An Intergenerational Approach to Resistance – Lessons Learned from Ashanti

Groningen Anti-Racism Week Day 2

Dismantling a system that has been built over the course of 500 years requires an intergenerational approach. In this session we invite different generations to exchange thoughts and experiences on resistance and social struggle. Based on the legacy of ASHANTI, the feminist newspaper founded in the ‘80s by Surinamese women as part of the social justice movement, we’ll reflect on lessons learned from the past, opportunities in the present and a vision for future. This session is facilitated by Pravini Baboeram, artist and activist, and Sitla Bonoo, co-founder and former editor of ASHANTI.

About the facilitators:

Pravini Baboeram is a decolonial artist and activist. She was involved in different social justice campaigns, such as Holi is not a Houseparty, a campaign against cultural appropriation of the Hindu spring festival Holi, and Tetary Must Rise, a crowdfunding campaign for the replacement of the statue of colonizer Barnet Lyon by the Hindustani warrior of resistance Janey Tetary. In 2019 she released her album and documentary “The Uprising”, a film about the anti-racism movement in Europe.

Sitla Bonoo was active as an emancipation worker in the 1980s at the Foundation for Surinamese The Hague. In that role she organized countless emancipation activities for women and young people. She was active in the left-wing movement and one of the founders of the women’s newspaper ASHANTI.