Women are Powerful and Dangerous: First ever women of color panel discussion in Copenhagen Denmark

On Friday September 4, 2015 I received the distinct privilege of moderating a panel of 9 women of color  at Spillestedet Stendgade to discuss Race, gender and class. Organised by Spillestedet Stendgade and the African Empowerment Center - this panel discussion received an enthusiastic response - with over 700 people wanting to come but room for only 130 - we barely managed to cover all of the issues on the agenda.
This was but a taste of things to come.

picture courtesy of David Morrow

picture courtesy of David Morrow

picture courtesy of David Morrow

picture courtesy of David Morrow

picture courtesy of David Morrow

I was invited to moderate this event along with Iman Mohamed from the African Empowerment Center and the panelists were truly global with their presence and experiences in Denmark providing the common thread. We managed to speak on Identity, Intersectionality, "The double burden" and Feminism and its relationship to women of color, both historically and in the present day.

Too often rendered silent or invisible,  a platform was created for women of color from various backgrounds to share their thoughts, experiences and concerns, from each their own unique point of view.

We trust the power of words and we trust that creating this space will provide ample ground for many seeds of change to be planted.  

Given the overwhelming response to this evening’s event we presented a rather unorthodox panel – usually a panel is about half the size of Friday evening’s. But given the response we wanted to honor the symbolic gesture of being as inclusive as possible. We plan on holding more panels – much smaller in size but more frequent. Clearly there is a need for it.

Our panelists included:

Yanaba Rymark Sankoh  Her roots originate in Sierra Leone and Denmark. Rymark Sankoh is part of a feminist office community in Kvindehuset in Copenhagen and a member of the newly established group Brune Feminister. Rymark Sankoh has worked as an educator for 20 years with focus on ethnic and social marginalization and stigmatizing and currently holds a position as a project worker in a parents' organization. She’s a graduate student in Learning and Innovative Change and work especially with learning and gender theories from a feminist, multi-cultural and critical perspective which focuses particularly on power, diversity, discrimination and intersectionality. Rymark Sankoh identifies as queer and she’s the mother of a twenty year old son and a six year old daughter.  She is soon completing her Masters.

Julia Suárez-Krabbe was born in Colombia. She has a Danish mother and a Colombian father and moved to Denmark when 12 due to the escalation of the war in Colombia. Suárez-Krabbe  is cis-gendered and identify as Latina/Mestiza and has engaged in anti-racist and feminist activisms for many years, both in Colombia and in Denmark. Right now, her activism is framed from within the framework of 'Freedom of Movements'. As associate professor at Roskilde University she also teaches these issues, focusing on feminists of color, decolonization, and racism and antiracism both in theory and in practice.

Sananda Solaris is half Iranian, raised in Jutland and has been an activist and worked with refugees and asylum seekers for over 25 years.  She is a dramatist, theater director and director/ co-producer/founder of Theater Solaris which is located at .  Solaris was educated at the State’s Theater School in Copenhagen in 2004, and has directed shows at Gladsaxe New Theater, The Royal Ballet and opera, Oslo National Theater and Roskilde domkirke.  In 2010 she received the distinct honor of being included in Kraks Blue Book.

Margeret Adesuwa Odiase  was Born and raise a Nigerian and came to DK in 1997. A secondary school teacher from Nigeria, Adesuwa Odiase SOSU education in Denmark.

Hodan Mohamed is a 29-year-old women of Somali origin. Born in Somalia, raised in Pakistan and lived in Denmark since 1998.

Mohamed holds a Masters degree in Development Studies, and has for the past 10-years been engaged with different integration projects in Denmark. Mohamed has also been deployed to the Horn of Africa for two years working with refugees in Kenya.

Larissa Imfurayase was born in Kigali, Rwanda in 1987 and left my country because of the civil war in 1994. Imfurayase has been in Denmark with her family since 1999.

Sara Touré is 21 years old, born and raised in Copenhagen. Her mother is from Ivory Coast and father Guinea Conakry. She studies at Frederiksberg HF and is in her second year now. Her dream is to study African History.

Hanan Chemlali is Moroccan, born and raised in Copenhagen. Chemlali has a BA in International Development Studies and Cultural Encounters from Roskilde University. Her expertise is in communication, power structures, human rights, transnational and cross-cultural collaboration. Last year at the Asian Legal Resource Center (ALRC) in Hong Kong, she was associated with India Country Desk including, writing appeals to the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights violations on women in India. Chemlali has also published an article about acid attacks on women in South Asia. In August Chemlali begins her MA studies in Journalism at the University of Southern Denmark

Violeta Ligrayen Yañez Hidalgo is Chilean, born and raised in Sweden, where her family came as political refugees in the 80'. She has lived in Denmark for the past four years.  Violeta Ligrayen Yañez Hidalgo strongly identifies with her roots and is interested in colonized history and how it influences our everyday lives. She’s been involved in feminist and queer activism for years, both in Barcelona and Copenhagen and find inspiration in indigenous movements in Wall Mapu, queer theory, post colonial and feminism of color.

Nereya Otieno is a writer coming from San Francisco, California and has spent the last four years in Denmark. Her father is Kenyan and mother is a mix of Swedish, Danish, Jamaican and Chinese. While Otieno’s education is in cognition and musicology, she knows a good deal about being a black woman.

Nasrin Billie was born in Somalia. Billie came to Denmark as a 7 year old and has lived here ever since. Billie holds a bachelor degree in journalism from University of Southern Denmark and a masters from three leading universities in Europe. Billie is a hardworking and dedicated story teller. Billie values passion, honesty and empowerment, and seeks to bring these values into play.

I would like to thank the African Empowerment Center, Spillestedet Stengade, the participants and audience members for making this such a special event.