In the world of German clubs and organizations, women’s groups are hardly rare. However, such groups are often comprised solely of white-German women, often members of the middle-class and of West German origin. In order to change this pattern, non-white and minority women in Germany began to come together in meetings and conferences in the early 1990s.
The two largest congresses took place in 1990 and 1991. Black, West German women in particular had already been engaged in repeated attempts to publicly thematize their experiences of racism, sexism, and homophobia. (see: Foundation of Black-German Activism, 1986)
The first meeting, entitled “By and for ethnic and Afro-German minorities,” took place in Bremen from June 8 to June 10, 1990. Among other things, it discussed whether it would make sense politically to employ a single term in referring collectively to those experiencing racism and discrimination, in order to form a basis of solidarity for collective action. The term “black” was proposed for this purpose. Nonetheless, differences in privilege and position among the participants themselves that would have been obscured by a standardized terminology quickly became apparent. Thus the name given to the conference to be held the following year was the “Second Germany-Wide Congress by and for Immigrant, Black, Jewish and Exile Women.” The Afro-German activist and poet May Ayim was also active in this context. (see: Decolonial Politics of Remembrance, 2010)
The goal of both congresses was to create a space in which it would be possible for people with similar experiences to meet, discuss the everyday and structural effects of sexism and racism, learn from and support one another, and develop collective strategies. As a result, groups began gradually to emerge that challenged the white, middle-class domination of the feminist landscape in Germany, for example the associations ADEFRA, GLADT and LesMigraS. Self-organized groups of migrant women, such as choirs or sewing groups, had already formed in the 1970s. In 2013, the third conference under the title “FemoCo” was held, standing for “women, trans, and inter who regard themselves as black, of color, Jewish, Muslim, in exile, Sinti, Roma, or as migrants”. (see: FemoCo 2013: “Collective Conference for Feminists of Color in Germany”, 2013)
