Katharina Oguntoye

Katharina Oguntoye (born January 1959 in Zwickau, East Germany)[1] is an Afro-German writer, historian, activist, and poet. Oguntoye founded the nonprofit intercultural association Joliba[2] in Germany and is perhaps best known for co-editing the book Farbe bekennen (edited by May Ayim, Katharina Oguntoye, and Dagmar Schultz).[3] The English translation of this book was entitled Showing Our Colors: Afro-German Women Speak Out. Oguntoye has played an important role in the Afro-German Movement.

Early life

Katharina Oguntoye was raised in both Nigeria and Heidelberg, Germany.[2] She grew up with a younger brother and recalls their awareness of race and racism as they got older.[1] She describes growing up amongst other black people unlike other Afro-Germans. She grew up with her father and other African relatives. This allowed her to see her Blackness in a positive way and she missed that when she returned to Germany at 9 years old. That move back was hard and she often describes internalized racism and how she has struggled. In a conversation with the other editors of the Showing Our Colors anthology she states, "Because of the time I spent in Africa I'm conscious of the parts of me which are alive there and simply don't exist here in Germany. Because nobody wants to get to know them here, especially not my friends. I think about why that is, and I believe that racist structures prevent us from talking about it. Furthermore, there's a lot of unacknowledged fear underlying this[4] " Oguntoye had much to bring to the conversation.

Poetry

Within Showing Our Colors, Katharina Oguntoye features her own poetry. Much of this poetry focuses on her own understanding of Afro-Germanness, her Afro-German subjectivity, and the relationship between Afro-German women and white German feminism. Poetry is very important to Oguntoye and she recalls a bad experience with poetry when she was young.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 Opitz, May (EDT)/ Oguntoye, Katharina/ Schultz, Dagmar (EDT)/ Opitz, May/ Oguntoye, Katharina (EDT); Showing Our Colors: Afro-German Women Speak Out. Univ. of Massachusetts Press, p. 212
  2. 1 2 Heidi R. Lewis (2014-06-06). "Meeting w/ Katharina Oguntoye of Joliba Interkulturelles Netzwerk". FemGeniuses.com. Retrieved 2016-08-28.
  3. ↑ May Ayim (then May Opitz), Katharina Oguntoye, Dagmar Schultz (eds.): Farbe Bekennen. Afro-deutsche Frauen auf den Spuren ihrer Geschichte. Berlin, 1986.--K. Oguntoye, M. Opitz, D. Schultz (eds.): Farbe bekennen. Afro-deutsche Frauen auf den Spuren ihrer Geschichte, 2. Auflage, Berlin: Orlanda, 1991, ISBN 3-922166-21-0
  4. ↑ Opitz, May (ed.)/ Oguntoye, Katharina (ed.)/ Schultz, Dagmar (ed.) Showing Our Colors: Afro-German Women Speak Out. Amherst: Univ. of Massachusetts Press, p. 160
  5. ↑ Opitz, May (EDT)/ Oguntoye, Katharina/ Schultz, Dagmar (EDT)/ Opitz, May/ Oguntoye, Katharina (EDT); Showing Our Colors: Afro-German Women Speak Out. Univ. of Massachusetts Press, p. 214

Further reading

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