Invisible Giants / Geantes Invisibles

Géantes invisibles (Invisible Giants in English) is a concept developed by Coumba Toure, an Ambassador and the former Co-ordinator of Africans Rising for peace, justice and dignity, who is based in Dakar, Senegal. She is also a writer, story-teller and facilitator. We are dedicating this post to 20 women featured in an online exhibition and hope you can take time to read all of their stories and learn more about some of the Invisible Giants of Senegal. The intention of the exhibition is to “Celebrate in their lifetime inspiring women working for social justice and well-being in their communities“. You can view the bi-lingual online exhibition here (en Français) or here (in English), which includes profiles of all the women featured, some of whom we have highlighted throughout this post.

Above – Halimatou Souaré is a peace activist; Diao Baldé Guèye is a disability rights activist; Mame Penda Ba is a political science professor

Describing her inspiration for this exhibition, Coumba said, “Faya Rose Touré is the first person to draw my attention to the invisibility of women. She said that from the civil rights movements, people all over the world know names like Martin Luther King and so on, but that there are women who did the same work for the rights of Africans in the United States who people don’t talk about.”

You can read more about Coumba Toure here in an interview with Esther Nyandoro in Kenya’s Daily Nation from last year with entitled “I am Unapologetically Feminist” and here in an interview with the Africa Philanthropy Network.

Above – Penda Seck Diouf is an activist against GBV; Ndèye Fatou Touré is a human rights lawyer; Safiétou Diop is a social activist

The exhibition is also looking to expand and grow, so is inviting Nominations here for other Invisible Giants, defined as “African women, who have made significant contributions for positive change in various social justice fields on the continent and in the diaspora …. (with) an emphasis on women leaders, working at the grassroots level, whose efforts are not duly recognized and celebrated.”

Vous pouvez egalement faire votre candidature en Français ici.

Above – Hadji Fatou Dramé is a community health activist; Ndèye Marie Thiam is a peace activist; Fatou Samba is an environmental activist.

Afrika Liberation Week, May 22nd-28th 2023

Africa Liberation Day (ALD) is held annually on May 25th to commemorate the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now the African Union (AU) in 1963. However, the ALD was originally founded in 1958 when Kwame Nkrumah convened the First Conference of Independent States held in Accra, Ghana, which was attended by eight independent African states. The 15th of April was declared “Africa Freedom Day,” to mark each year the onward progress of the liberation movement, and to symbolize the determination of the people of Africa to free themselves from foreign domination and exploitation. You can read more about the history of the day here.

In recent years, the Africans Rising movement has expanded the day into the Afrika Liberation Week and encourages groups all over the continent and in the diaspora to organise events during the week. More information about this year’s activities and how to get involved can be found here and a toolkit can be downloaded here.

Please also read a piece here by Linda Tsungirirai Masarira, President of Labour Economists and Afrikan Democrats (LEAD) in Zimbabwe, which was written on 25th May 2022 and called “Lead on Africa Day,” which can be found on the Africans Rising website.

Please check the short clip below for an audio-visual poem written by David Diop and dramatised by the Movement for African Emancipation (M.A.E.) , a Pan-African Socialist movement started in Nigeria but working for the true liberation of the whole continent.

Please also check out M.A.E.’s informative blog here for a series of important articles over the last five years.

Another event on May 25th, organised by BTWSC / African Histories Revisited, is called Remembering George Floyd +3, curated and led by Kwaku (from BBM – British Black Music) and moderated by Sis Nana Asante. To register for the event, please click here, and check for more of their events here.

You can also watch a very powerful speech by Professor P. L. O. Lumumba’s during the 6th Annual Memorial Lecture Programme in 2020, hosted by African Hidden Voices, themed ‘Decolonization of Religion, Culture, and Economy‘ which is embedded below:

We would also like to refer you to a couple of previous posts that might be of interest… firstly, why spell Afrika with a K, please find out more here. Secondly, please learn more about the Wall of Great Africans project here. Please also have a look at our post from 2019 called De-Colonising our Minds that includes a downloadable reading list, which you can access here.

Finally, we would like to refer you to the Africa Liberation Day website for many more resources and information, who are also hosting a virtual celebration on May 25th to mark the day – you can register for the event here. A fantastic photo from their website is here below: