chiquito
PhotosThe End of Innocence
In the 80s, I was 20 years old, I lived between France and Africa and I was a gay parent. In this series I tell my story, my contribution to the fights against dehumanization and my vision of the world.
Chiquito is the nickname my maternal great-grandmother gave me. I was born in a body at the crossroads of several systemic oppressions : Racism, néo-colonialism and homophobia. My artistic work and my political positioning result of this.
The death of my father, first political journalist in Congo and great advocate against colonialism, in 1983 while I was a teenager, has been the spark that ignited my activist commitment. It led me to consider civil disobedience as a duty.
However, even though I identify this as the moment when my political awareness was born, I know for sure that, while I was only a child, I already had deep inside of me this feeling of rebellion and anger regarding injustice. And this, mainly because of my gender expression and how it was impacting my daily life. And then because of my skin colour. I could feel contempt and rejection from people around me, without understanding the reason why.
I couldn’t name it but I could feel it. What I didn’t know then, was that being African, Black, gay and effeminate, all at once, was too much for one single human being. Really too much. And I didn’t know either that History had already condemned me and assigned to obedience, indignity and inferiority.
This, I refused. On the contrary, I dedicated my whole life to fight against all injunctions to "exclusionary normality".
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"There are years ask questions, and years answers." Zora Neale Hurston
In the 80s, I was 20 years old, I lived between France and Africa and I was a gay parent. In this series I tell my story, my contribution to the fights against dehumanization and my vision of the world.
Chiquito is the nickname my maternal great-grandmother gave me. I was born in a body at the crossroads of several systemic oppressions : Racism, néo-colonialism and homophobia. My artistic work and my political positioning result of this.
The death of my father, first political journalist in Congo and great advocate against colonialism, in 1983 while I was a teenager, has been the spark that ignited my activist commitment. It led me to consider civil disobedience as a duty.
However, even though I identify this as the moment when my political awareness was born, I know for sure that, while I was only a child, I already had deep inside of me this feeling of rebellion and anger regarding injustice. And this, mainly because of my gender expression and how it was impacting my daily life. And then because of my skin colour. I could feel contempt and rejection from people around me, without understanding the reason why.
I couldn’t name it but I could feel it. What I didn’t know then, was that being African, Black, gay and effeminate, all at once, was too much for one single human being. Really too much. And I didn’t know either that History had already condemned me and assigned to obedience, indignity and inferiority.
This, I refused. On the contrary, I dedicated my whole life to fight against all injunctions to "exclusionary normality".
-----
"There are years ask questions, and years answers." Zora Neale Hurston