Page 4 - Florida Sentinel 10-2-18

Feature
Black Feminism Symposium Features Afro-German Writer
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Feature Writer
BERLIN - Women who are feeling angry and hope- less in the wake of political strife surrounding women's issues, ask yourself this ques- tion: "What is your power?"
That's the message African-American poet and author Audre Lorde trans- mitted when she was alive, Afro-German writer and ac- tivist, Katharina Ogun- toye explained.
"She asked, ‘what are you doing with the power you have’," she told an audience of nearly 100 at a symposium on Black feminism. "That was a challenge for the women then, but it still re- mains. I will encourage you to enjoy your power of mak- ing a change."
In her remarks at the 3rd Annual Black Feminism, Womanism, and the Politics of Women of Colour in Eu- rope, Oguntoye spoke
Katharina Oguntoye, right, Afro-German writer, historian, poet, talks about the ‘power’ of Black women at symposium.
women's movement in Ger- many "got very attached to Audre," Oguntoye said.
Lorde, meanwhile, pushed for the movement to become more diverse and challenged them to confront the racism within it.
"She told them that the women's movement could not survive if it didn't em- brace the different intersec- tions within the movement," Oguntoye said.
There was some resist- ance to Lorde, but Afro- German women continued to push to make their voices known both within and out-
side the movement.
"I think that we tried to
find out that yes, we do have our own voice with our own flavor," Oguntoye said. "Black women are still trying to make known their voice."
While the challenge of ex- terminating racism from the women's movement re- mains, so does the need for the movement itself, Ogun- toye said.
"I'm very sorry the white- ness of this women's move- ment has not overcome racism," she said. "But I know we need the feminist movement."
about Lorde's impact on the women's movement in Ger- many and how she implored German feminists to include Black women in their circle.
Both Black and white women connected with the women's rights movement that swept over much of the United States and Europe in the late 1970s and into the
early 1980s. But white women - who dominated the movement - were reluctant to be intersectional in their work, Oguntoye said.
Lorde, who in 1984 was a visiting professor to the Free University of Berlin, be- came a leader with other Black women in the Afro- German movement. The
Barry Cohen: A Man Called ‘Justice’
Tampa is a pantheon of lawyer-legends.
Names like that of the late Cody Fowler (for whom Fowler Avenue is named) fits neatly with other names like the late Attorneys Francisco Ro- driguez, Frank Stewart and names of living leg- ends Delano Stewart and the irrepressible Warren Hope Dawson, each one of them having carved their initials in a tall oak tree of Tampa’s human rights/ civil rights saga.
But among them all was a name that placed pride in the hearts of right-minded people just as its very mention struck fear in the minds of racists and evil-doers. The name was Barry Cohen, a diminutive Southern Jewish barris- ter who seemed to have worn the title “For the People” long before oth- ers picked up the banner.
We recall Cohen’s friendships with late Black leaders like Alton White, Goosby Jones, Blythe Andrews, Bob Gilder and Bob Saun- ders, who used Cohen’s name and service as if it
were a magic wand or battering ram warding off enemies of the civil rights cause.
But the power of Cohen’s ability and the success of his profession was not only known by the high and mighty, but filtered down to the Black man and woman on the street who used Cohen’s name often as readily as they recalled Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., or recited the Lord’s Prayer.
But like all things, memories must fade. Barry Cohen died just re- cently, and a newer gen- eration now professes not to recall the deeds he did so courageously dur- ing those heady civil rights and equal rights years. Even now, behind closed doors, the jury is still out as to whose feet may fill his shoes – Mor- gan&Morgan?...War- ren Hope Dawson? . . . or some unknown name?
Given our current human rights predica- ments, we shall see and hopefully not too late.
JAMES TOKLEY Tampa
PAGE 4 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2018