“I used to think that if I am in a group of women, then I won’t have some of the problems that I suffered in groups of men. But that’s not always true,” explained Emilie Songolo, founder of non-profit AFRICaide and a UW-head librarian. “Not every woman wants your success or is happy for you if you are successful. Not everyone is happy [that you are] living your best life.”
For its ninth annual celebration, AFRICaide and the 4W Initiative’s International Women’s Day event will tackle the oft-ignored issue of bias within groups of women, even amidst coalition building and solidarity movements. The virtual gathering will take place this Saturday, March 5, noon-2 p.m.. It will be followed by an in-person reception at Global Marketplace, which will showcase local women vendors.
(Photo by Hedi Lamarr Photography)
Songolo, who is originally from Edea, Cameroon, has been living in Madison with her family for 31 years. In her youth, she often helped women in her town translate official letters from French to Basaa, following the footsteps of her father, who served as a translator for public events in her town. “My dad often translated from French to Basa for the community. He and my mom were community people.”
Creating this same sense of community was of the utmost importance to Songolo when she arrived in Madison. “This is home and I care a lot about this place,” she said. [When we moved here], there were a lot of things I didn’t like. I look at things from the perspective of, ‘Ok what are the gaps? What are the lacunae? How can we fill those gaps?’”
“Every place has its challenges. It is about how you’re going to navigate that,” she continued. “I’m the kind of person who doesn’t want to sit there complaining. I know what the problem is, I see what it is, and what it is for the people that I know and I start to think about how I can make it happen.”
The idea to host an International Women’s Day celebration was one that Songolo nursed for about three years before finally launching it in 2014. With the help of her church community at the Covenant Presbyterian Church and a team of nine dedicated women, the first International Women’s Day celebration was a huge success.
“[A major] goal for me was to help build community. Madison is a quirky place–unless somebody shows you where women who have things in common with you are, it’s really difficult to know,” Songolo mused. “It’s not like some big cities or other cities. It’s like this divided community, in essence, so someone really has to take your hand and say, ‘this is where you’re going to meet Black women, this is where you’re going to meet [Indigenous] women, this is where you’re going to meet Asian women.’”
The event has come a long way since its first iteration almost a decade ago, when Songolo used her own money to purchase lunch boxes from Panera Bread to feed guests. Now, with the help of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s 4W Initiative, the event has a sponsored brunch and custom-made stoles for the women who receive the Trailblazer Award every year. 4W director Lori Diprete Brown, who Songolo calls her “sister,” has been an integral part of making the International Women’s Day event what it is today.
“I contacted her in 2015 to invite her on a panel because of her work on [the UW] campus and her commitment to gender. She gave a really good talk,” Songolo recalled. “With anything, especially community work, capacity can become a big issue. This event has grown beyond the capacity that I and AFRICaide can provide. And now it’s become a 4W partnership that we didn’t even imagine we could have.”
Songolo and her planning committee chose this year’s theme because they believe it is an issue that is rarely addressed in women-centered spaces and significantly impacts women of marginalized identities. “The theme is great for all women but when it comes to women of color, bias is exponentially more serious because we are dismissed in so many spaces,” Songolo said. From the grocery store, to the workplace, to the classroom, we are neglected, we are stereotyped. Women of color have suffered severely because of this. They are exploited and microaggressed in so many spaces, they suffer backlash when they are successful.”
“I think it’s time that we start calling it out. We can’t say that we are denouncing bias towards a particular group, but when it comes to bias within groups, we don’t denounce it. Then we’re not being transparent,” she continued. “We have to really come at these things by being honest with ourselves. We cannot afford to continue like this.”
In actively combating unnecessary and painful division, Songolo hopes that those in attendance will see their differences as a strength and build connections because of them. “It’s like a ripple effect, honestly. I want women to network. I love making friends, I thrive on relationships,” she said. “While there are people who have bias towards you, you want to make sure that you have a circle of people who you can trust. It helps your wellness and your sanity.”
To accentuate a sense of community during the event, attendees are encouraged to wear their “purple best.” Purple, which is one of the three colors of International Women’s Day and has always been a favorite of Songolo’s, signifies social justice and dignity. “It’s very important to define the unity of your group visually. It gives you a sense of belonging,” she said.
The celebration will feature a keynote talk from Dr. Lucy Mikandariwe-Valhmu Ph.D., RN, FAAN, a Professor of Nursing at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Dr. Mikandariwe-Valhmu was chosen by the planning committee because of her inclusive research on healthcare for immigrant and refugee populations in the U.S. and the childrearing that African grandmothers take on for their grandchildren born to mothers with HIV/AIDS.
“Lucy is thinking of these kinds of women in spaces where development was arrested. She reconciles the academic community in a powerful way,” Songolo said. “It’s not scholarship in a vacuum. It’s not scholarship for the sake of scholarship to get tenure, it’s scholarship for community development. She can talk to you about scholarly topics in a way that really helps you understand what’s going on, what’s at stake, and what you yourself can do.”
Though COVID-restrictions have hindered Madison women’s ability to gather in person, Songolo is looking forward to the global reach of the event’s virtual form, which has been well-attended by women in Africa, Latina America, Europe, and Asia in the past. “I started this for the Madison community and now it’s a world event, thanks to the pandemic,” Songolo said. “It’s now exponentially enjoyable and beautiful in that way.”
Free tickets are still available at Eventbrite. Get yours here.
