"To be a bold and proud queer African refugee is to embody audacity in its fullness."

This speech was written by Anne (who was moderating) and read by Jacky at Internationalist Queer Pride on 22nd June 2023 in Berlin:

Audacity. The constant that inspires and irks my soul in the same breadth.
You see, I am filthy rich in audacity!
To be a bold and proud queer African refugee is to embody audacity in its fullness.
It takes audacity to proudly bear undeniable and magnificent diversity, while battling prejudice, racialization, discrimination and so much more!
It is our fuel to bravely rise above the waves of fear, violence and death
To break chains of oppression and choking expectations
Audacity fuels the fire we breathe to burn all the boxes society tries to fit us in.
Heck, it is audacity that got me alive and on this stage today!

But on the other hand, there is audacity that irks me, makes my blood boil!
That Holybook thumping, viral, partriachal, pathological audacity!
You know, the one fashionably dressed in religiously shimmering accessories, just dripping in jewels of double standards?
That audacity to covet my sense of self and freedom,
Marrying it with your self hate and consumating it with your hypocrisy!
Simply because I choose to be unapologetically me, unbowed, daring to live and love!
What nerve you have, to play God, creator and erasor?
The self branded correction fluid for humanity, the White wash!
How fitting it is that you should excel at whitewashing!
From erasing my kind from history, discovering and seizing what was neither new nor yours to take!
The audacity to breach our borders, defile our lands, tear at our very souls and senselessly think you could simply erase us!
It is a milestone you come so close to achieving, but…alas! Our Audacity!
You know I tend to think you actually get off on the blood bath.
Ironically, you recoil in disgust at my melanin
At times staring with eyes that perhaps try to instantly dissolve my melanin right there in the train! Haha
Yet you tokenize me, fetishize and objectify my person
Your soiled sheets on one hand and a handful of your racist, capitalistic, queerphobic spew on the other!
Then with your power and privilege you manipulate the narrative,
Trying to render us voiceless, powerless, seen but not heard, non existent.

But baby, audacity goes both ways, and in my righteous audacity I stand here to reclaim our voice, our presence, our resilience!
Like my ancestors, my audacity seeks no permission,
I stand on the shoulders of all that came before me, before us
Sanctified by their blood and tears, charged by their resilience and defiance
Mine is the voice of legions of warriors, fighters, proven and time-tested winners! Revolutionists!
I carry the audacity of the often forgotten and unseen global majority, a force to reckon with!
From all beautiful corners we rise, no longer underdogs, but loud and proud!
With the audacity to be ourselves, born fearless and determined to fight on.
We shall be silent no more, for our revolution is here!
Our Pride is our audacity, and you had better be scared of it!