WHO WE ARE
DECOLONIZE! e.V. (Deco) emerged in 2019 from the association Feministisch leben in Köln (FLeK e.V) - Verein für feministische Haus-, Wohn-, und Stadtteilprojekte. Deco has since been a network for projects that want to implement educational, cultural, empowerment work that is critical against any discrimination in particular against racism with a focus on intersectional feminism.
This includes:
Political education work in the context of events on feminist and critical race topics, urban (sub)politics and cultural events that serve to promote equality, especially for womxn, Lesbians, Trans*, Inter* and genderqueer people.
The promotion of transnational exchange, mainly through language support, cultural projects, and educational stays abroad.
The promotion of so-called development cooperation by supporting children, youth and young adults in high schools, higher education and vocational training in Germany and other countries, as well as socially disadvantaged families and communities in health care and agricultural projects.
Who is behind Deco and which projects we are currently running can be found in the following...
OUR PROJECTS
ABUSUA
Obi nnim Ɔbrepɔn Ahyɛase
Within the framework of Abusua (Akan family concept), our partnerships in Ghana support people and communities in and around Daaso (West Africa, Ghana, Asante Region) who are socio-economically disadvantaged by supporting them in formal education and health care.
We represent a decolonizing, participatory approach with which we would like to be a facilitator for our Ghanaian partnerships. This includes making us constantly aware of the fact that we, with our center of life in Germany, hold a social position as members of a neo-colonial center. This we see our donations much more as reparations and/or empowerment and not at all as rescue. At the moment, we provide this support mainly in the form of scholarships for young adults, especially womyn.
FAMILIAR PLACES
In "Familiar Places", director Mala Reinhardt accompanies her protagonist Akosua on their common search for what family and home mean to them: the blood relatives, the closest confidants, the larger communities in which they move? In her final film of her directing studies at the Babelsberg Film University, the entire team consists exclusively of women. They accompany Akosua to Düsseldorf, where her father lives, to the Ghanaian capital Accra, where she is always drawn, and through Berlin, her self-chosen new home. The result is a mixture of plain German documentary, Ghanaian fairy tale and Bollywood movie.
DAASO (AT)
A Ghainaian_German Family Archive
The documentary film project DAASO is about a generational handover in which a transnational Ghanaian_German Family Archive is developed.
A team from the perspective of multilinguals, Blacks, People of Color (PoC) and people from formerly colonized Ghana narrate and develop this film. Currently, the project is in the development phase.
DECOLONIZE COLOGNE
The initiative Decolonize Cologne was founded in 2019 by female historians in Cologne. We offer critical walking tours in some districts of Cologne (Germany, NRW), to speak in public space about the German colonial past and its continuities in our society and in our minds. Since 2020 we are part of the association Decolonize! eV. For more information about us and our offers, please visit us:
https://www.instagram.com/decolonizecologne
https://www.facebook.com/DecolonizeCologne
DONATE
Decolonize e.V. is a non-profit association and donations are tax deductible. Please get in touch if you need a donation receipt, usually this is only required for donations of €200 or more.
---Germany---
Decolonize! e.V.
IBAN: DE53 4306 0967 4075 3082 00
BIC: GENODEM1GLS
GLS Bank Bochum
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Account Name: DECOLONIZE FOUNDATION LBG
Account Number: 6011016022
Bank: Zenith Bank Ghana
Filiale: Adum Branch
MEET THE TEAM
PAMELA AKOSUA TWINWAAH AMPONSAH
Board, Co-Founder, Coordination, Abusua (Project Management), DAASO (Book and Assistant Director)
Activist in intersectional feminism, critical race and critical capitalism contexts. Degree in Education with a focus on Critical Race Theory. Schooler of Gender Studies with focus on Feminist-Critical-Postcolonial Theories. Visiting student MA African Studies, University of Ghana, 2018.
GODFRED KOFI ADUSEI JNR
Board, Co-Founder (Decolonize! Foundation in Ghana), Abusua (Project Coordination)
Kofi has been involved in the Abusua project with Akosua since 2019. In 2020, he also founded Decolonize! Foundation, our partner organization in Ghana. He is a holder of Bsc. Computer Science from University of Cape Coast, Ghana, a Pan-African and co-founder of Bibiniba Tours:
MERLE BODE
Board, Co-Founder, Organizer, Decolonize Cologne (critical walking tours in Cologne)
Activist and historian in Cologne. I am interested in critical perspectives on history and its relation to contemporary society. My particular focus is on intersectional feminism, history of German national socialism and colonialism, criticism of racism and anti-semitism and critical whiteness. I have experience in political-historical educational work, teaching German and I am a PhD-student in History on the topic of “Whiteness in the women’s movement”.
RICHMOND DONKOR
Abusua (Project Assistant)
Richmond has been assisting Godfred Kofi Adusei Jnr. in the Abusua Project in Ghana since March 2022. He is also an artist and holds a B.F.A. in Painting from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi.
MARTIN
Treasurer, Co-Founder
Since my youth, I have always been the most privileged person in my circle of friends and have always felt it to be a great injustice that things that I take for granted remain closed to many people. For more than 10 years I have been dealing with feminism, racism, colonialism, and the critique of capitalism, and I find it very instructive to learn a lot about myself. Professionally, I have a lot to do with finances and bring the experience as treasurer to Decolonize!
CONTACT
Get in touch with us to learn more about our work and how you can get involved.