A discussion with Mohamed Amjahid and Seattle guests Elisheba Johnson (Wa Na Wari), Charles Mudede (The Stranger), and Rana San (Northwest Film Forum).
“Radical Diversity” is a discussion series presented by several Goethe-Institut locations in North America in collaboration with its Goethe Pop Ups, the Thomas Mann House, and the Institute for Social Justice & Radical Diversity under the sponsorship of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung North America.
Right-wing extremism, everyday racism and racialized microaggressions, and pressure to “assimilate” – all of these constructs affecting racialized minorities result from an inability and unwillingness to respect and appreciate the radical diversity that underscores our societies. Max Czollek (“
De-integrate Yourselves”) and Mohamed Amjahid (“
Among Whites: What It Means to Be Privileged”) are two Millennial generation voices that have emerged from Germany in recent years. With a critical, multidimensional approach, Czollek and Amjahid will examine the challenges faced by German and North American societies, as well as various visions for progress, by discussing them with experts in the USA, Canada, and Mexico.
In the Seattle edition of the series,
Mohamed Amjahid will discuss questions of liminality and safer spaces for artists, activists, and communities in gentrified neighborhoods with
Elisheba Johnson, co-founder of the Black art center Wa Na Wari, writer and filmmaker
Charles Mudede, and
Rana San, Artistic Director of Northwest Film Forum.
This event will take place online on Zoom on October 7, 2020 at 12pm (PDT). Registration is required—please use the link to register.
Registration
About the guests:
© A. Langer
Mohamed Amjahid studied political science in Berlin and Cairo, and conducted research on various anthropological projects in North America. Mohamed is a political reporter for the weekly newspapers
Die Zeit and das
Zeit Magazin. Anthropologically and journalistically, Amjahid focuses on human rights, equality, and upheaval in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Amjahid is a 2020 Thomas-Mann Fellow.
© Zorn Taylor
Elisheba Johnson is a curator, public artist, and administrator. Johnson, who has a BFA from Cornish College of the Arts, was the owner of Faire Gallery Café, a multi-use art space that held art exhibitions, music shows, poetry readings and creative gatherings. For six years, she worked at the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture on capacity building initiatives and racial equity in public art. Johnson is currently a member of the
Americans for the Arts Emerging Leaders Network advisory council and has won four
Americans for the Arts Public Art Year in Review Awards for her work. She currently co-manages Wa Na Wari, a center for Black art and culture in Seattle’s historically redlined Central District that uses the arts to build community and resist displacement and gentrification.
© Charles Mudede
Charles Mudede is a Zimbabwean-born cultural critic, urbanist, and writer for the
New York Times,
LA Weekly,
Village Voice,
Black Souls Journal,
Cinema Scope, and
CTheory, and currently Associate Editor for
The Stranger, Seattle’s biweekly alternative newspaper. Mudede is also on the editorial board for the Arcade Journal and The Black Scholar. In addition, he works as a filmmaker, and is known for his collaboration with fellow filmmaker Robinson Devor on
Police Beat (2005) and
Zoo (2007). His newest feature,
The Skin, a collaboration between Mudede, the writer, comedian, and activist Lindy West, and the comedian and musician Ahamefule J. Oluo, premiered this summer.
© Meg Tronquet
Rana San is an artist and arts administrator who, prior to stepping into her role as Artistic Director at Seattle’s Northwest Film Forum, served as its Community Programmer, co-creating programming driven by and for the community. Drawing on her background in performing arts and cultural management, she has curated and produced cultural festivals, museum programs, and intimate creative salons in Seattle, Istanbul, and Barcelona. She crafts collective experiences that elevate the work of artists and activists using film, media, and contemporary performing arts to cultivate intimacy and incite connection.
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