None on Record: LGBTQ Africans Speak Out

Host: Black Gay and Lesbian Archive, Schomburg Center

Date: Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Time: 6:00pm-9:00pm
Reception at 6 p.m.
Program at 7 p.m.

Location: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
515 Malcolm X Blvd. at 135th St
New York, NY

None on Record: Stories of Queer Africa is a sound documentary project that collects the stories of queer, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Africans from the Continent and in the Diaspora. Several participants of the oral history project discuss how their experiences have shaped them emotionally, politically, socially, and culturally. Participants include Founder Selly Thiam, author and activist Notisha Massaquoi, singer Pape Mbaye, playwright Nick Mwaluko, and activists Carlos Idibouo and Kemi Ilesanmi. The discussion will be moderated by Kim Ford.

This event is cosponsored by:

• The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice
• International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
• None on Record: Stories of Queer Africa
• The Black Gay and Lesbian Archive of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
• Less AIDS Lesotho.

PARTICIPANTS:

SELLY THIAM, NONE OF RECORD FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Selly K. Thiam, is a queer identified Senegalese woman born in Chicago. She is an independent journalist and oral historian. She is currently the Podcast Producer for Learning Matters Inc. New York City.

NOTISHA MASSAQUOI, NONE ON RECORD CANADIAN PROGRAM MANAGER

Notisha Massaquoi is originally from Sierra Leone and currently resides in Canada. Her most recent publication is the edited anthology Theorizing Empowerment: Canadian Perspectives on Black Feminist Thought. She is the winner of the 2008 IRN-Africa Audre Lorde award for outstanding writing. She is currently working on a second collection with Selly Thiam entitled, None on Record: Stories of Queer Africa.

PAPE MBAYE

Pape Mbaye is a well-known Senegalese entertainer. Despite rampant homophobia in Senegal, Pape was quite popular. In 2007, a magazine published photos of him attending an underground gay marriage, which started an onslaught of threats and attacks. After a gay friend was murdered, he fled to Gambia but had to return to Senegal after the Gambian president announced that all gays in his country would be killed. With the help of human rights organizations, Pape has attained refugee status in the United States.

NICK MWALUKO

Nick Nanna Hadikwa Mwaluko was born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania but raised in neighboring Kenya. Mwaluko worked several years with Reuters News Agency in Kenya and New York City before attending Columbia University on scholarship and fellowship, graduating magnum cum laude. Mwaluko is currently a Point Scholar and attending Columbia University's graduate MFA (Masters in Fine Arts) program for playwriting. Mwaluko has written four epics, several full length and one act plays focusing on queer, black issues among other topics.

CARLOS IDIBOUO

Carlos Idibouo is originally from Ivory Coast where he worked in the field of HIV / AIDS prevention for several years. In July 2003, he helped to create the first gay and lesbian organization in Ivory Coast. Due to homophobic persecution and threats by authorities, Idibouo immigrated to Canada in 2006. He is currently on the board of FrancoQueer where he serves as co-president, project coordinator and office manager. Idibouo develops partnerships with organizations to offer services to French-speaking persons living with HIV. Organizations include the Centre francophone de Toronto, the AIDS Bureau of Ontario, and Oasis centre des femmes.

KEMI ILESANMI

Kemi Ilesanmi loves art, books, travel, family, friends, and doing “good work.” She brings those elements together in her daily life, work at Creative Capital Foundation, board service for The Laundromat Project and as an advisory board member for None on Record. She is Nigerian-American and is ecstatically happy that None on Record has put her on record.

KIM FORD

Kim Ford is an activist and non-profit consultant with over 15 years experience working with community organizations. She currently serves as Board Chair of the Audre Lorde Project, a panel member of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice U.S. Grants, and the Stonewall Community Foundation Racial Equity Initiative Consultant. She has facilitated workshops; moderated and spoken at various events, panels and readings; and presented on various topics including organizing in the LGBTST POC communities, racism within LGBTST communities, women’s health and wellness, and sexuality.