Radical. African. Lesbian. Feminist.
It was at the Johannesburg International Airport that a seemingly disparate group of women gathered on 22 August 2004. Initially scattered, warm greetings and hugs brought them together as they recognized one another from previous forums and meetings and spoke […]
This Saturday, 26th September, the 11th Annual Soweto Pride March takes place. As the date approaches, we are busy with many things. What will I wear? Why hasn’t FNB sent me that SMS telling me I have money in the […]
You’re born, you grow up, you go to school, you get a job, you get married, you have children, you retire, and then you die. Queer, gender-diverse, sexually-non conforming, or straight-if you have grown up in Africa, or any other […]
This conversation is a very chicken-and-egg kind of conversation. What are you first? An African? A woman? Or a lesbian? What identity do we value the most above all the ones that often lead to controversial conversations? This has been […]
We are encircled by silhouettes of a woman, her blank body inscribed with a fight for justice. Buyisiwe is a survivor of sexual assault, but now she is a victim of a court system that continues to fail women. There […]
A few years back, a group of rich white men sat down with a map of Africa and started drawing lines. Bargaining and trading, they split up the continent, claiming sovereignty over ‘their’ territories and deciding who could live […]
From the moment we are born, the people around us – particularly those with power – try to convince us that ‘silence is golden’. It’s most extreme expression may well be the old maxim that ‘good girls should be seen […]
We all have a right to be safe. We all have a right to express ourselves. We all have the right to choose our identities, to control our bodies, to love ourselves and each other. We all have a […]
Feminism. Sexuality. Gender. Patriarchy. Power. Bodies. Knowledge. These words – and many more like them – fill our conversations, drive our activism. But what do such concepts mean for us as a movement? Have we moved beyond the need […]
A rallying cry of ‘Vagina! Vagina! Vagina to vagina!’ rang out as the Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL) began its Southern Africa Planning and Skills-building Workshop. For the next six days, delegates from across the region will develop a sexual […]
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