Is coronavirus really the great equaliser? Are all of us facing it in the same way, with the same resources? Are we really all in this crisis together? In this Fellow-led online COVID-19 conversation, “Re-Centring the Margins”, activists from India, Kenya and Zimbabwe offered intersectional perspectives on this emergency from the standpoint of groups who are too often invisible and driven to the “margins” of society.
Many groups facing long-standing oppression do not have the luxury of social distancing. Marginalised communities that are confronting the fallout of woefully inadequate social protection are plunging deeper into poverty. Around the world, millions face starvation. Coronavirus is neutral to our social differences, but the pandemic is producing outcomes that are highly unequal, and evidence is emerging that it is disproportionately affecting black, Asian, and minority ethnic communities. Feminist scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw has observed: “This is the human crisis that will not create the moment of recognition of our common humanity. The crisis is actually going to reinforce structural and historical vulnerabilities.”
Is the outcome of this bleak analysis inescapable? Can the frontline, often informal workers we now deem “essential”, as well as black, Dalit and minority bodies, women, differently abled, transgender communities, refugees, the elderly and the incarcerated, be justly valued and treated with respect and dignity in this pandemic and beyond? What about our public discourse, social policies and politics: are there any signs that these are evolving to acknowledge the rights and needs of people of different colour, gender, caste and ability?
In this event, Asha Kowtal revealed the compounded impact of the crisis on Dalit lives in India, Maureen Sigauke focused on the impact of precarious and low-paid work on Zimbabweans and their families, and Fredrick Ouko asked if Kenya’s disabled people remain an afterthought in COVID-19 responses.
In addition, Esther Mwema read one of her short stories and Delhi’s acclaimed artist community of musicians, storytellers, dancers, magicians and puppeteers Kathputli Colony offered a live performance of music and puppetry.
Panelist
Asha Kowtal
Asha Kowtal is an Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity and a feminist activist and development professional with over 15 years of broad and significant experience in Indian and global human rights work. She has been organising Dalit women’s movements in India for the past decade and is the former General Secretary of the All India Dalit Women’s Forum.
Panelist
Fredrick Ouko Alucheli
Fredrick Ouko Alucheli is an Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity, the Co-Chief Executive & Transformation Officer at ADD International, and the founder of Riziki Source, a social enterprise that facilitates access to job opportunities for persons with disabilities leveraging the power of technology. His work looks at issues of inequalities that persons with disabilities face in Kenya and beyond.
Panelist
Maureen Sigauke
Maureen Sigauke is an Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity and a community organiser and activist who always seeks to be the change her community needs. She is the founder of Community Hope Trust, organisation through which she champions educational equality among a host of other inequalities which confront poor communities. She also consults in the non-profit sector offering sustainability-related services.
Performer
Kathputli Colony Artists
Kathputli Colony is a colony of street performers in Shadipur Depot area of Delhi. For the last 50 years, it is home to some 2,800 families of magicians, snake charmers, acrobats, singers, dancers, actors, traditional healers and musicians and especially puppeteers or kathputli-performers from Rajasthan.
Performer
Esther Mwema
Esther Mwema is an Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity, an artist, and an expert in internet governance, digital inequalities, and innovation. She is the founder of Safety First for Girls Outreach Foundation (SAFIGI), a feminist, youth-led organisation focused on safety education, advocacy and research, and the founding president of Digital Grassroots, which works to increase the representation of underserved youth in internet governance through the multi-stakeholder model.
Chair
Michaela Rafferty
Michaela Rafferty is an Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity and a youth worker and activist. She currently works as a Youth Engagement and Campaigns Organiser at Just for Kids Law. In her work, she engages with young people who have been excluded from mainstream education to enable them to become social action leaders in transforming the use of school exclusions and advocating for a more inclusive education system.
Chair
Craig Dube
Craig Dube is an Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity and a Zimbabwean-born public health professional and social justice activist with more than 10 years of experience working in primarily low-income communities in sub-Saharan Africa. He currently works as a Training Coordinator for No Means No Worldwide (NMNW), an internationally acclaimed training academy for sexual violence prevention and recovery.
Banner Image: Photo by Srimathi Jayaprakash on Unsplash
