Timelines

The emergence of a self-conscious Black community in West Germany in mid-1980s was decisively influenced by the professor, poet, and author Audre Lorde. Through her visits to West Berlin, she sought to create a space for black people, especially women, to encounter and exchange ideas with one another. Borrowing from the term “African American,” the designation “Afro-German” was coined to unite black people in Germany and overcome racist designations imposed by others.

The book Farbe bekennen: Afro-deutsche Frauen auf den Spuren ihrer Geschichte (Showing Our Colors: Afro-German Women Speak Out) was first published in 1986. Its basis was a graduate dissertation written by the educator and poet May (Opitz) Ayim (see: Decolonial Politics of Remembrance, 2010). The book told the stories of Afro-German women and their experiences of racism, homophobia, and sexism, and demonstrated the historical interconnections between Black History and Germany. Out of its editorial meetings a group emerged that, after growing in membership, eventually led to the establishment of the Association of Afro-German Women (ADEFRA) and the Black People’s Initiative in Germany (ISD).

ADEFRA (currently Adefra e.V Black Women in Germany) was founded in the mid-1980s. Its goal was to create a concrete space for anti-racism activism and to engage the majority German population with the issues raised by the book Farbebekennen, thus shaping a positive identity of and for black women. Literary interventions in this vein were published in the journal AFREKETE. Originally based in Munich, they gradually established further ADEFRA groups in cities such as Erfurt and Hamburg. In 1994, these groups joined together and a nation-wide organization was founded. ADFERA has since networked with other organizations internationally and engages in areas such as politics, empowerment, and education.

Originally calling itself the “Black German Initiative,” the ISD also emerged in the mid-1980s, at first out of several independent initiatives which had formed in various West German cities and which took part in lively exchanges of ideas with ADEFRA. The ISD was involved in the publication of several journals such as Afrolook (1986-1999) and the youth magazine Blite (1999-2002). Since its establishment, it has regularly organized various informational and community events as well as political campaigns. For example, local groups across Germany continue to organize public Black History Month events in February in order to address and reflect upon the history and everyday experiences of black people in Germany.

Black people also organized in the GDR, founding initiatives in East Berlin, Dresden, and Leipzig with the common goals of exploring the history of black Germans, illuminating racism within the society, and shaping their own destinies. Following the reunification, various initiatives joined together, changing the ways they understood themselves. Thus, the ISD adopted “Black People’s Initiative in Germany” as its name to acknowledge the experiences and interests of those people of color who had immigrated to Germany and/or were residing in Germany for a limited period of time.