“Listening is a way of doing beauty. We have so much to learn from listening and being present to nature, because of the way that the natural world coexists and how it can teach us that we are all in this kind of ecosystem of togetherness.” Minna Salami
E110 – Minna Salami on SENSUOUS KNOWLEDGE, BEAUTY AND INTEGRITY
THE LANGUAGE OF OUR RIVERS
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About this interview:
“Listening as a way of doing beauty. We have so much to learn from listening and being present to nature, because of the way that the natural world coexists and how it can teach us that we are all in this kind of ecosystem of togetherness.”
In this episode Amisha talks to Minna Salami, author, blogger, feminist theorist and lecturer. Minna’s blog ‘MsAfropolitan’ connects feminism with critical reflections on contemporary culture from an Africa-centred perspective. She is the author of ‘Sensuous Knowledge: A Black Feminist Approach for Everyone’, which explores universal concepts such as art, beauty, identity, blackness and womanhood with an Africa-centred, decolonial and feminist paradigm.
Amisha and Minna explore the idea of beauty and how the poetry, language and willpower we receive from our rivers and from our natural world increases our sensuous knowledge, expands the volume of our integrity and flourishes the gardens of our beauty. Minna describes how the flow that shapes our rivers and the patterns of nature alongside them can inspire systems of power and governmental structures rooted in reciprocity.
Minna believes that in the 21st century we are by default born into a multi perspectival approach that shapes our identities and knowledge into worldviews that are a golden opportunity to overcome the complex struggles humankind is facing. They speak about how our societies could utilise the wisdom traditions of our elders, especially our grandmothers as the antidote to the robotisation of our collective psyche during these current times.
We learn that listening is beauty; that being present and the small things make us beautiful. They reveal that our complex identities are an opportunity for curiosity and inquiry to understand each other and the human species in greater depth; a powerful opportunity to embrace new perspectives and truths letting our minds flow with the gravity of rivers of reciprocity, integrity and beauty.
“In these really troubling times we have this opportunity to really learn from each other and learn from nature, and listen to what it’s trying to say to us.” Minna Salami
Minna Salami is a Nigerian, Finnish and Swedish author, blogger, feminist theorist and lecturer. Her multiple award-winning blog ‘MsAfropolitan’ connects feminism with critical reflections on contemporary culture from an Africa-centred perspective. As a lecturer and keynote speaker, she has spoken at over 200 universities, cultural events and conferences, on five continents.
She is the author of ‘Sensuous Knowledge: A Black Feminist Approach for Everyone’, is a series of thought-provoking essays exploring universal concepts such as art, beauty, identity, blackness and womanhood with an Africa-centred, decolonial and feminist paradigm of knowing.
Minna is a co-director of the feminist movement, Activate and she sits on the advisory board of the African Feminist Initiative at Pennsylvania State University, and the editorial board of the Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of the Sahel.
To find out more about Minna’s work, visit msafropolitan.com
To connect or work with Amisha, visit amisha.co.uk
To find out more about St Ethelburga’s, visit stethelburgas.org
Listening To Each Other, Listening to Earth, is a collaboration with St Ethelburgas, and is funded by the Kalliopeia Foundation. For this collaboration — will be hosting 8 podcasts, and some live events. We give deep gratitude to both for making this possible.
Listening to each other : Listening to Earth reaches for the place where spiritual ecology and climate justice meet. It explores the integration of spirituality with grounded action through the lives and leadership of people of colour.
Kalliopeia was founded as an independent foundation to help support people and organisations who are working to bring spiritual values into institutions and systems of everyday life and work. St Ethelburga’s builds community resilience for times of ecological and social emergency. Their work is organised around 4 principles which are:
- Put values into action
- Seek opportunity in crisis
- Build community across differences, and
- Protect what is sacred
Links from this episode:
Minna Salami . Twitter . @msafropolitan
Minna Salami . Instagram . @msafropolitan
Minna Salami book . ‘Sensuous Knowledge’
St Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation & Peace
Listening to each other : Listening to Earth
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