Decolonial Daughter

Lesley-Ann Brown

Our board member Lesley-Ann Brown will have a new book published next year.?Decolonial Daughter: Letters from a Black Woman to Her European Son?will be available in paperback on??15 May 2018.?

A Trinidadian-American writer and activist explores motherhood, migration, identity, nationhood and how it relates to land, imprisonment, and genocide for Black and Indigenous peoples.

Having moved to Copenhagen, Denmark from Brooklyn over 18 years ago, Brown attempts to contextualise her and her son’s existence in a post-colonial and supposedly post-racial world where the very machine of so-called progress has been premised upon the demise of her lineage. Through these letters, Brown writes the past into the present – penned from the country that has been declared “The Happiest Place in the World” – creating a vision that is a necessary alternative to the dystopian one currently being bought and sold.

Pre-order now in Europe or the US.

Board Member Irene Opira’s Kulturf?reningen Maisha presents NANDI FLAME

Presented by Maisha Cultural Association

NANDI FLAME NANDI FLAME

 

Welcome to an evening inspired by Wangari Maathai, environmental activist and founder of the Green Belt Movement, also the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. If the trees – Nandi Flames could speak, then they would sing about Wangari Maathai and tell you this evening about the global climate and the situation in Africa. A performance of dance, music, and ghosts will be to and fro about the climate.

Extreme weather and natural disasters around the world make us unable to shut up for climate change. But much can be prevented and prevented.

Come and listen to Mats Nittve Vi-forest ambassador who tells you about their amazing work in East Africa. On stage, dancers meet and have a dance show! The Troubadour Tauna Niingungo plays on several instruments, including a rainstorm. Jessica Karl?n about doing stand-up in South Africa and much more.

participants:

Mats Nittve Vi-forest ambassador

Tauna Niingungo Trubadur

Jessica Karl?n artist, writer, and comedian

Darun poet

Charlotte Rieback & Diasmany Dance (Afro-Cuban)

Matilda Peltonen solo no

Kulturama dance show

The program is supported by the City of Stockholm. Maisha Cultural Association is part of Kulturens Bildningsf?rbund.

Photo: Goldman Environment Prize
Length: 2 hours incl. Break
Price: 120 kr, 100 kr student / retired
Date: 23 Sep, 19:00, Teater Pero

Lagom: The Swedish Secret of Living Well

Our board member Lola Akinmade ?kerstr?m?has published a new book,?Lagom: The Swedish Secret of Living Well.

Lola Akinimade
Books We?re Loving this Month: August

The hardcover version, released this month, was chosen by the famous British bookseller WH Smith for inclusion on their reading list for August:

We love nothing more than discovering new books, and even better, having a good chat about them afterwards with fellow bookworms. And so whether you’re devoted to Richard and Judy’s recommendations, searching for some Fresh Talent to read before all your friends, or simply looking for something new to get lost in on a Sunday afternoon, take a look at the books that we can’t stop talking about this month and let us know what you think!

We couldn’t be more proud!

Available on Amazon.co.uk

Available in Spanish.

Available on Amazon.com

Board Member

Award-winning writer and photographer Lola (Akinmade) ?kerstr?m has photographed and dispatched from roughly 60?countries for?various publications.?Her photography is represented by?National Geographic Creative.

Her work has appeared in?National Geographic Traveler,?BBC,?CNN,?The Guardian,?Travel + Leisure,?Slate,?Travel Channel, Lonely Planet, Fodor?s, National Geographic Channel,?several in-flight magazines,?amongst others. She was?in South Africa on a photography assignment for National Geographic Channel and was featured in?a?vignette?called ?Through The Lens? which airs on Nat Geo channel across the globe.

She also owns and runs?Geotraveler Media?? a?multimedia and travel consulting firm providing a spectrum of travel media-related services from writing and photography to web design and social media. She is editor-in-chief of?Slow Travel Stockholm?? an editorial site which encourages travelers to explore Stockholm deeper and slowly.

She is?also a founding member of the?Nordic Travel Bloggers?(NordicTB)?collective which brings together the top professional travel influencers and digital storytellers?in the Nordic countries of Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland.

“Chocolate with milk?”

Source – CNN

Former tennis great Ilie Nastase handed four-year ban for racist Serena Williams slur

Serena Williams
Williams ranked number 51 in the Forbes 100 List of Highest Paid Athletes last year and was the only woman!

Former grand slam winner Ilie Nastase has been banned from any official roles in tennis until 2021 and fined $10,000 for his foul-mouthed outbursts during a Fed Cup tie between Great Britain and Romania in April.

During the tie, Nastase, the Romanian team captain, made “racially insensitive” comments about Serena Williams’ unborn child, the London-based organization said in an emailed statement on Friday.
He also made “abusive and threatening comments” to British No. 1 Jo Konta and a female British reporter who had reported his comments about Williams.

On the first day of the tie, Nastase had wondered out loud what skin color Williams’ unborn child would have after Romanian No. 1 Simona Halep was answering a reporter’s question about the 23-time grand slam winner.

“Let’s see what color it has,”

Romanian and British reporters had quoted Nastase as saying.

“Chocolate with milk?”

 


“It disappoints me to know we live in a society in which people like Ilie Nastase can make such racist comments towards myself and unborn child, and sexist comments against my peers,”

–Serena Williams

Editor’s note – This is just Another example of why our work is so important. Help us compile the most comprehensive directory of organizations across Europ? that support black women. Send submissions to contact@bwiesmg.org.

In her own words: A South African tourist was hospitalised in Amsterdam after she was pushed down a flight of stairs in Amsterdam by her Airbnb host.

South African visual artist Sibahle Steve Nkumbi was thrown down a staircase while leaving an Airbnb address she was staying at in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Nkumbi came to Amsterdam to work an exhibit at the Amsterdam Stedelijk, where work was being showcased of the artist collective Zanele Muholi. Nkumbi was scheduled to check out of the apartment at 11 am but was still there after 12 pm.

At this time, the landlord arrived at the property, which ultimately resulted in Nkumbi being thrown down the stairs. Nkumbi stated that no one was arguing with the landlord but were trying to reason with him. She believes that he was verbally aggressive and that the attack was racially motivated. Besides Nkumbi being able to give a firsthand account of what happened, there is also a video footage of the incident. The mainstream media is reporting that the suspect can face attempted murder charges.

Another example of why our work is vital. You can support us by making a donation and by submitting the names to contact@bwiesmg.org of organizations across Europe that support black women as we build the most comprehensive directory of its kind.

Did a British Conservative MP say “nigger in the woodpile”?

In fact, yes she did. Here is the headline:

A Conservative MP has been suspended from the party after it emerged she used a racist expression during a public discussion about Brexit.

nigger
Ms Morris has been MP for Newton Abbot since 2010

According to the British Broadcasting Corporation??Anne Marie Morris, the MP for Newton Abbot, used the phrase at an event in London to describe the prospect of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Don’t believe me? Click on the image below to listen to her say it courtesy of the Huffington Post UK:
nigger

Why in the world would Morris say,

Now we get to the real nigger in the woodpile

when suggesting that just 7% of financial services would be affected by Brexit is beyond me. And apparently beyond the grasp of PM May who acted swiftly saying,

“I immediately asked the chief whip to suspend the party whip,” she said in a statement.?”Language like this has absolutely no place in politics or in today’s society.” ?(source : BBC) That’s a no-brainer but was a necessary statement and move.

And it didn’t stop there.

Leader Tim Farron said he was “shocked” and called for her to be suspended from the parliamentary party.?”This disgusting comment belongs in the era of the Jim Crow laws and has no place in our Parliament,” he said. (source: BBC)

Now why is this a big deal? ?The BBC breaks it down like this:

The phrase originated in the American Deep South in the mid-19th Century and is thought to have referred to slaves having to conceal themselves as they sought to flee north and secure their freedom.

It was subsequently used in the 20th Century – including by a number of leading novelists – as a metaphor to describe a hidden fact or problem.

This is another example why The Black Women in Europe? Social Media Group non-profit is vital. We face attacks like this daily whether others see or hear them or not. It is not in our heads. It is a reality.

You can support us by making a donation and by submitting the names to contact@bwiesmg.org of organizations across Europe that support black women as we build the most comprehensive directory of its kind.

Don’t let the Gollywogs get you down :(

Gollywogs
Looked innocent enough. Little did I know when I walked in they would be selling GOLLYWOGS!!!***!!*!

My heart sank when I spotted them. And suddenly the small gift shop felt even smaller and tight as if all of the air has been sucked out of it when I inwardly gasped. I remained cool though and, in Swedish, asked my Swede to take a picture of the Gollywogs while I continued my I’m just looking lap around the store.

Gollywogs
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a box of Gollywogs before.

Maybe it was my imagination but it felt like I was invisible, at least no one wanted to let me pass easily as I slinked around the shoppers looking at rows and rows of British beach pier souvenir junk. I was the only black person in the store. Just me and the box of Gollywogs. I wondered if they were invisible too to did people come in looking to buy a Gollywog when they visit the seaside.

When we got outside I remarked, that was some racists sh*t (or something to that effect). My Swede asked why I didn’t say anything to the store owners. I replied, no, I’ll blog about it. This is why my non-profit is needed. We need a directory for black women across Europe so no one ever feels alone.

Help us build the largest and most comprehensive directory.

Blogger and plus-size model forced to take a break from Ireland?s community Twitter account after being told to ?return to your ancestral lands? by trolls

Michelle Marie

Source: The Guardian

Editor’s note: While this article is 8 months old it highlights the need for organizations like ours and why compiling a directory that supports black women across Europe is critical work. Help us by submitting the names and website links of those organizations that are missing from our directory to contact@bwiesmg.org. Thank you.

Black woman inundated with racist abuse while tweeting for @Ireland

A black British woman who was chosen to tweet from the @ireland account for a week has been subjected to a barrage of racist abuse, forcing her to take a break from Twitter.

Michelle Marie took over the account ? which is curated by a different Twitter user in Ireland each week ? on Monday. She introduced herself as a mother, blogger and plus-size model.

Originally from Oxford in England, she wrote she had settled in Ireland and ?it has my heart?.

However, just hours after taking over the profile ? which is followed by nearly 40,000 people ? the abuse began.

Ireland
Michelle Marie has been subjected to a torrent of racial abuse on Twitter. Photograph: Michelle Marie/Twitter

Marie received a lot of tweets of support, with many users urging her to report the abuse and block the users responsible.

Ireland

She posted a statement saying that while she had expected

?trolls, backlash and criticism?

she had experienced

?racism, sexism, fatophobia and homophobia to a degree I have never known.?

After

?8hrs of non-stop hate?

she said she was hurt, shocked and appalled but promised she would try again tomorrow.

Marie told the Guardian that the experience had been upsetting.

?I?m saddened that such extreme racism and vitriol is still rife. I am fortunate that experiencing this level of hate is a rarity, but for too many it?s a daily reality,?

she said.

Black Women in Europe?Social Media Group registration

It is official! We are a recognized non-profit, known as ideel f?rening, in Sweden.

Black Women in Europe?Social Media Group registration paperwork.

Special thank you to Irene Opira for her insight, keen eye, and above all the time she dedicated to ensuring that our paperwork was correct.

More thanks to our entire Board for taking the necessary time required to hash through, section by section to guarantee our Statutes reflect our values and goals.