This weekend-long convening by the AWDF afforded me literally the biggest hotel room of my life, besides an invaluable opportunity to learn about historical and current resistance movements across the continent.
One of the most profound of these was a truly insightful talk about the student-led movement in South Africa by Danai Mupotsa, a brilliant and committed Professor at the University of the Witswatersrand.
During our two days in Accra, the cohort deliberated on the ways in which feminist activists in arts and sports can strengthen one another’s work by forming strategic partnerships. I also discovered great projects like Moving the Goalposts, finally laid hands on a copy of the Voice Power Soul book from the African Feminist Forum, and got my very own ankara t-shirt from FitClique Africa.
The Love Mic, a closing event which was open to the public, gave me a chance to perform my poetry alongside gifted women like Toni Stuart, Sionne Neely, Rudo Chigudu and Jessica Horn (whose book ‘Speaking in Tongues’ is truly a masterpiece).
AWDF has a long history of responsive women’s rights programming, and I was glad to be part of helping them envision some of that work.