Becoming a Women in 21st Century Africa

Last week, from July 16 to 18, the African Studies Initiative hosted its second Summer Institute for Educators. Becoming a Women in 21st Century Africa was led by African American and African studies professor Dr. Nijeri Githire. Over the course of three days, Dr. Githrie led educators over the pre-colonial, colonial, and postcolonial histories of the continent while twining in various topics such as feminism, what is defined as girlhood, gender & sexuality, religion, and cultural structures.

Dr. Ginthrie, whose expertise lies in Francophone African literature and women’s studies, used a combination of films, various works of literature and guest speakers to discuss with attendees the plethora of African perspectives on such topics and how they are moving forward in a rapidly changing world that is more interconnected and with the influence of the West.

Joining the dozen educators from around the state and midwest were the 25 members of the 2024 cohort Mandela Washington Fellows for Young African Leaders. These 25 individuals from 19 countries across the continent joined the educators for the first two days of the summit. Their presence brought on robust discussions on their perspectives on girl and women experiences in their respective countries and they are talking about such topics in their communities. 

The summit led attendees to ask and think upon a series of questions: what does feminism actually mean? What does equality mean? How does religion and culture play a role in this? What language are we using to describe  this? Even, how does this discussion play into the role of aid and development and who gets that aid? Can we look into the past and pre-colonial Africa to tell us and give us hope for the future?

Attendees left the institute excited to bring their new knowledge and abundant resources to their school communities and ready to make a difference.