Black literature is one of the most condensed and beautiful literary forms that I know in this universe. This is because black literary works are often detailed and rich in experiences and nuances – like seeing the colours of an individual, community, and world through the lens of experiences. The first time I read and analyzed consciously, a black literary work I was so mystified because of the underlying themes that were embedded in the language, structure of words and lines.
If you’ve seen Jordan Peele’s ‘Get Out’ and Childish Gambino’s ‘This is America’, you’ll understand the nuances, embedded layers of meaning that usually thrive in black literature. Also, if you’ve read any Toni Morrison’s work or you’ll get to understand the cultural and thematic dynamics that black literature is very rich in.
All these awesomeness about black literature is what made us fall in love with Afrolitt’ when we discovered the platform.
Afrolitt’ is a bilingual literary platform with a mission to use Black literature as a tool for critical knowledge, sharing and societal or personal change.
The platform was created to plunge into these questions and use literature to work through them – “How can we think about changing societies, multiple identities, human complexity, love, spirituality or relate to the past and traditions? What imaginaries and inspirations nourish these questionings?”
Also check out our interview with Ainehi Edoro, the Founder of Brittle Paper on sharing her love for African Literature in a Pop-culture age.
Created by Pamela Ohene-Nyako, the majority of the suggested novels used for discourse on the platform are written by authors of African descent, most of which are women, who question social constructs and issues. Additionally, one of Afrolitt’s goals is to participate in sustaining a pan-African dialogue between Anglophones and/or Francophones from or living in sub-Saharan Africa and people of the Black diaspora.
From book meetings to major public events to the wonderful Web series, Afrolitt’ is leveraging all media forms to promote black literature as a tool for critical knowledge.
The Founder of Afrolitt’ Pamela Ohene-Nyako, was born in 1991 in Switzerland where she still lives up to this day. She has a BA degree in International relations and an MA degree in General history from the University of Geneva. She is currently doing a Ph.D. at the Unity of contemporary history and is specializing in the transnational networks and mobilizations of Black European women, 1970’s to 1990’s.
Pamela started organizing and moderating debates first as a member of the Festival Cinémas d’Afrique in Lausanne between 2013 and 2014, then as a self-employed. She has worked with agencies such as MOA Distribution, Maximage Productions, and Afrodyssée. She collaborates on a regular basis with the African Salon of the Geneva International Book and Press Fair.
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