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 ...

writer, artist, curator Alanna Lockward of Art Labour Archives photo courtesy of Simmi Dullay Yesterday witnessed the kick off of BE.BOP 2016 Black Body Politics: Call & Response.  An Art Labour Project curated by Alanna Lockward, BE.BOP is a loving decolonial space that gathers artists, thinkers, educators and political activists from all over the diaspora (over 20 countries). At last count countries included those on the continent of Africa  (Senegal, Ghana, Sudan, Senegal to name a few), Europe (Sweden, Denmark, Berlin, Switzerland etc.), South America and the Caribbean. This year's theme is that of 'marronage' - stemming from the concept of "maroon" - that space created by our ancestors who refused to be enslaved. What does it mean to create a community amidst the enemy?  The event began with a panel discussion based on the publication of BE.BOP 2012-2014 in Argentina. It includes the work of Erna Brodber, Fatima El Tayeb, Walter Mignolo, Teresa...