍكتشفت إنى كنت بربطها بالنور و الضلمة. التواصل الجسدي فى الضلمة تجربة…
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I’m a white cis able-bodied woman, my partner is a white cis able-bodied man. It often feels like writing about my experiences takes up too much space on this blog. As part of my work on Kandaka I have published „If you look like me“ (2018) and „The right time and place to be a…
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On Saturday, 6th June, I joined the Black Lives Matter protest in Berlin. In the past years, I protested for Black Lives in London, alongside many other Black people and allies. As Germany has a much smaller Black population, Berlin’s protest was mostly white. Of course, when the majority of the participants are non-Black, the…
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(hurtful words my friend was told by her friend and the later response to him after digesting it) Trigger Warning: Rape A few months ago, a friend of mine went out partying. It was a dress-up party so she put glitter on her cheeks, wore eye shadow and lipstick, and dressed up according to the…
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In January 2019, Valia, Vee and I sat down in a Palestinian restaurant in Central London and decided to start a podcast. We were going to call it Kandakat doing it for themselves – Exploring activism in everyday practice. Vee had been experimenting with sound; Valia and I had been looking for ways to capture…
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“No I know you, I can feel you, you’re a good girl.” In most cases, you smile when being told that you’re a good person. Maybe because you’re kind and you radiate positive energy. This definition implies that anyone can be good. However in my world, good carries a different meaning. It comes with a…
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Who are you, Zoe? Hi! Gosh how do I answer that ? I am just a being navigating her way through reality, writing things here and there, trying to create and just be. At the time of writing this (while ‘I Am the Black Gold of the Sun’ by Rotary Connection and Minnie Riperton…
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You will feel it he said The ache he said You will grow and know he said What it is to want and be wanted he grabbed Haunted by hands too big and feet kicking against the waterDon’t say my name Don’t be nice Hold me and go fast fuck yeah that feels good even…
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Scrollt runter für die deutsche Version! “I see myself as a perfect mix between masculine and feminine as I am always playing with both genders, not only in pictures but in every aspect of my life.” With this statement, you started our interview for ‘Cover Art Has No Gender’. Now, two years later, you have…
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Trigger Warning: N-word Everything is political. Even looking for a flat. I recently joined multiple housing groups in Cairo and posted that I was looking to rent a room in a nice flat with nice people and no pets. On my Facebook page, you can find a picture of me in a bra, a picture of me…
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(2019) Sitting on the steps of the sidewalks, I was waiting for the bus to take me to the capital’s airport.I said to my friend: “I hope I still belong in Egypt.” I had not visited Egypt in three years and had moved away seven years ago. I had become accustomed to losing and…
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On the 15th of April 2019, the famous cathedral Notre Dame in Paris caught fire. I want to recall the digital discourses around the fire and demonstrate how a closer look at them shows the state of our current social, economic and political situation. At 6:20 p.m. local time on Monday, 15th of April…
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The 2019 EU elections are coming up, and if it were not for my other European friends, I would probably not be locating the voting polls between 23rd and 26th July 2019. Before I urge you to run to the voting polls or complete your registrations (for those of you living outside your country…
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My home is not Christchurch. My passport has never reached New Zealand’s border control. Despite this, when I awoke to the news that at least 49 Muslim men and women were massacred by a white supremacist during the holiest prayer of the week, my body reacted the way it would have had a bomb exploded…
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My sexual preference wasn’t something I allowed myself to realise or explore until I turned seventeen. Nevertheless, my attraction to women was something I accepted relatively easily and within a couple of months of silently voicing the fact to myself, I found myself coming out to my friends. It wasn’t until a year later, having…
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1 Learn from art; make art Your creativity is your safe space. Your room is your refuge; your pictures, your drawings, your books, your music and your writings are your tools for self-therapy. Be inspired both by yourself and other women. Share their strength, learn from them and learn from and about yourself. Listen to…
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My journey of grasping privilege started off in a Bavarian primary school full of immigrants’ children frowned upon by society and “destined” to leave education early. I was always top of my class, probably because I am smart, definitely because I spoke German perfectly. My German social-worker Mum had dragged me to virtually all museums…
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Nimo is a 21 year old BA History and Arabic student at SOAS, University of London, who is currently doing her year abroad in Alexandria, Egypt. Born and raised in London with Somali origins, she believes that her headscarf is a sign of her Muslim identity. Farah is as 23 year old Egyptian with a…
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A couple of months ago I got into a discussion with a guy about feminism (will I ever learn…). He said something along the lines of ‘I wouldn’t say I’m a feminist because I don’t like the word but obviously I agree with gender equality’. Here we go, I thought. I proceeded to listen for…
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Hannah interviewed and photographed her beautiful mother Petra who survived breast cancer and agreed to share her story with Kandaka. Hopefully, this can be of help to women who fight or help others fight illness. How did you find out about your breast cancer? In 2007, my gynecologist offered me to undertake an annual ultrasound…
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Three of the top propositions I had to face up to as a young girl and woman: „Don’t make such a fuss!” „Nobody’s going to steal anything away from you!” „She really is embarrassed.“ It is true. I sometimes am kind of bashful. As my native language is German, when I started thinking about…
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TRIGGER WARNING: RAPE I have been calling myself a feminist since my sister called herself a feminist. Before I knew what it was, I knew I was one. I think of myself as a confident and independent woman, who knew what her boundaries were. I never thought I would put myself in situations where I…
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What do you wanna be when you grow up? Have you started looking at any career options? I am on the verge of finishing my university degree: sketching a trajectory, defining my course of action and giving a shape to my aspirations has become somewhat pressing. In the West, we are brought from the youngest…
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How do you view yourself? I see myself as a perfect mix between masculine and feminine as I am always playing with both genders, not only in pictures but in every aspect of my life. People often call me a fag, attempting to put me in the box of the hyper feminine gay man,…
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Listen to Letting Go Reloaded, an acoustic rendition of the lead single off IMMINENT’s first EP Letting Go, sung by Katouche and her beautiful sisters. The subject of makeup rouses a lot of passion in me. Anyone who knows me well enough knows I am quite the makeup enthusiast. I could probably buy a second-hand…
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“Why did you have a kid at such a young age ?” – “Why? Does it matter ? Do you think I didn’t choose this ?” I became a mother at the age of 20. Neither was it planned nor was I in a relationship with the father. I had just started studying for…
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Scroll down for English. Mein wuscheliges Ich Ich bin 16 Jahre alt und stolz darauf hinter meinem Körper und seinen Besonderheiten zu stehen. Dies war nicht immer so, denn ich bin behaart. Ich habe nicht nur die weit verbreiteten und gehassten Härchen an meinen Beinen, nein mein ganzer Körper wird von einem goldenen Flaum…
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Beauty is as much universal as it relative. It comes from within as much as it is influenced from outside. Most of the time, I know that I am beautiful because it is easy to remember when people compliment me regularly. Living in London for the last two years, there has probably never been a…
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I think before I start this piece it’s important that I make a disclaimer: I speak for myself and my experiences alone, if this is relatable then let’s start a conversation , if it isn’t well thanks for reading, I appreciate you. With that out of the way, I want to extend my gratitude to…
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Where to begin… last year my life completely changed. I shot my first set of nude self portraits in my friend’s bedroom and posted them online for the world to see. After receiving more likes, comments and shares then I had ever gotten on a photograph before I felt uplifted, inspired, liberated and confident. It…
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My grandma was a German catholic girl who had to flee what is now Czech after Germany lost WWII. Her family moved to the Munich area and after finishing school, she started working at Foehrenwald, the biggest camp for displaced persons. There, she met my grandfather, a Jewish man who had escaped the Ghetto in…
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My cousin has always been my role model. I look up to her and take inspiration from how she views the world. When she started interesting herself in politics, I did, too, and she was one of the reasons I decided to study in London. However, I have never admired her or compared myself to…
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Would you believe me if I told you? Would you believe me if I told you that your crooked teeth shouldn’t stop you from smiling; or that your long legs don’t mean no high heels; or better yet – that neon colors pop on that ebony laced skin of yours? I bet you laughed…
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Disclaimer: This essay largely speaks from personal experience and acknowledges that it is not always as such. It does not support stereotypes but simultaneously aims to bring out issues that many women may have faced. Many men often lack the ability, or rather the will, to accept no as an answer. Not only does that…
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