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mowunna posted a photo:
Brook ብሩክ: Queer Ethiopian-American
Q. Was there ever a time where you felt pushed away from your African or LGBTQ identities? If so, how did you overcome that personally?
“Being at an intersection of two (mostly conflicting) minority identities, I definitely felt like I had to choose one or the other. The LGBTQ community was a lot more accepting for me, so it was easy to distance myself from my African culture. But I’ve always been deeply rooted in my Ethiopian culture, history, even religion. Distancing myself from pretty much everything I’ve known and loved made me feel empty. Support from a few people in the Ethiopian community helped a lot. But more than anything, rediscovering old Ethiopian music made me realize that I have as much right of heritage as any other Ethiopian. “
Amharic/አማርኛ
ከአፍሪካዊ ማንነትህ ወይም ከ LGBTQ መገለጫህ ውጪ የመገፋት ስሜት ተሰመቶህ ያውቃል ? አዎ ካልክ ያንን ግፌት እንዴት መቋቋም ቻልክ?
በርግጥ አንዳንድ ጊዜ በኢትዮጵያዊነት እና LGBTQ መሃል መምረጥ ያለብኝ ይመስለኝ ነበር፣ ምክንያቱም ሁለቱ ነገሮች አንዳንዴ እርስበእርስ ስለሚቃረኑ። LGBTQ ማህበረሰብ በማንነቴ የበለጠ ተቀባይነት ስለተሰማኝ ከኢትዮጵያዊ ማንነቴ እራሴን ለማራቅ ሞከርኩኝ። ነገርግን ለሀገሬ ባህል፣ ታሪክ፣ እንዲሁም ሃይማኖት ስር የሰደደ ፍቅር እና ቀረቤታ ሰለነበረኝ ከዛ መራቅ ውስጤን ባዶ አደረገው። አንዳንድ ኢትዮጵያውያን የሰጡኝ ድጋፍ በጅጉ ረድቶኛል፣ ከምንም በላይ ግን የ ድሮ የኢትዮጵያ ሙዚቃዎችን ሳዳምጥ ምን ያህል የሐገሬን ባህል የመውረስ መብት እንዳለኝ መረዳት ችያለው።
– Brook ብሩክ (Queer Ethiopian-American, He/Him They/Them, IG: @bura_bure Blog: huletnetib.blogspot.com/)
Donate to support the project: HERE
About Limit(less)
Limit(less) is a photography project by Mikael Owunna (@owning-my-truth) documenting the fashion and style of LGBTQ African Immigrants (1st and 2nd generation) in diaspora. As LGBTQ Africans, we are constantly told that being LGBTQ is somehow “un-African,” and this rhetoric is a regular part of homophobic and transphobic discourse in African communities. This line of thinking, however, is patently false and exists an artifact of colonization of the African continent. Identities which would now be categorized as “LGBTQ” have always existed, and being LGBTQ does not make us “less” African.
Limit(less) explores how LGBTQ African immigrants navigate their identities and find ways to overcome the supposed “tension” between their LGBTQ and African identities through their fashion and style. The project seeks to visually deconstruct the colonial binary that has been set up between LGBTQ and African identities, which erases the lives and experiences of LGBTQ Africans. #LimitlessAfricans
Donate to support the project: HERE
Website:
limitlessafricans.com/
Facebook Page:
facebook.com/limitlessafricans
Tumblr:
limitlessafricans.tumblr.com
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