
To Turn this Whole World Over: Black Women’s Internationalism during the Twentieth Century. The volume will underscore Black women's international engagements across the globe. My contribution to the volume focuses on May Ayim, an Afro-German activist and public intellectual, who helped to co-found an Afro-German organization entitled Initiative of Black Germans or ISD. Ayim actually helped to initiate the Afro-German movement of the 1980s and 1990s. In "Feeling Solidarity," I argue that Ayim consciously pursued anti-racist work by employing her literary productions as forms of activism to obtain social visibility and equality for herself, Afro-Germans, and other people of color. Ayim’s emotions and experiences in post-Holocaust Germany and elsewhere shaped her writing, diasporic identity, and activism. Traversing borders, Ayim forged transnational networks that ultimately helped her achieve recognition as one of the most promising Afro-German intellectuals and performers of her generation. In essence, this historical piece attends to the interplay of writing, feminist activism, diasporic identity, and emotional belonging.
I need to send revisions to the editors by July and the editors would like me to situate Ayim a bit more among her peers, especially other women writers. Their comments were pretty minor, but I think the piece could be pushed further. So in terms of feedback, I am looking for general comments on clarity and style. Is my argument persuasive? Does the piece need additional examples? Does the piece work as a whole or is it missing something? Does Ayim come across as the main focal point? If not, what can I do to change this? How can I push my argument further? Is there something potentially missing from my narrative and analysis? Do I explain Ayim's significance enough? These are just some of things that I am grappling with and would encourage critical feedback from my group.
I hope this offers enough information. I am excited about engaging in feminist community building and scholarly work this week!
@tnflorvil
http://history.unm.edu/people/faculty/profile/tiffany-florvil.html
https://unm.academia.edu/TiffanyFlorvil
Yah #FSDW15!
2 comments
Your project sounds awesome!
Guten Tag!
I'm also interested in Afro-German women's activism, though still know very little about the scholarship. I am a fan of Fatima El Tayeb's work, however, and wanted to share a great video interview with you. Might not be of any help, but your project seems just too cool to not say anything. If I can help in any way, I'd love to! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tegCjkr4Fb8
-George
Vielen Dank
Dear George,
Thank you for the link and the compliment! Fatima El-Tayeb's work is fabulous. I use it along with Michelle Wright, Tina Campt, and others!
I will keep you posted about my work!
Viele Gruesse!!!
Tiffany