What is home? For many in Africa and its diaspora, the meaning of the word "home" has been altered, deconstructed and recreated by external forces like war, colonialism, and globalization. Narratives of home and decisions around the home have also been historically framed from the male point of view, while women bear the brunt of these decisions. A festival and conference at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill brings together scholars and artists from across the globe to shine a spotlight on what home means from a female perspective, and how the concept is especially fluid for women in Africa and its diaspora.
Host Frank Stasio talks with project co-director and professor of women and gender studies Tanya Shields, filmmaker Yaba Badoe; and writer and playwright Malika Ndlovu about their work. Malika works with the Badilisha Poetry X-Change, an online audio archive and Pan-African poetry show. The festival "Telling Our Stories of Home" takes place March 31 through April 2 and April 6 through April 8 with events primarily held at the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History at UNC-Chapel Hill. The festival open to the public takes place this Saturday, April 1 at James C. Wallace Plaza in Chapel Hill.
Here's a trailer for Yaba Badoe's film "The Witches of Gambaga": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFhHX7CJSes
