politics, creative activisms and the occasional rant
This letter is directed to many organizations: some that participated in organizing the anti-AfD demonstrations last week, and those who publicized it. In this letter I urge you to take action against a specific type of racism that some of your spaces are infested with. I am writing this in between episodes of anger, rage,…
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Für die deutsche Version bitte runterscrollen Yoga is political Many start practicing yoga to get fitter, to relax, to do something good for themselves. We go to the studio, take a seat on our mat, the class begins, we practice different postures, the yoga class is over, we go home again. Today we practiced yoga, one item on our to-do…
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This article was first publishes on Skin Deep in January 2021, and edited by Nkenna Akunna. Check out their amazing work! This article was made possible by donations to the Black Creatives Fund. Donate now. [Trigger Warning: Homophobia, Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia] * Let me tell you about Haneen and Channah, my aunts who are like mothers to…
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“schwarz is exemplary of the kind of mindful discussions that should be taking place in Black communities: discussions where nobody is shouting above anyone else to declare that the racism they’ve experienced is more damaging than what someone else has faced; where people are free to speak their piece and be heard; and discussions underpinned…
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In this episode of Womxn Doing It For Themselves, we sat down with filmmaker Sarang Nes. She told us about her short documentary Cuntview, filming a naked vulva in a vulva shaped church, and shared an alternative feminist interpretation of Eve & Adam’s life in Paradise. About the film: Even though cunt is understood to…
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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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Dear Friend “Before you were artist/activist/feminist/socialist/revolutionary/she/he/they/queer/polyamorous/heterosexual/agnostic/atheist/believing/firefighter/activator/organiser/reader/…/…/… you were once a child. A child that was curious, not nasty. A child who questioned, but was not judgemental. Let this be our common ground.” Community is the only way through. We manifested this in our residency K I N O T I T A in spring. Holding…
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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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Dear K I N O T I T A, The world is moving at an incredible pace! It feels like yesterday that we began our residency. We worked through pandemic anxieties and sat still in our future fears, watching the world expose its ugly face from our rooms. Suddenly, we are out protesting. 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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In this series, we invited feminists all over the world to share their views on what we think are some of the crucial questions that we should be debating right now. The feminist movement is broad, diverse and sometimes divided. Is that a good or a bad thing? Please, share your opinion with us and…
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During our online art residency K I N O T I T A, Katouche, Hani, Addie & Aida created space for us to come together and explore some key themes from moments in black histories. These sessions were a safe space for casual yet meaningful conversation. They acted as a constant pillar upholding the roof…
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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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What makes a feminist in 2020? In this series, we invited feminists all over the world to share their views on what we think are some of the crucial questions that we should be debating right now. The feminist movement is broad, diverse and sometimes divided. Is that a good or a bad thing? Please,…
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What makes a feminist in 2020? In this series, we invited feminists all over the world to share their views on what we think are some of the crucial questions that we should be debating right now. The feminist movement is broad, diverse and sometimes divided. Is that a good or a bad thing? Please,…
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What makes a feminist in 2020? In this series, we invited feminists all over the world to share their views on what we think are some of the crucial questions that we should be debating right now. The feminist movement is broad, diverse and sometimes divided. Is that a good or a bad thing? Please, share your…
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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: Suicide, slavery, war, sexual violence, gender-based violence, European colonialism For over 500 years, Europe has been entombing the evidence of its terrorism in graveyards on the other side of the Atlantic/Pacific/Mediterranean. Most Europeans have never spared a thought to, let alone commemorated, the peoples whose destruction they have caused. Historically, the general populous…
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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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“I aim to look effortless” – European slim university student wearing a simple white shirt underneath a simple designer jacket, combined with casual jeans and simple expensive trainers and, of course, a messy bun. Dangling from her arm is a simple designer bag with her MacBook safely hidden in a simple but stylish laptop case.…
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“When I think of what literature can do, and I think of the ways that literature has changed minds and opened imaginations, I want to say that we African writers must centre the African gaze. We must centre the Nigerian gaze, the Cameroonian gaze, the Ethiopian gaze, the Kenyan gaze. We need to be writing…
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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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صوت المرأة ثورة Kandaka is the title used for queens in the ancient kingdom of Kush. However, Kandaka the word means “strong woman”. And where can you find stronger women than in Sudan? For four months now (really for many years), Sudanese people inside and outside the country have been protesting for the fall of […]
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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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How does a production co-produced by the English National Theatre become testament to the devastating situation in Calais Camp? Refugees are literally trying to cross the French-British border to enter the same ‘national’ land in which the production is freely touring. ‘The Jungle’ is a production created by Good Chance Theatre which aims to to…
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Recently, a friend submitted the following text to be published on Kandaka: One of the familiar feelings that British people of colour (especially black people) experience is the feeling of being visibly different: otherised. The recent group trip to Paris that I partook in, to work with refugees, was no exception to this sentiment. We…
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Why do we specifically label our feminism? Because different feminisms imagine different peace. In our opinion, most of the mainstream feminist visions are neither egalitarian nor liberatory. Feminism movement officially arose in what many refer to as the west, in the 18th century. In this context, first wave feminism is usually defined as the wave…
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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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This essay will challenge the question arguing that gender issues should be inherent in all fields and thus we should avoid discussing gender dynamics as a distinct discourse impacting the Arab revolts. Instead, we can discuss the impact of activist individuals or groups in the Arab revolts that consider gender dynamics. Women are an integral…
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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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KANDAKA 