MY JOURNEY THROUGH LiTERATURE, ARTS, AND MUSiC.
How adopting an intersectional lens to dissect, create my reality and better understand my experiences has been essential in the process of awareness.
by Natasha Aidoo
Read this in the FEMINIST ZINE
What i feed my soul with has to represent me.
it felt like waking up from an infinite dream. The realisation that what i've been used to, what i considered as "classics" and my perception of reality was based on a limited, western and patriarchal perspective. What seemed "normal" became foreign and questionable. i started to doubt what i knew, to interrogate myself and what i learned, to analyse critically what surrounded me. i began with my everyday choices. What i read, watched, listened to, accepted as canonical. The first step was to apply a gender perspective, then a race one, followed by a non-eurocentric and a class one. Little by little i realised that these factors couldn't be viewed singularly, but as intricately intertwined. The concept that i discovered was "intersectionality". An analytical category that sounds "trendy" nowadays, even though its complexity, innovation and everyday application isn't simply overlooked by those who experience intersectionality as a daily exercise.
i love literature, visual arts, music, cinema and television. i used to enjoy just the fact of being able to access these forms of creativity, genius and magic. i felt lucky and grateful. i didn't care nor couldn't grasp how narrow what i was presented as standard, a masterpiece and pioneering was. i read novels, essays, plays and poems. But what was i reading? Works written by white western men: whether in ancient, modern or contemporary times. That represented the constant element of the reading list i had made for myself after personal, academic and social feedback. The fact of being a black african young woman has pushed me to acknowledge the weight of my literary decisions. Ethnicity, race, gender, geography have become concepts that allow me to dissect my behaviour critically. i felt guilty for not considering, dedicating time and simply forgetting to recognize female/ BiPOC/ african authors. The act of choosing a book has transformed into an aware action. i don't underlook the worth of writers like Dante Alighieri, Flaubert or Orwell, but i don't believe in the existence of an exclusive club. i want to be able to reference names like James Baldwin, bell hooks, Audre Lorde, Eva Rutland, Angela Davis, Sappho, Banana Yoshimoto, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Yasmina Khadra. Without explaining who they are, because they are part of our common literature.
Visual arts, in this context, stand for painting, photography and sculpture. if i asked you to pick, without thinking about it too much, an artist that is not a man and possibly not white, would you find it an easy task? This simple exercise, at least for me, reflects the difficulty in considering the arts in a world where there are artists, independently from the skin colour, the gender, the class and other elements. Talent is overshadowed by the eurocentric, patriarchal and heteronormative dimension of our society. This is obviously perpetrated in education, in the way we perceive reality and the mindset we take for granted. it's an issue of recognition, representation, visibility and access. The more we struggle towards an open and meritocratic environment, the more we will be exposed to works of art made by a variety of artists. it will be ordinary, not exceptional to attend an exhibition by a non-white artist, instead of perceiving it as an addition to the canonical parameter. i want to see a Picasso painting next to one of Natalia Goncharova or of Otobong Nkanga. i want to marvel at the latest project of Aida Muluneh or Alex Prager alongside photographs by Salvador Dali. i want to think of sculptors as Phidias, Michelangelo and Giacometti while knowing that there are others like Brancusi, El Anatsui, Andra Ursuţa, Carol Bove and Monster Chetwynd. The hierarchy, division and inaccessibility in the artistic field has to be acknowledged, dismantled and destroyed.
Music holds an essential function in my life. Because of how much time i spend time guided by melodies and lyrics, learning about it and researching new bands, i've felt the urgency to listen to songs that empower and are significant to me as a woman, african and black. The importance of songs like "Django Jane" by Janelle Monáe, "Phenomenal Woman" by Laura Mvula, "Don't Touch My Hair" by Solange and "i Owe You Nothing" by Seinabo Sey are just examples of how personal yet powerful music can be. i consider the fact that i can relate to classics such as John Coltrane, Bad Brains, Fela Kuti, Death, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, Alice Coltrane and Fatoumata Diawara so special. These are some of the names that enrich, expand and elevate the musical field. They don't simply side with the "other" artists. They struggled for their place and deserve the required appreciation. it's not about race nor gender. it's about talent in expressing oneself through the musical language in a timeless and spaceless way. The necessity to look closer for bands/artists that i can identify with beyond their music, has enabled me to dive deep into the vast musical ocean. And into myself. Having the possibility to get to know my second home, Africa, through different artists has been fundamental in developing a further knowledge of the history of music, in connecting me more to such a nuanced continent and in broadening my understanding of a country like Ghana.
i'd like to focus on cinema and tv series. Being passionate about and fascinated by the evolution of this field, it became automatic to search for films and tv content that were characterised not only by equality and diversity, but also contrasted marginalisation. Whether it was in the production or in the characters and the plot. i've been used to relating, without particular issues, to stories told and played by white rich men/women. The time has come to make the same platform available to who has always struggled to be included. Under the reflectors and behind the scenes. The weight of the work of individuals like Barry Jenkins, issa Rae, Ava Du Vernay, Ryan Coogler and Jordan Peele (just to name a few) has to be highlighted for its quality and the fact that multiple constraints have made it harder for them, and all the others, to access the entertainment world and to be then considered. i find solace in watching "insecure" and “Twenties”; i’m heart-broken by the reality in "When they see us" or "Seven Seconds"; i feel seen when a film as "Black Panther" or "Moonlight" and "Get Out" is produced and is successful. When representation goes hand in hand with recognition, then we can affirm that the conditions are changing. Entertainment makes up a large part of my visual experience, so by making sure that what i enjoy enables me to grow, to share feelings and to be self-aware is me trying to consciously analyse, select and value what i want to watch. i find it necessary, empowering and rewarding to control what nurtures my mind and soul.
Reflecting on this topic made me realise that i attach great importance to the way i spend my time and my energies. The political dimension intersects the personal one. My daily choices allow me to make a difference in the way I approach what society offers. i can be entertained, enjoy literature and arts while still being actively in control. While at the beginning this process felt like a constraint or a self-imposed task that frustrated me, now i perceive my longing and research for certain types of works of art and content as challenging, heart-warming and unpredictable. There is so much to discover, explore and to fall in love with. i don't understand why my options should be reduced and dictated by a capitalistic, patriarchal and eurocentric system. Resistance assumes diverse forms. i've found this one.