The Black Feminism Remix Lab: on Black feminist joy, ambivalence and futures

Abstract

We began to work together in 2016 as two of the co-organisers of the first Black Feminism, Womanism, and the Politics of Women of Colour in Europe symposium at the University of Edinburgh in September 2016. Buoyed by the momentum that followed the Black Feminism, Womanism, and the Politics of Women of Colour in Europe events in Amsterdam in 2017 and Berlin in 2018, we sought out different ways to critically consider, uphold, and archive Black feminist work. This culminated in our idea for the Black Feminism Remix Lab. Remixing is an open-ended and non-linear process that always involves both a nod to the past (what came before which is being remixed) and the development of something different that captures part of the present (the ongoing outcomes of the remixing process). An approach to co-creating a manifesto that is rooted in remixing is a rich way to reflect on the relationship between present-day Black feminist efforts, past Black feminist work and Black feminist futurities yet to be imagined. In this short article, we critically reflect on our desire to work with Black feminist activists across Europe to co-author a manifesto on Black feminist politics.