Journalism for minorities, by minorities. We tell the stories you want to forget.
“I would love to create awareness about disability, so that people can know and treat everyone equally.” - Nakijjoba Joyce.
More from our Disability Pride Month collaboration with Diverse Empowerment Foundation
Watch full video on our YouTube page: youtu.be/sG--esMJGUo
For Disability Pride Month in July, we collaborated with Diverse Empowerment Foundation to speak to seven individuals who share their experiences navigating live as a person with disability in Uganda.
▶️Watch full video on our YouTube page: https://youtu.be/sG--esMJGUo
The first time Janet met Ayo*, the latter played a Todrick Hall song in a banking hall, hoping to catch Janet’s attention. And like drawing a moth to a flame, it worked.
“It was on Grindr that I met Ayo again,” Janet says. ”I was elated, mostly because I was now to be among people who would certainly understand the loneliness.”
Before gaining admission into the University of Ibadan in 2019, Janet, bold and relentless about his identity, had attracted unwanted attention that led to him being kidnapped and kitoed due to his Facebook presence.
Despite the ordeal leaving him traumatised, it strengthened his resolve to continue to be himself and to share his thoughts on q***r identity, drawing shock and awe from students and lecturers alike. Meeting Ayo, Janet says, was pivotal to their student experience.
Read new story on our website: https://minorityafrica.org/q***r-nigerian-students-are-finding-community-in-a-campus-love-house/
This week, we start in Tanzania, where community members rally against the government’s eviction of the Maasai.
Next, we travel to South Africa, where four school children face disciplinary action for staging a “slave auction” of black students in a viral video. Finally, we head to the Paris Olympics, where Algeria’s Imane Khelif wins historic boxing gold despite gender row.
Read more, share and subscribe to our weekly Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/acdec049de17/slave-auction-pupils-to-face-disciplinary
🎥We are excited to welcome talented digital creators to join our video creator community!
👇🏽Please fill out the following form to apply as a video contributor.
We look forward to learning more about you and your unique creative skills.
Apply: https://bit.ly/46uaEWH
As a 12-year-old altar boy in his local Catholic parish in Abuja, Nigeria, Chiboy Sidney recognised the ‘discomfort’ his effeminate nature caused others.
One Sunday, during mass, a visiting seminarian citing 1 Corinthians 6:9, a verse on s*xual immorality and homos*xuality, prohibited Sidney from serving mass and accused him of trying to seduce the priests.
Despite this, Sidney says his experiences in Abuja, where he grew up, were generally more accepting, but things took a harsh turn when he gained admission to the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN). The university proved to be a hostile environment, where people openly disapproved of Sidney’s effeminate nature. Public slander and derogatory comments became a regular occurrence.
“In Abuja, I could go out without any incident of hostility, but in the east, it was something I was always getting,” Sidney, now 26 years old, shares.
Not only did Sidney face challenges from fellow students, but he also encountered lecturers who proposed s*x for grades and urged him to “man up,” with a lecturer attempting to s*xually assault him.
Login to Advance today, read, share and republish to your website: https://advance.minorityafrica.org
Tens of thousands of people fleeing bandit violence in Nigeria’s northwest have been welcomed across the border in Niger, with local communities sharing both land and business opportunities in a potentially new model for refugee integration in West Africa.
Galadima Hadi is one of an estimated 80,000 Nigerians who has found hospitality in the Sahelian country. He and his family left Kwadi, a village in Zamfara State, after scores of bandits riding three-up on motorbikes raided one afternoon in 2020 – just before the harvest – and killed five people.
“We heard the gunshots all the way in the village centre and knew they were coming for us,” he recounted.
Hadi has now settled in Garin Kaka, in southern Niger’s Maradi region. But rather than the fences and gates that usually mark refugee camps around the world, he lives in a regular village. It is one of three in Maradi known as “Opportunity Villages”, an initiative that seeks to dissolve the barriers between refugee and host communities.
This story was published in partnership with The New Humanitarian.
Read full story here:
‘Before the refugees came, businesses struggled due to a lack of demand.’
🎥Are you a digital creator based in any of the regions within Africa?
⬇️Then this is for you!
Minority Africa is seeking to work with creative and engaging digital creators as a part of our video contributor community.
If you have an existing community on social media that is a plus too, and if you made it this far it means you are interested 😅
See more details here: https://bit.ly/46uaEWH
Is this a case of framing Collins as a psychopathic serial killer, a cult, rogue cops or there’s more to this?
Watch this developing story and leave your comments ⬇️
The Anglophone conflict in Cameroon is taking a mental health toll on victims of gender-based violence, revealing the infrastructure and policy gaps of an ailing mental healthcare system.
The Anglophone conflict in Cameroon is taking a mental health toll on victims of gender-based violence, revealing the infrastructure and policy gaps of an ailing mental healthcare system.
As a 12-year-old altar boy in his local Catholic parish in Abuja, Nigeria, Chiboy Sidney recognised the ‘discomfort’ his effeminate nature caused others.
One Sunday, during mass, a visiting seminarian citing 1 Corinthians 6:9, a verse on s*xual immorality and homos*xuality, prohibited Sidney from serving mass and accused him of trying to seduce the priests.
Despite this, Sidney says his experiences in Abuja, where he grew up, were generally more accepting, but things took a harsh turn when he gained admission to the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN). The university proved to be a hostile environment, where people openly disapproved of Sidney’s effeminate nature. Public slander and derogatory comments became a regular occurrence.
“In Abuja, I could go out without any incident of hostility, but in the east, it was something I was always getting,” Sidney, now 26 years old, shares.
A virtual therapeutic agency is providing online counselling to members of the q***r community in Nigeria, where such services remain inaccessible.
What do the countries Kenya, Ghana, Namibia, Niger, Tanzania, and Uganda have in common? These six countries comprise an ominous wave of similarly worded legislation regarding LGBTQ rights or lack thereof.
This video is done in partnership with Initiative for Equality and Non Discrimination
✨🎉To our 212 applicants from Tanzania, Nigeria, Uganda, Mozambique and Mauritius, thank you for your commitment to becoming a .
Stay tuned for updates from us in the coming weeks.
Goodluck!
Cornrows: a timeless symbol of Black beauty & resilience. Originating in ancient Africa, cornrows signified status, identity & community.
Despite being banned during slavery, they persisted as a powerful expression of cultural heritage & resistance. Today, they continue to evolve & inspire.
Emelda has been a fishmonger at Lake Victoria’s Dunga beach in Kisumu City, 165 miles west of Kenya’s Capital, Nairobi, for the last 27 years. The mother of five says her late brother, a fisherman, introduced her to the business.
“After clearing my high school, I was unable to join college, this led me into an early marriage as the only option. With the help of my brother, I ventured into fish trading to help my husband, who was a small-scale farmer,’’ Emelda tells Minority Africa.
Emelda started buying fish from fishermen and selling it for a profit. While she was able to make money, she quickly realised that fish stocks for female fishmongers, who rely on fishermen and boat owners for supply, were never guaranteed. And it’s for this reason that she decided to venture into cage fish farming.
“It is survival for the fittest and bravest. You can have money and go back home without fish. It is never easy for the faint-hearted,’’ Emelda narrates.
For decades, female fishmongers along the vast, expansive Lake Victoria beaches have fallen victim to the rampant s*x for fish culture (locally referred to as jaboya in the Dholuo language) propagated by fishermen and boat owners who take advantage of desperation among women waiting for the fish. Now, many of these women fishmongers are turning to cage fish farming as an alternative.
For decades, female fishmongers along the Lake Victoria beaches have fallen victim to the rampant s*x for fish culture propagated by fishermen and boat owners who take advantage of women waiting for the fish. Now, many of these women are turning to cage fish farming as an alternative.
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For 30 years, Peninah Ngahu, 58, has practised subsistence farming on her one-acre farm in Elementaita village, 175 km west of Kenya’s capital Nairobi. Ngahu, who practises organic farming, says that “accessing indigenous seeds was easy because farmers would share, sell, buy and exchange them freely.”
“A farmer who had a surplus of indigenous seeds would freely share out to those who lacked, and this ensured that every farmer had something to plant, and this guaranteed our food security,’’ Ngahu tells Minority Africa.
According to Ngahu, things changed when a new law regulating the distribution of indigenous seeds came into force.
“Currently, I cannot take my seeds and distribute them to farmers across the village because the law bars me,’’ she says. “[One] can only do that clandestinely. This has literally limited the smallholder farmers’ ability of producing food.’’
In 2012, Kenya’s parliament passed a law to set out regulations for the country’s production, processing, testing, certification and marketing of seeds. The Seeds and Plants Varieties Act also sought to impose restrictions on the introduction of new varieties, control seed importation and grant proprietary rights to persons breeding or discovering new varieties.
However, smallholder farmers in Kenya are currently engaged in a legal battle with the government pushing for the review of the regulation which has been in force for 12 years. Some 15 smallholder farmers, in September 2022, filed a petition at the country’s High Court seeking to compel the government to review sections of a law that bans the sharing and exchange of uncertified and unregistered seeds.
Read new piece here:
Smallholder farmers in Kenya acquire seeds through farmer-managed systems that encourage informal seed saving and sharing, a practice that a 2012 Seeds and Plant Varieties Act opposes. Now, these farmers are engaged in a legal battle with the government pushing for the review of the regulation which...
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💻You can still complete your application before the 19th of July, start here: fellowship.minorityafrica.org/overview/
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Become a .
Visit: fellowship.minorityafrica.org/overview/
Our fellow, H.T Jagiri shares her thoughts on the just concluded cohort of the .
This is your cue to complete/begin your application today!
Deadline: 19th of July, 2024.
Visit: https://fellowship.minorityafrica.org/overview/
👇🏽The last two cohorts were open to applications from all the countries in Africa but due to this year’s model and theme “Communities in Limbo”, the fellowship will be happening in two phases: Community of Learning and Community of Practice and applications are limited to five countries in Africa.
➡️Swipe to see data from the last two calls.
Apply now to this ongoing call before the 19th of July, 2024: https://fellowship.minorityafrica.org/overview/
“Participating in the Minority Africa Fellowship was a pivotal experience in my development as a storyteller.” - Bana Mwesige, 2024 Minority Africa Fellowship.
Bana shares their experience and how the fellowship transformed their career.
Applications for the new cohort are ongoing! Apply by the 19th of July, visit: https://fellowship.minorityafrica.org/overview/
At Hertitude, an all-female event organized for women by women, Liber, a 21-year-old trans student, contested a beauty pageant and was met with violent transphobia online when pictures from the event were posted on Twitter (now known as X).
When asked about what that was like, she said of her trolls, “I remember going through the comments confused and wondering who they were saying all those things about.” Reflecting on the incident, she continued, “Like, you don’t even know me. You saw me walk on stage, and you’re projecting all sorts of things.”
Both online and in person, flagrant transphobia is something she is not a stranger to. Liber is not hard to miss. She stands over six foot three inches tall and actively comments online about social issues that concern and affect her. However, beyond all this, Liber agrees that the experience of being trans in Nigeria leaves her exhausted.
In April, Liber, a trans woman from Nigeria, attended a women-only event in Lagos. Online, her attendance was met with harassment and abuse, something Liber notes isn’t new to her. “I never let my guard down, not even in my room,” she says.
🤔Are you wondering why you should become a Minority Africa Fellow?
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Visit: https://fellowship.minorityafrica.org/overview/ to start your application.
Deadline: 19th of July, 2024
After years of openly presenting as a woman, 32-year-old Adamu finds himself at a pivotal moment as he prepares to marry a woman.
“I believe it is the right thing to do as a man,” he says about his forthcoming wedding.
Adamu first started presenting as a woman during his teenage years. His early life as a crossdresser unfolded against the backdrop of Ture, his grandmother’s village in Kano State, where his family relocated to after his father’s death.
Like many communal households, Adamu’s grandmother’s home was crowded with relatives, most of whom were women with children who lacked support from their husbands and fathers. An influence Adamu believes played a huge role in defining his identity.
Initially, Adamu’s interaction with femininity was by quietly watching as the women in his family engaged in traditional feminine activities. But as he matured, his fascination deepened and started to shift from mere observation to finding genuine enjoyment in pursuits like making hair and cooking, frequently spending time with his aunts as they partook in them.
Living as a crossdresser and q***r man for years, Adamu, a Yan Daudu — a group of recognised femme men in Northern Nigeria — prepares to accept traditional norms and marry a woman.
🧏You heard it first here!
The Minority Africa Fellowship has launched a new edition called “The Limbo Fellowship Project” which focuses on communities in Limbo.
Marking the third cohort of our fellowship, this project will provide journalistic discourse surrounding ethnic minorities, migrants, refugees, waterfront communities, and related marginalized groups contending with uncertainty across Africa.
🌍Are you a budding journalist within Mozambique, Mauritius, Uganda, Nigeria, and Tanzania?
This call is for you and it is opened until the 19th of July, 2024.
Visit: https://fellowship.minorityafrica.org/overview/ for more information
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“I would love to create awareness about disability, so that people can know and treat everyone equally.” - Nakijjoba Joyce. More from our Disability Pride Month collaboration with Diverse Empowerment Foundation Watch full video on our YouTube page: youtu.be/sG--esMJGUo
For Disability Pride Month in July, we collaborated with Diverse Empowerment Foundation to speak to seven individuals who share their experiences navigating live as a person with disability in Uganda. ▶️Watch full video on our YouTube page: https://youtu.be/sG--esMJGUo
Another life lost to hate. Abuja Area Mama, a well-known crossdresser, was tragically killed in Abuja. There has been a lot of speculation around what led to her demise but the Nigerian police have said that they are currently investigating the cause of her death. ▶️Play video to see more.
Many citizens in Kenya strongly believe this is not a case of coordinated violence against women but a massacre by the Kenyan Police and have linked some of these killings to the missing women from the June 2024 demonstration in the country. Is this a case of framing Collins as a psychopathic serial killer, a cult, rogue cops or there’s more to this? Watch this developing story and leave your comments ⬇️
Is this a case of framing Collins as a psychopathic serial killer, a cult, rogue cops or there’s more to this? Watch this developing story and leave your comments ⬇️
What do the countries Kenya, Ghana, Namibia, Niger, Tanzania, and Uganda have in common? These six countries comprise an ominous wave of similarly worded legislation regarding LGBTQ rights or lack thereof. This video is done in partnership with Initiative for Equality and Non Discrimination
Education over exploitation as Sierra Leone bans child marriage, ensuring girls can pursue their dreams and reach their full potential. #endchildmarriage #sierraleone
👏A big win for human rights as Namibia abolishes sodomy law, marking a significant milestone for queer Nambians and creating a more inclusive society where everyone can live without fear of persecution.#minorityafrica #african #namibia #humanrights #equality #lgbtq
🤝The call for interested journalists, writers, writers, photographers, filmmakers, with provable work experience in their fields and are at least 18 years of age is still on. 📆The #2024MinorityAfricaFellowship is accepting applications till the 19th of July, 2024. Visit the link in our bio to apply.
🧏You heard it first here! The Minority Africa Fellowship has launched a new edition called “The Limbo Fellowship Project” which focuses on communities in Limbo. Marking the third cohort of our fellowship, this project will provide journalistic discourse surrounding ethnic minorities, migrants, refugees, waterfront communities, and related marginalized groups contending with uncertainty across Africa. 🌍Are you a budding journalist within Mozambique, Mauritius, Uganda, Nigeria, and Tanzania? This call is for you and it is opened until the 19th of July, 2024. Visit: https://fellowship.minorityafrica.org/overview/ for more information #2024MinorityAfricaFellowship #Limbo #Communities
As #pridemonth2024 comes to an end, we explore the history of homosexuality and its deep roots in African culture and history. Is this a Western concept or were we sold a lie? Watch this video featuring @theohotu to find out! #pridemonth #pride🌈
🤝14 fellows 🚀2 cohorts 🌍Over 30 countries in Africa What truly comes next? Stay tuned! #2024MinorityAfricaFellowship
The Kenyan government is trying to increase taxes on everyday commodities and the citizens aren’t having it. They are demanding for the finance bill’s rejection. What are your thoughts on this? Share in the comments. Video credit: @sabo_blossom #kenyanprotests #rejectfinancebill2024
We put together a special recap video of #BorderDialogues2023! Tag yourself and your friends if you spot them in the crowd! Who do you see?👇🏽
A petition by conservative advocacy group Citizen Go supports a Kenyan Family Protection bill that seeks to ban same sex marriages and protect family values, but is the data misleading? ▶️Play video to watch more. This video is done in partnership with @inend.ke
In March 2024, #SethNoToGays trended on Kenyan Twitter but was the trend coincidental or the result of a coordinated campaign? This video is done in collaboration with Initiative for Equality and Non Discrimination.
Gender-based violence (GBV) disproportionately affects women and girls who are deaf, partly because of communication barriers compounded by a legal system that is frequently inadequate to meet their needs. This story was done in partnership with Ambassade de France en Ouganda - Embassy of France in Uganda. Watch full video on our YouTube Channel: https://minorityafrica.org/deaf-women-in-uganda-and-their-struggles-with-abusive-relationships/
Our amazing #2023MinorityAfricaFellowship Cohort 2 shares what inspired them to join our program! They are amplifying marginalized voices, challenging the status quo and telling African stories without fear. Don't miss out on their incredible journeys - play to watch the full video. #2023MinorityAfricaFellows
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