Source: France 24

Nyansapo Fest – Paris mayor vows to halt black feminist festival, then backtracks

It’s an embarrassing turnaround for the mayor who appears to have leapt to the position of far-right groups instead of checking the facts of the situation.

The Nyansapo Fest, which is organised by the Mwasi Collective, is set to take place in northern Paris between 28 and 30 July.

In recent days, the festival organisers have been lambasted by certain social media users– especially those from far-right and white nationalist circles– due to the fact that certain sessions will only be open to black women. On Sunday, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo jumped into the discussion, tweeting that the festival was discriminatory and that she would take firm and immediate action to ban it.

However, only a day later, Hidalgo took to Twitter to announce that the festival would go ahead after all. This prompted ridicule on social media, with the number one hashtag in France stealing a line from her most recent tweet, “Following my firm intervention…”

“Festival Nyansapo: Following my firm intervention yesterday with organisers, a clear solution was established,” Hidalgo tweeted.

So what happened?

The Nyansapo festival has divided its events into four categories– those open exclusively to black women (which account for 80% of activities), those open to both black women and black men, those open to women of colour and those open to everyone. The majority of events are reserved for black female participants.

The organisers say it is important to restrict access to certain sessions so that black women can engage in open, honest conversations about their unique struggles, without judgement from others.

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