Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur

This episode of Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur, co-hosted by African Futures Lab Director Liliane Umubyeyi and Program Assistant Helene Himmer, features a compelling discussion with Chenai Mukumba, Executive Director of Tax Justice Network Africa, on the urgent need to fund climate reparations.Mukumba unpacks the enduring economic impacts of colonialism, which have left African nations dependent on extractive industries and disadvantaged in global value chains. The current international financial structure, led by institutions like the IMF and World Bank, she explains, reinforces this dependency and lacks the democratic accountability needed to support meaningful economic reform.The conversation explores tax justice as a pathway for financing climate reparations. Mukumba details how African countries lose substantial revenue to tax evasion and corporate abuses, proposing that taxes on wealthy individuals, corporations, and fossil fuel industries could provide crucial resources for climate adaptation. Advocating for a democratized global tax framework under the United Nations, Mukumba argues that this shift would better serve Global South nations compared to the OECD-led model, which tends to prioritize wealthier nations’ interests.Chenai Mukumba is the Executive Director at the Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA). She is based in Nairobi, Kenya and overall provides strategic leadership and direction to deliver on TJNA’s mission and vision in its various thematic areas. Chenai has a master’s in International Relations from Wits University, Johannesburg, and is currently pursuing  a master's in Taxation at the University of Oxford.Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA) is a research and advocacy organisation with a robust network of civil society organisations with the united effort of leading tax justice voices across the continent. Through its Nairobi Secretariat, TJNA collaborates closely with its member civil society organisations to curb illicit financial flows (IFFs) and promote progressive taxation systems. In partnership and collaboration with other regional economic governance institutions, TJNA advocates for tax policies with pro-poor outcomes and tax systems that curb public resource leakages and enhance domestic resource mobilisation. TJNA’s vision is to see a new Africa where tax justice prevails and ensures equitable, inclusive, and sustainable development.Support the African Futures Lab and Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur! Click here for more details.

This episode of Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur is co-hosted by Patrick Toussaint, an international environmental lawyer, and Helene Himmer, Program Assistant at African Futures Lab. Both welcomed the special guest Adrián Martinez Blanco, Director of La Ruta del Clima. The discussion finds roots in a recent case about the ongoing struggle of communities in Côte d'Ivoire against the Belgian multinational SIAT over allegations of land grabbing, deforestation and human rights violations related to its palm oil and rubber plantations. Martinez Blanco emphasizes the concept of "loss and damage," criticizing the newly established loss and damage fund for its lack of adequate support from developed countries. He also critiques Paragraph 51 of the Paris Agreement, which allows industrialized nations to evade accountability for climate-related harms, complicating efforts to secure reparations and address the realities of vulnerable communities.The conversation highlights the urgent need for a robust international legal framework to effectively address climate change and protect affected communities. Martinez Blanco stresses the importance of climate litigation as a tool for holding Global North states and corporations accountable for perpetrating environmental crimes and damages. He calls for unity amongst Global South countries to adopt a rights-based position in negotiations, focusing on specific reparations rather than diluting the conversation into broader concepts. Despite challenges such as limited resources, risks and threats faced by environmental defenders, Martinez Blanco advocates for pragmatic approaches rooted in human rights to address climate change impacts, underscoring that the lived experiences of affected communities should be central to climate justice negotiations. Adrián Martinez Blanco, MA, is the Director of La Ruta del Clima, a Costa Rican NGO that promotes public participation in climate and environmental decision-making and has been an observer, advocating at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) climate summits since 2014. Adrián’s research areas include climate impacts, loss and damage, human rights, public participation and international climate law. He is a current PhD candidate at the University of Eastern Finland and holds a Master's degree in Environment, Development and Peace with a speciality in climate public policies.Patrick is an international lawyer, policy analyst, and researcher with over eight years of experience in international environmental law and policy. He specializes in critical areas such as climate change, biodiversity, and air pollution. In addition to his legal expertise, Patrick excels as a communicator and facilitator, demonstrating a strong commitment to promoting diversity, mediation, and conflict resolution in his work.Support the African Futures Lab and Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur! Click here for more details.

In this podcast episode, Hélène Himmer and Brigette Perenyi, storytelling manager at Reform Initiative host a discussion with Ineza Umuhoza Grace, CEO of the Green Protector and Co. and founder of the Loss and Damage Youth Coalition, about the need for climate reparations and the challenges faced by the Global South, particularly Africa, which bears the brunt of climate impacts despite contributing minimally to global emissions. This episode explores how youth activism is driving the climate justice and reparations movement, with a focus on amplifying the voices of vulnerable groups like women and indigenous communities in Africa. Ineza emphasizes the need for these frontline communities to tell their own stories, rather than having international media impose narratives, ensuring their stories are heard and effective solutions are pursued. Furthermore, this episode advocates for unity among African nations to amplify their voices in global climate negotiations and address the tokenization of women, youth, and marginalized groups in international forums. Ultimately, the podcast calls for an inclusive, justice-driven approach to climate action that centers the voices and needs of those most affected by the crisis.Ineza Umuhoza Grace is a passionate eco-feminist, climate activist, and environmentalist from Kigali, Rwanda. She is the CEO and Founder of The Green Protector, co-ordinator and co-founder of the Loss and Damage Youth Coalition, and a Research Assistant for the CCLAD project, which stands for The Politics of Climate Change Loss and Damage. In 2023, Ineza was awarded the Global Citizen Prize for her remarkable contributions to climate advocacy.Ineza holds a bachelor’s degree in water and environmental engineering from the University of Rwanda. Her research focuses on Loss and Damage responses in developing countries. She is interested in working to find gaps that can be turned into an opportunity area to ensure sustainable development for the global community. She also aims to support the sharing of community voices through blogging, storytelling and youth empowerment, especially of the youth in the Global South.Brigitte Perenyi is a documentary story gatherer, producer & advocate with special focus on ethical storytelling. She works with development, INGOs, nonprofits and humanitarian organisations, news agents, storytellers and communications’ team to co-create more equitable media collection with ethical considerations. Currently, she serves as the storytelling manager at Reform Initiative. Perenyi strongly believes participatory and collaborative storytelling can change how we view and relate to our world. She engages with people in communities to find the stories that will not only give them agency and ownership but that will also support the transformation of their communities and create sustainability and prosperity; the goal of the organisations. She has produced & directed stories from the most challenging environments in over ten countries across Africa, and England for media outlets, corporations and organisations including BBC, World Bank, Open Society Foundation, Connected Development, and Conciliation Resources, to name a few. Brigitte was listed in 100 Women BBC 2018.Support the African Futures Lab and Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur! Click here for more details.

In the first episode of the third season of the Future Perfect-Futur Antérieur podcast, Professor Joshua Castellino, the Co-Executive Director of Minority Rights Group International and Professor of International & Comparative Law at University of Derby, UK, discusses how marginalized racial groups, particularly in Africa, bear the heaviest burden of the global ecological crisis. This episode examines the colonial roots of the climate crisis, emphasizing that European colonialism established extractive systems that treat nature as a commodity, driving both wealth inequality and environmental destruction. He critiques current environmental policies, particularly those that prioritize corporate profit at the expense of vulnerable communities and ecosystems. He stresses that indigenous peoples should not bear the primary responsibility for solving a crisis they did not create. Instead, responsibility should fall on major polluters like corporations and industrialized nations. He also warns against "green colonialism," where conservation efforts further displace indigenous communities under the guise of environmental protection.Joshua Castellino is Co-Executive Director of Minority Rights Group International and Professor of International & Comparative Law at University of Derby, UK. He founded the School of Law at Middlesex and served as its Dean until 2018, stepping down to take on the role at Minority Rights Group full-time while retaining his Chair until 2022. Joshua holds Visiting Professorships at the College of Europe, (Poland), Oxford University (UK), & the Irish Centre for Human Rights, (Republic of Ireland) and serves pro bono on governing boards of civil society organizations in Germany, Netherlands, UK, Sweden, Uganda and Hungary. He is the current Chair of the Board of Trustees of Privacy International UK and Door Tenant at 25 Bedford Row.Born and raised in Mumbai, India, Joshua worked as a journalist for Indian Express Newspapers Group in the 1990s, before winning a Chevening Scholarship and completing his PhD in International Law in 1998. He has published ten books (one forthcoming in 2025) and over a hundred articles on international law & human rights over twenty-five years in academia, including the Minority Rights Series (Oxford University Press). His latest book is titled Calibrating Colonial Crime: Reparations & the Crime of Unjust Enrichment. Joshua participated in the European Union China Diplomatic & Expert Dialogue on Human Rights (2002-2006) and was appointed Chair, by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the 8th Forum on Minority Issues (2015), an inter-governmental dialogue with civil society under the auspices of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Support the African Futures Lab and Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur! Click here for more details.

Dans cet épisode de Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur, Juliette Nijimbere, militante de longue date pour les droits humains, les droits de la femme et la lutte contre le racisme en Belgique, nous parle du déroulement et des résultats de la commission parlementaire belge sur le passé colonial du pays. Première en son genre, la commission chargée d'examiner le passé colonial de la Belgique au Congo, au Burundi et au Rwanda a été créée en juillet 2020, à la suite des manifestations Black Lives Matter. Juliette décrit les espoirs qui ont accompagné l'annonce du lancement de la commission, mais aussi les nombreux problèmes qui ont rapidement suivi dans sa mise en œuvre et qui ont peut-être présagé son échec. Elle nous parle notamment de consultations insuffisantes des populations concernées, tant en Belgique que dans les trois pays africains. Partageant sa vision de l'avenir avec nous, Juliette explique comment, malgré la déception de cette commission, elle reste engagée dans la lutte pour la reconnaissance des crimes du colonialisme et de leurs conséquences, ainsi que dans son combat pour la justice raciale et les réparations.Juliette Nijimbere est Administratrice Déléguée à la Gestion Journalière dans l'ASBL Ibirezi vy'Uburundi, association qui gère l'accueil, l'accompagnement et l'encadrement des migrants (Réfugiés ou demandeurs d'asile) par le biais de l'interculturalité, l'insertion socio-professionnelle, et le mentorat. Connaissant le contexte et les réalités du Nord comme du Sud pour y avoir vécu et travaillé, elle contribue activement à la lutte contre la pauvreté, les inégalités sociales, l'éducation pour tous et de qualité, la bonne santé pour tous, les droits humains et en particulier ceux des femmes et des enfants. D'où son engagement au sein d’organisations telles que Kira-Ukize, le Collectif des femmes pour la paix et la démocratie au Burundi, le MOC Brabant Wallon, et les Mutualités Chrétiennes du Brabant Wallon, où elle a exercé des rôles tels que Membre fondateur, Vice-Présidente, et Membre de l'Assemblée Générale. Juliette Nijimbere est membre de CaCoBuRwa, le Collectif des associations congolaises, burundaises, et rwandaises de Belgique. Lien vers les recommandations de la commission (novembre 2022, 24 pages; français, flamand)Lien vers les constats des experts de la commission (novembre 2022, 114 pages; français, flamand)Lien vers le rapport des experts de la commission (octobre 2021, 689 pages; français, flamand)Support the African Futures Lab and Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur! Click here for more details.

In this episode of Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur, we have the honor of welcoming two eminent scholars of Haiti, Professors Jean Casimir and Michel DeGraff, who speak with us about the legacies of colonialism in Haiti and the ongoing fight for justice and repair for the island. Prof. Casimir discusses the place and role of the Haitian state in demands for reparations from France, as well as what solidarity with other movements for historical justice across Africa and its diasporas might look like. Analyzing educational policies and practices in Haiti, Prof. DeGraff explains how colonial violence continues to play out in Haiti today in the enduring denigration of kreyòl, one of the country’s two official languages and the only one that is spoken by the entire population, in favor of French, the other official language (spoken by the formally educated and the elite). The needed reparations and restitution for colonial crimes, our guests show, are monetary but also, importantly, cultural. Michel DeGraff is Professor of Linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), co-founder and co-director of the MIT-Haiti Initiative, founding member of Akademi Kreyòl Ayisyen, fellow of the Linguistic Society of America. DeGraff is also an African Futures Lab Fellow. His research contributes to an egalitarian approach to Creole, Indigenous and other non-colonial languages and their speakers, as in his native Haiti.  Anchored in a broader agenda for human rights and social justice, his writings also engage intellectual history and critical race theory, especially the links between power-knowledge hierarchies and the hegemonic (mis)representations of non-colonial languages and their speakers in the Global South and beyond. Platfòm MIT-Ayiti, one of DeGraff's initiatives, sets up a model for other oppressed communities to constructively enlist their native languages as tools for quality education and for inclusion in all other spheres where knowledge and power are created and transmitted. More details at: https://mit-ayiti.net/, http://facebook.com/mithaiti, http://twitter.com/mithaiti, http://instagram.com/mithaiti, https://www.tiktok.com/@mithaiti.Jean Casimir is a sociologist and Professor of Humanities at the Université d’État d’Haïti (UEH). He has taught at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) in Mexico, at Stanford University and Duke University in the United States, as well as at the University of the West Indies, Mona in Jamaica. He served as a UN officer for the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean between 1975 and 1988 and as Ambassador of Haiti to the United States and the Organization of American States between 1991 and 1997. Prof. Casimir is the author of several books, including La Culture Opprimée (1981), Haïti et ses élites, l’interminable dialogue de sourds (2009), and La Caraïbe, une et divisible (1991). His most recent book is The Haitians: A Decolonial History (2020), winner of the Caribbean Philosophical Association's 2Support the African Futures Lab and Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur! Click here for more details.

Dans cet épisode de Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur, Malcom Ferdinand, politiste et ingénieur en sciences environnementales martiniquais, revient sur  le scandale sanitaire du chlordécone dans les territoires français d'outre-mer de la Martinique et de la Guadeloupe. Entre 1972 et 1993, le chlordécone, produit chimique hautement toxique, a été utilisé dans les bananeraies de Martinique et de Guadeloupe, alors que des études avaient déjà établi son caractère cancérigène et le développement de troubles neurologiques graves aux États-Unis. Aujourd'hui, 90 % de la population de la Martinique et de la Guadeloupe ont des traces de chlordécone dans leurs corps et ces territoires ont des taux de cancer de la prostate parmi les plus élevés au monde (et 2 à 3 fois plus élevés qu'en France métropolitaine). Néanmoins, la justice française a prononcé en janvier 2023 un “non-lieu" en réponse à la plainte déposée par des activistes martiniquai.e.s et guadeloupéen.e.s en vue d'obtenir réparation pour les dommages causés par l'utilisation du chlordécone aux écosystèmes et aux corps antillais. Leur plainte ne donnera donc pas lieu à un procès. Pendant notre échange, Malcom revient sur l'utilisation et la production de chlordécone par les propriétaires des bananeraies en Martinique et en Guadeloupe, l'inaction de l'État français, la récente décision de justice, et l'impact sur les corps et les moyens de subsistance des Antillais. Il explique comment ces événements s'inscrivent dans la continuité du passé esclavagiste de la France, et comment la violence coloniale se perpétue dans les réponses de l'État français et des tribunaux à ce scandale sanitaire aux Antilles. En se tournant vers l'avenir, Malcom considère les questions suivantes : Comment vivre avec une telle toxicité ? Lorsque les écosystèmes sont empoisonnés pour des décennies, voire des siècles, quels avenirs peut-on imaginer ? À quoi ressemble la poursuite de la justice ?BioMalcom Ferdinand est docteur en science politique de l’Université Paris Diderot et chercheur au Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (IRISSO). Situées au croisement de la philosophie politique, des théories postcoloniales et de l’écologie politique, ses recherches portent sur l’Atlantique Noir et principalement la Caraïbe. Il explore les articulations et intersections entre les questions politiques, l’histoire coloniale et les enjeux d’une préservation écologique du monde. Malcom Ferdinand est auteur d'articles scientifiques ainsi que de l’ouvrage Une écologie décoloniale. Penser l'écologie depuis le monde caribéen, publié au Seuil en 2019, dont la traduction anglaise a été publiée en 2021 sous le titre de: A Decolonial Ecology: Thinking from the Caribbean World, avec une préface de Angela Davis.Support the African Futures Lab and Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur! Click here for more details.

In this episode of Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur, Jephta Nguherimo, founder of the OvaHerero People’s Memorial and Reconstruction Foundation, speaks to us about the legacies of Germany’s genocide of the ovaHerero and Nama people in 1904-1908. It is not common knowledge that Germany’s first concentration camps were in Namibia; the camps were among the tools of genocide employed by the German colonial state. Describing how the genocide’s impact endures in Namibia’s landscape, in bodies, in families, as well as in the country’s economic conditions, Jephta discusses Herero activists’ fight for recognition and repair from Germany. He draws attention to the important shortcomings of Germany’s 2021 apology and the agreement between the German and Namibian states for a 1.1 billion euro development aid package. As he shines a light on the difference between reparations and economic aid and argues for what true reparations should entail, Jephta speaks to the link between strengthening African states and pursuing reparations for colonial crimes, as well as the role that civil society must play in this process. Throughout our conversation, Jephta reminds us that the goal of reparation is the restoration of the dignity of African peoples.BioJephta U Nguherimo is a lifelong activist, poet and a former professional labor negotiator of Herero-descent based in the US. He is the founding member of the OvaHerero People’s Memorial and Reconstruction Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the struggle of restorative justice for the OvaHerero people. Jephta was among the organizers of the exchanges that eventually forced the German government to confront and acknowledge Germany’s genocide of the ovaHerero and Nama people of 1904-08. He has led conversations and presented talks on restorative justice and memory culture at various international conferences, including the Reparations and Racial Healing Summit in Accra (2022) and the 1st Session of the UN’s Permanent Forum of People of African Descent in Geneva (2022). As a writer and poet, Jephta has also published several articles on the struggle for recognition in the Namibian and German press. He is the author of a book of poetry titled unBuried-unMarked: The Untold Namibian Story of the Victims of German Genocide between 1904–1908 and he was featured in a documentary by Al Jazeera titled “Namibia: The Price of genocide” (2021). Jephta holds a B.S. in Philosophy and International Political Economy from the University of Rochester, NY, and an M.S. in Labor Studies from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. An accomplished labor negotiator, he worked as a union representative and recently retired from the Maryland State Education Association. Support the African Futures Lab and Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur! Click here for more details.

Dans cet épisode, Mireille-Tsheusi Robert, activiste antiraciste, afro-féministe et décoloniale de longue date, présente une histoire et une analyse complexes de l'activisme décolonial en Belgique. Décrivant son parcours au cours des 25 dernières années, elle présente les défis de l'activisme antiraciste et décolonial en Belgique. Dans ses propos, on voit ainsi la manière dont les revendications du mouvement BLM de 2020 en Belgique s'inscrivent dans la continuité des revendications des acteurs anticoloniaux au Congo et ailleurs en Afrique du début du 20e siècle. Mireille aborde des thèmes tels que les succès de ces mouvements, mais aussi leur essoufflement. Elle partage ses inquiétudes sur ce qu'elle perçoit comme un mépris et une dépréciation généralisés des activistes contemporain.e.s et ce que cela implique pour l'avenir du mouvement. Elle parle de stratégie à l'échelle des siècles, et des rapports entre les mouvements décoloniaux dans les diasporas en Belgique et sur le continent. Mireille affirme avec force que les mouvements décoloniaux d'aujourd'hui ne doivent plus se concentrer sur une demande d'amour ou d'acceptation, mais plutôt sur les demandes de justice et de droits: "On n’attend plus qu’ils nous aiment, qu’ils nous acceptent de bon cœur. On n’attend plus de les convaincre. Ce qu’on attend, c’est qu’ils nous respectent et qu’ils nous rendent justice, point.”Bio Belge d'origine congolaise, Mireille-Tsheusi Robert est formatrice et auteure décoloniale et féministe depuis 1999. Elle est présidente de l'association Bamko, un comité de femmes pour l'égalité et l'équité raciale. Association de veille antiraciste au niveau national, Bamko mène un véritable plaidoyer au niveau politique et médiatique en impulsant le débat public sur les questions de défense des droits des personnes victimes de racisme, la décolonisation de l’espace public et le travail de mémoire sur l’histoire coloniale Congolo-belge. Titulaire d'une maîtrise en sciences de l'éducation (Université Catholique de Louvain-La-Neuve), Mireille-Tsheusi Robert est co-auteure de 6 ouvrages, dont "Racisme anti-Noirs, entre méconnaissance et mépris" (2016) et "S'imposer" (2020).Support the African Futures Lab and Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur! Click here for more details.

In this episode, Kwanza Musi dos Santos, Italian activist and co-founder of anti-racist organization Questaèroma, speaks with us about the state of the struggle against racism and xenophobia in Italy. Among other topics, Kwanza discusses the challenges of Italy’s citizenship law, how the country’s colonial past and migration are addressed in national politics, and the implications of the recent election of a far-right government for the fight against racism (it’s not as straightforward as you might think!). Pointing to the links between casual and structural racism, the enduring silences around Italy’s colonial past, and anti-immigrant violence, Kwanza highlights the need for intersectional activism that addresses racism, homophobia, and xenophobia jointly. And, importantly, she shares her tips on how to stay hopeful in a persistently difficult political landscape.Kwanza Musi dos Santos is an Italian and Afro-Brazilian activist based in Rome. She is a co-founder of  Questaèroma, a sports and culture association fighting discrimination in Rome through arts and culture activities, mainly for youth and people of color. Kwanza is an expert in Diversity & Inclusion. At the moment, she’s working with organizations in both the private and public sectors. Kwanza  also recently authored the chapter “Black Rome” in the book Mapping Black Europe: Monuments, Markers, Memories (Natasha Kelly & Olive Vassell, Eds., 2023).Support the African Futures Lab and Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur! Click here for more details.

In this episode of Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur, we speak with Prof. Menna Agha, architect and Assistant Professor of Architecture at Carleton University, in Ottawa, Canada. Menna’s research focuses on gender and space, with a particular emphasis on displaced Nubian populations. In this conversation, we learn not only about how, for a population for whom the Nile river has been a life source for millennia, forced displacement is epistemicide, but also about the legacy of refusal that continues to inform Nubian populations’ claims to their homelands - as well as Menna’s approach to design and scholarship. We also talk about the power of allyship with other Black and Indigenous populations across the world. Importantly, we muse on what it means to be guided by the voices of our foremothers and to call upon our ancestors as sources as we challenge Eurocentric knowledge systems and values.Menna Agha is a third-generation displaced Fadicha Nubian, a legacy that infuses her research interests in race, gender, space, and territory. She is an architect and researcher who has recently been coordinating the spatial justice agenda at the Flanders Architecture Institute in Belgium. She is currently Assistant Professor at the Azrieli School of Architecture & Urbanism at Carleton University in Canada. In 2019/2020, she was the Spatial Justice Fellow and a visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Oregon. Menna holds a PhD in Architecture from the University of Antwerp, and a Master of Arts in Gender and Design from Köln International School of Design. Her publications include: Nubia still exists: The Utility of the Nostalgic Space; The Non-work of the Unimportant: The shadow economy of Nubian women in displacement villages; and Liminal Publics, Marginal Resistance. She created the platform Project Unsettled,  she is part of the collective that developed the Disembodied Territories platform, and is co-curator and co-editor, with Ola Hassanain, of the book There, is the city...And, here are my hands. You can learn more about  her work on her faculty webpage.Support the African Futures Lab and Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur! Click here for more details.

Dans cet épisode de Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur, nous accueillons Elom 20ce, artiste polyvalent - rappeur, réalisateur, designer, penseur, militant - africain d’origine togolaise. Au travers de son parcours artistique et politique, Elom 20ce nous emmène dans une discussion sur le rôle de l'intime dans les luttes pour la justice raciale, et, notamment, sur ce que veut dire “justice raciale” depuis le continent africain dans une perspective panafricaniste. Il nous explique comment, pour lui, tout combat doit passer par le fait de regagner de l'amour pour soi-même.Africain d’origine togolaise, Elom 20ce se définit comme un « Cogneur de l’invisible ». Militant dès ses premiers lyrics, on découvre sur ses albums des morceaux aux flow percutants et saccadés suintant de notes jazzy et de rythmiques afro traditionnelles qui mettent en « état de conscience ». Il est l’esprit derrière la marque de vêtements Asrafobawu (à découvrir sur Instagram, Facebook, ou Twitter), le label Asrafo Records, et le concept Arctivism. Elom 20ce est un penseur, militant panafricaniste, poète, rappeur, performeur, designer et réalisateur.Discographie : Améwuga (2020); Indigo (2015); Analgézik (2012); Légitime Défense (2010)Filmographie : Documentaires : La mémoire du sang (26 min, 2021); Le silence est un cri (26 min, 2020); Aux Impossibles Imminents (78 min, 2019). Album visuel : Noukpékpé Makpézan (2022)Morceaux joués dans l’épisode: Amewuga, Egungun, Le fardeau de ma lumièreSupport the African Futures Lab and Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur! Click here for more details.

In this episode of Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur, we welcome Dr. Mame Fatou Niang, polyvalent US-based French scholar, filmmaker, writer, racial justice activist, and AfaLab Fellow. Mame discusses the state of the debate on race in France, what it means when your country, a country that prizes language, does not have - refuses - the words to name you and your experience. She talks about racial justice work against this invisibilization as mold-defying mosaic-making, about her enduring belief in universalism, about finding companionship in spaces of exclusion, and leveraging the silences to heal ourselves.You can learn more about Mame Fatou Niang’s writing, film and media contributions on her faculty webpage. You can also read more about her trajectory and thinking in a recent AfaLab Fellows Spotlight on her work. Mame Fatou Niang is a French scholar, photographer, and filmmaker. She is Associate Professor of French and Francophone Studies at Carnegie Mellon University (US), where her research and teaching focus on economies of the living/living economy, Blackness in Contemporary France, and French Universalism. She is an Artist-in-Residence at the Ateliers Médicis in Paris, working on a project entitled “Échoïques” (Sounds of Silence). In 2021, she served as the Melodia Jones Distinguished Chair of French Studies at University at Buffalo. She is the author of Identités Françaises (Brill, 2019) and the co-author of Universalisme (Anamosa, 2022). In 2015, she co-directed “Mariannes Noires: Mosaïques Afropéennes,” a film that follows seven Afro-French women as they investigate the pieces of their mosaic identities, and unravel what it means to be Black and French, Black in France. She has collaborated with Slate, Jacobin, and several news outlets in France and she is currently working on a manuscript tentatively titled Mosaica Nigra: Blackness in 21st-century France.Support the African Futures Lab and Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur! Click here for more details.

Dans cet épisode de Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur, nous accueillons le Dr Noureddine Amara, historien de la citoyenneté et du droit colonial en Algérie et plus largement en Afrique du Nord. Il nous permet d’aborder des sujets assez controversés tels que le passé colonial de la France en Algérie, ses conséquences contemporaines, la conceptualisation de ces événements passés ainsi que la relation actuelle entre les deux Etats. Cette conversation porte aussi sur la manière dont le passé colonial - et les crimes commis à cette époque - ont été traités au fil des ans par les États français et algérien, en particulier sous la présidence d'Emmanuel Macron. Des questions centrales traitées dans ce podcast concernent également la différence entre un travail mettant l’accent sur la mémoire et une lutte pour la justice, le rôle de la diaspora algérienne dans les revendications de justice et l'importance d'une approche panafricaine de ces questions. Noureddine insiste sur le fait que le chemin de la justice n'est pas seulement  un chemin d'émancipation mais aussi et surtout un chemin de la dignité.Noureddine Amara est historien algérien. Ses recherches portent sur l'histoire de la migration, de la nationalité, de la citoyenneté et du droit colonial ; les héritages coloniaux, la justice et les réparations ; et l'Afrique du Nord pendant l'Empire ottoman et l'ère coloniale (16e-20e siècles). Il a été chercheur en 2021-2022 au Abdallah S. Kamel Center for the Study of Islamic Law and Civilization de la Yale Law School. Intervenant fréquent dans les médias algériens et français sur les questions de justice et de réparation des crimes coloniaux, Noureddine est l'auteur d'une thèse intitulée "Faire la France en Algérie : émigration algérienne, mésusages du nom et conflits de nationalités dans le monde : de la chute d'Alger aux années 1930." Avant ses études doctorales, il a enseigné dans le secondaire en France et en Algérie. Noureddine est titulaire d'un doctorat de l'Université Paris 1 - Panthéon Sorbonne. Pour en apprendre plus sur les travaux scientifiques de Noureddine Amara, cliquer ici, et pour ses analyses du rapport Stora, voir "Sur le rapport Stora" et "Du rapport Stora au glamour colonial".Support the African Futures Lab and Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur! Click here for more details.

In this episode of Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur, we welcome Dr. Amara Enyia, President of Global Black, and Makmid Kamara, Executive Director of the Africa Transitional Justice Fund (ATJLF). ATJLF convened the recent Accra Summit on Reparations and Racial Healing (August 2022), a gathering that brought together activists, policymakers, and foundations to start establishing a common agenda for reparations that centers the African continent. The Accra Summit built on the Reparations and Healing Convening, a weeklong meeting of reparations and healing experts hosted by Nicole Hannah Jones and facilitated by Dr. Enyia in Bellagio, Italy in July 2022. The Convening’s aim was to address the legacies of the Transatlantic slave trade and develop collective strategies for achieving redress and repair. In this conversation, Makmid and Amara share the motivations for and outcomes of these two gatherings as part of a broader movement underway for achieving reparatory justice and healing for Africans around the world. Along the way, they talk to us about why reparations is not solely about the past, but rather is a future-making, world-building project, and why imagination must be a cornerstone of efforts to address historical crimes and their legacies. Read the Accra Declaration on Reparations and Racial Healing, a key outcome of the Accra Summit, here.Amara Enyia is a US-based Strategist, Public Policy Expert and Social Impact professional on city and state policy as well as international affairs with expertise in Africa, Latin America, and Central Asia. In addition to her role as President of transnational advocacy organization Global Black, Dr. Enyia serves as Chairwoman of the International Working Group for the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, and as Manager of Policy & Research for the Movement for Black Lives. Prior to her current roles, she worked in the Mayor’s Office for the City of Chicago, served as Executive Director of community-based organizations, and, as a grassroots organizer, worked on issues of education equity, economic justice, and environmental justice. Dr. Enyia holds Bachelors degrees in Journalism and Political Science, Masters degrees in Education and in Cities from the London School of Economics, a law degree, and a PhD in Education Policy. Learn more about Dr. Enyia’s work here.Makmid Kamara is Director of the Africa Transitional Justice Legacy Fund (AJLF), which is based in Accra, Ghana. Makmid is a human rights leader, researcher and development communications practitioner, with almost twenty years’ experience working with national and international development and human rights organisations in various countries, including Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and the United Kingdom. Notably, prior to joining ATJLF, Makmid served as Deputy Director of Global Issues and Head of the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR) Team at the International Secretariat of Amnesty International in London. Makmid holds an MSc with distinction in Development Communications from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and BA (Hons) with distinction in Mass Communications from Fourah Bay College (University of Sierra Leone). He started his career as a broadcast journalist in Sierra Leone. Learn more about Makmid Kamara’s work here.Support the African Futures Lab and Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur! Click here for more details.

Dans cet épisode de Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur, Olivia Rutazibwa, spécialiste belge et rwandaise des relations internationales basée au Royaume-Uni, activiste décoloniale et abolitionniste, professeure, ancienne journaliste et auteure de nombreuses publications, nous explique pourquoi la décolonisation du développement international est nécessaire et à quoi ce processus pourrait ressembler. Nous parlons également de ce que cela signifie de  repenser les mouvements de solidarité, et des différences de perspective entre l’Afrique continentale et la diaspora africaine dans le débat sur les réparations. À l’échelle individuelle, Olivia nous propose également des idées inspirantes sur comment nous ressourcer afin de pouvoir de continuer un combat qui peut souvent être épuisant.D'origine belge et rwandaise, Olivia Rutazibwa est spécialiste des relations internationales ancienne journaliste. Elle est Assistante Professor dans le département de sociologie à la London School of Economics et Senior Research Fellow à l'Institut d'Études Avancées de Johannesburg (JIAS), en Afrique du Sud. Sa recherche et son enseignement portent sur la décolonisation de la solidarité (internationale). Dr. Rutazibwa est titulaire d'un doctorat en sciences politiques/relations internationales de l'université de Gand (2013, Belgique). Avant de rejoindre la LSE, elle était maître de conférences en études européennes et développement international à l'Université de Portsmouth (2013-21, Royaume-Uni). Elle est éditrice associée de l'International Feminist Journal of Politics et a récemment intégré les comités de rédaction de l'International Politics Review et de la Review of International Studies. Dr. Rutazibwa est également présidente de section et du programme 2021-22 de la section “Développement mondial” de l'Association des Études Internationales.  Elle est l'ancienne éditrice du bureau Afrique, journaliste et chroniqueuse du magazine trimestriel MO* basé à Bruxelles et l'auteur d'un monographie non universitaire qui va bientôt paraître, The End of the White World: A Decolonial Manifesto (en néerlandais, EPO).Vous pouvez en apprendre plus sur les travaux d’Olivia Rutazibwa ici.Support the African Futures Lab and Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur! Click here for more details.

Bienvenue dans notre nouveau podcast ! Dans cet épisode d'introduction, Liliane Umubyeyi et Amah Edoh partagent les raisons qui les ont conduit à lancer Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur, la signification et les origines du nom du podcast, et leur vision de ce podcast comme un outil pour soutenir les luttes pour la justice raciale en Europe, en Afrique et en Amérique.Cet épisode est aussi disponible en anglais ici. Crédits pour la production: Amah Edoh; Liliane Umubyeyi; Matt Dann. Enregistrement et montage: Matt Dann. Musique: “African Dreams,” écrit et composé par Seun Anikulapo Kuti. Visuel: Amélie UmuherereziSupport the African Futures Lab and Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur! Click here for more details.

Welcome to our new podcast! In this introductory episode, Liliane Umubyeyi and Amah Edoh share their motivations for launching Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur, the significance and origins of the podcast’s name, and their vision for this podcast as a tool to support racial justice struggles across Europe, Africa, and the Americas.A French language version of this episode is also available here.Credits: Production: Amah Edoh; Liliane Umubyeyi; Matt Dann. Recording and editing: Matt Dann. Music: “African Dreams,” written and composed by Seun Anikulapo Kuti. Artwork: Amélie UmuherereziSupport the African Futures Lab and Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur! Click here for more details.