Black women drummers open the 2nd plenary of the 2016 AWID Forum in Bahia, Brazil.
This article is part of 50.50's in-depth coverage of the 2016 AWID Forum being held on 8th -11th September in Bahia, Brazil.
The chair of the opening plenary, Sonia Correa, welcomed the AWID 2016 conference referring to Brazil’s tradition of hospitality but expanded its meaning to embrace an openness to difference, to be open to work we disagree with, to be unconditional in our hospitality. It was a sentiment that echoed around the conference. Noelene Nabulivou, of Diverse Voices and Action for Equality (DIVA) from Fiji liked the idea of hospitality because “we work in places that are ugly, disciplining, and cause pain to our bodies.” The promise of the plenary on the second day to discuss the elephants in the room, “untold stories of how and why different movements did not work well together” did not really materialise; these differences were touched upon rather than chewed over. Even in the session run by women with disabilities, their neglect by the mainstream feminist movement was delicately raised.
