blackgirl on mars: notes on a life in copenhagen (or how my alienation brings me closer to people).

"We are talking theoretically. I am very angry. Are we going to talk theoretically, while people are dying?"  -- Napuli Paul Langa It's been a few weeks now since BE.BOP 2016 was held both in Berlin and here in Copenhagen and it's almost impossible for me to cover the deep and engaging content that I was privy too. There is one presentation however, which I feel to be timely, given the recent goings-on not only in my own life, but in the world at large. The presentation was by Napuli Paul Langa, the featured activist in the film, Napuli's Tree by Yoel Diaz Vazquez. The film captures the events of April 2014, when activists in 14 German cities organized protests, marches and creative actions in response to the "Refugee crisis." BE.BOP 2016 Black Europe Body Politics: Call &Response catalogue reads, "In an act of contemporary marronage, refugee and activist Napuli Langa took action by climbing a sycamore tree on Oranienplatz.  She ...

Berlin chronicles. Am in Berlin as one of the writers on a Daad Fellowship.. This is one of the most prestigious fellowships in the world. Berlin is a city of bikes. I live in Charlottenburg. You don't see black people in Charlottenburg. Today I was out shopping on my bike. I came out of Peek and Somethingburg all excited because I am off to dar es salaam tonight to see my in -love. Anyway am busy rushing about. My gorgeous apartment is a mess. Anyway, I am walking as carelessly as usual heading to unlock my bike when i see her - a black woman looking at me. She says, " I saw you the other day, cycling carelessly, on Saturday we buried 4 Ghanians. They kill you just like that you are nothing to them. Me-you cant see me on bicycle - they are supposed to remain 4 metres from you, but they don't. They kill you. I don't need a degree to say she meant Germans. But I am careless, and Berlin is a city designed for careless people. Except her - and I suspect they are many ot...