Author Archives: Aggelis

June – Oct. 2023: 4-module online qualification series: At eye level? Decolonial cooperation in project work with “partners” in African countries

Qualification series for activists in development policy organizations, initiatives, migrant self-organizations and for all those who work for global justice.

The project work with African “partners” is built on a very unequal basis. Funds and specifications come from Germany and often people from Germany are deployed in the partner countries, although they lack knowledge about the local structures. But racisms and other power relations are also (unconsciously) reproduced in direct cooperation. Dealing with this reproduction is a comprehensive process. It starts with self-reflection on the one hand and self-empowerment against these conditions on the other. The structures in which the projects take place must change. Nevertheless, decolonial “partnership work” is a first possible building block for this long-term change. Therefore, we offer a qualification series on power- and racism-critical confrontation in the so-called partnership work with African countries. Four webinars teach necessary skills for racism- and power-sensitive collaboration. More information and registration here.

Launch of the digital city maps in the glokal project Global Erinnern on 26.08.2022 at documenta15/Kassel

Initiated by our friend and colleague Doğan Akhanlı, who passed away in 2021, we have been working on a transnational culture of remembrance in the Global Remembering project since 2020. Now we have created digital city maps of local-global interconnections of the Global North and South, East and West in Berlin, Bremen, Frankfurt, Kassel and Cologne. You can find them here.
In each city there are historical events, thematic tours and people related to global history: Strikes of migrant workers; sites of African organizing in Europe; people who were active in the international resistance against fascism. Some places were central to emigration from Europe, others played(d) an important role in global economic relations then and now. Traces of German colonialism, National Socialism and right-wing extremist violence can also be traced on the maps. You can also find more about the project

We celebrate the launch of the Global Remember Card (flyer HERE) in the context of documenta15 in Kassel. After the launch, we’ll celebrate with snacks and drinks. You are cordially invited!

When: Friday, August 26, 2022, 18:00-20:00
Where: ak/WH22, Werner-Hilpert-Str. 22, 34117 Kassel

glokal project on educational work critical of anti-Semitism

glokal links educational work critical of racism and anti-Semitism: In our project we expand the portfolio of our timeline method and the eLearning tool “connecting the dots”. In doing so, 30 quotes and resolutions are added to our timeline method. As usual in the timeline method, we work with reproductive as well as resistive sources in order to show anti-Semitic ruptures and continuities of the last 21 centuries. At the same time, the method is well-suited for a hands-on treatment of various forms and aspects of anti-Semitism in the present. The new module is available in three languages (German, English, Arabic) and can be booked now. Soon it will also be available on our website, as well as digitally on the eLearning tool connecting the dots page.

Newsletter January 2021

Dear people,

we wish you a happy new year 2021 and would like to report about our three projects in the past year:

1st Qualification Series Antiracism and Decoloniality 2020
Our qualification series for development organizations and groups on antiracism and decoloniality has ended successfully. We had a total of more than 300 registrations and unfortunately could not accommodate them all.
The series consisted of 5 online seminars on working critically of racism and power and enabled participants* to engage with decolonial issues in development contexts and structures. Due to huge demand, we will try to offer the series again in 2021.
You can find more information HERE.

2. climateDeSol: Climate Decolonial and Solidary 2020-2022
What results has KlimaDeSol’s empowerment series achieved?
– There is the video recording of an action of a part of the group with screenings of photos of Black women and activists on Alexanderplatz on 12.10.2020 http://decolonize-your.net
– Dominique O. organized a panel entitled “Racism, Colonialism and Environmentalism” on October 24, 2020, on her own initiative and in consultation with Greenpeace Germany, where Paola Reyes, Imeh Ituen, Peter Donatus and Salomón Derreza from the South or BIPoC were able to present the decolonial positions in the Global South. Video HERE [https://youtu .be/TV-CsQj4sOk]
– On November 15, 2020, the KlimaDeSol empowerment series was presented at the First BIPoC – Climate Conference and now forms part of the BIPoC – Network.
– Saadya W. informed us via twitter among other things about the action of 15.11.2020 with the words: 136 years ago colonialist solified the civilization-breaking division of the African continent at the Berlin-Congo Conf. Their decisions are still effective today. Artistic intervention. LINK
#déchainé draws attention to an involved consume product.!B http://decolonize-your.net
#decolonize
– A chat group has been established. We have planted a seed and now we should dare to look into the future together, what fruits we want to harvest from the seed. There is the idea of creating a collective and that of an independent network under the name and logo of KlimaDeSol.
What’s next for KlimaDeSol?
We want to ask ourselves these questions in a joint reflection as a group:
– what have we learned or taken away?
– what would we like to do differently in the future?
– where do we go from here?
In view of the fact that several requests have now been received to present the project and the results of the workshop, we find this all the more important. There will be an online final meeting in early January 2021 for a collective reflection involving multiple members. It is mainly in the hands of the BIPoC participants how to proceed.

3. global remembering
In May 2020, we started our project Global Erinnern, a cooperation project with the ISD – Initiative Black People in Germany and recherche international. In this project we are developing digital maps of local global history(s) in Berlin and in cooperation with many local actors in four other cities. This year we already organized workshops on critical cartography in cooperation with the Orangotango Collective and the Decolonial, as well as on colonial continuities. We also conducted workshops for museums and engaged groups on decolonization and global history, as well as multiplier trainings on digital workshop design.

If you/you are interested in educational opportunities in 2021, please feel free to contact us!

Also if your city, municipality or county give interesting connection points for our digital map of global history, please feel free to contact us at geschichte[ÄT]glokal[PUNKT]org.

In terms of content, it can be about (illustrated by the Berlin example): Resistance of Black people in Berlin under National Socialism; the participation of people with Berlin connections in the Spanish Civil War; Berlin sites that illustrate the understanding of transnationalism in the Ottoman Empire; or events that took place in Berlin and demonstrate the global entanglement of history.
We would be very happy to find cooperation partners, initiatives, groups and individuals in different cities who want to contribute to the research in their local environment. In early 2021, we would like to write a proposal for this research so that there can be a small honorarium for the research work.

We wish you all the best for 2021!

Many greetings,
the glokal team

Further training for actors with decision-making functions from migrant communities

and established organizations, institutions and initiatives from November 2020 – May 2021.
When are collaborations successful? In the further training of the BAKD Bundesakademie für Kirche und Diakonie, glokal e.V and Refugee Strike Bochum, conditions for a cooperative partnership are analyzed and possibilities for clarifying the mission are developed, which do justice to the different organizational degrees and cultures. Read more here.