For Tunisians: Here are some structures and people you can follow:
Mnemty and her creator Saadia Mosbah ; Khawla Ksiksi and her FB group « Voix des Femmes Tunisiennes Noires », Falgatna, Enazeda
For French People: Assa Traore, Amal Bentounsi & Sihame Assbague (on Instagram), La vérité pour Adama, Urgence Notre Police Assassine, Rokhaya Diallo
N’oubliez de lire leurs présentations sur Instagram, elles contiennent des liens pour faire des DONS ! Notamment ici, par là, et ici.
Anti-blackness is not only a European nor an American issue. It’s deeply rooted in our African societies. In North Africa, not only it’s present, but it’s systemic. Slurs are not even questioned, racism is not even perceived as such. Black people are robbed of their rights and are exploited. Their bodies, thoughts, activism are marginalized, erased, abused.
In France, as in Tunisia, in feminist groups, they suffer racism just as much. Social, economic, and professional discrimination are interlinked and recurring. My light skin was a privilege that I could perceive from a very young age. It was a synonym of beauty, and so a darker skin was the opposite. The colonized mind and rejection of our African history, due to politicians wanting so desperately to belong to a culture that not only rejects us but is only a small piece of who we are, comfort this anti-blackness in our communities, in the homeland but also in the diaspora. Our eyes are focused on the construction that is the so-called « Arab World. » Blind to our continent, with who we share the same faiths, the same dances, much more similar clothes, food, and spirituality.
In this piece, I address the Ummah because being unapologetically Muslim doesn’t mean we should not address those deep structured disgusting injustices shrouded in hypocrisy. Not only it is within our community, but many times, it is even worse for non-Muslim Black people in our Muslim countries. Not only we are blind to our history and the crimes that were committed (slavery didn’t happen only in Europe), but we perpetually repeat and/or witness those heart-sickening and revolting crimes.
In the case of France, we’re so blind to “colors” and anti-Blackness, that sometimes it feels that those structures will never move. Within the diaspora, there is also this huge problematic of fetishizing Black culture while never standing up with and for Black people. And even worse, while rejecting mixed marriages, silencing discussions about racism, and reproducing anti-blackness.
I firmly believe in representation, and I believe in giving prominence to our ancestors. Bringing our ancestors and historical figures back into the light today is crucial. As privileged light skin POC, it is our job to finally shine a spotlight on our rich multi-faceted identity. Black Lives Matter forever and always.
Hawwa and Adam were made from a handful of earth
My love, do you know the color of the earth?
To silence you, they will tell you about Bilal
And then behave like the Quraysh
They will tell you about the Ummah
And then shove their disgusting racism down our throats
They will call us a sisterhood
And then erase Black women from our ancestry
And then erase Black women from our contemporary
Would they tell their son to not marry Nana Asma’u?
Nana taught, spoke, and gave birth to my feminism
How many teachers, Sahaba, poets, theologians, rulers, and philosophers,
Did they erase because of the color of their skin?
How many souls, bodies, and beauty have they perpetually annihilate?
How many parts of African history will they perpetually annihilate?
Hawwa and Adam were made of adamah
My love, do you know the color of Hawwa?
How many injustices will non-Black Muslims perpetuate?
How many times will they negate them?
Ya Allah
When the Prophet (PBUH) spoke his last sermon,
Were they not listening?
But when Allah will seal our mouths,
Our hands will speak
And our feet will bear witness
Your own hands will bring your destruction
Your own North African anti-Blackness will bring your destruction
Your own European anti-Blackness will bring your destruction
Your own silence will bring your destruction
And I bear witness,
And I bear witness,
The mother of all humanity was a Black woman.
