Program

Imeh Ituen

Imeh Ituen is an Afro-German social scientist, environmental and climate activist. In her academic and activist work, she deals with decolonial and racism-critical perspectives on the environmental and climate crisis and racism in climate policy and movements, as well as the role of power relations in socio-ecological transformation processes and the effectiveness of environmental racism. Imeh Ituen is co-author of the BUND-Jugend brochure ‘Colonialism & Climate Crisis – Over 500 Years of Resistance’ published in 2021. She is currently doing her doctorate and her dissertation project examines energy justice from an intersectional Black perspective.
The 37-year-old community builder is co-founder of both the BIPoC environmental and climate justice group ‘Black Earth Kollektiv’ and the BIPoC network ‘Care & Repair – Decolonial Think-Tank For Environmental Justice’. Furthermore as a human rights activist, Imeh Ituen is also active in the refugee movement and currently sits on the board of Bewegungsstiftung.

Dr. Sunny Omwenyeke

Dr Sunny Omwenyeke is a social scientist, guest lecturer at the universities of Bremen and Oldenburg, empowerment trainer and human rights activist. The Nigerian-born veteran of the refugee movement in Germany was co-initiator of the campaign founded in 2000 against the ominous Residenzpflicht for asylum seekers, which is reminiscent of the passport laws of apartheid South Africa. This nationally recognised campaign relied on civil disobedience as a form of resistance, despite insecure residence, state harassment and outrageous police brutality. Dr Omwenyeke took his case against the German residency requirement all the way to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in 2004. In the same year, he was imprisoned for 12 days in Bremen simply because of his campaigning against the Residenzpflicht, i.e. in favour of the right to freedom of movement for refugees in Germany.
Dr Omwenyeke studied International Relations and Global Governance in Bremen and completed his doctorate in the UK on the topic of ‘Transnational Advocacy Networks’. In the UK, he was coordinator of the Regional Asylum Activism Project, West Midlands (UK). After his return to Germany, he founded the Bremen association ‘Bremen Solidarity Centre (BreSoC) e.V.’ and the refugee self-organisation ‘Together We Are Bremen (TWAB)’, which campaigns for the interests of refugees in the Free Hansestadt. Until recently, he was also the coordinator of the ‘Bremer Empowerment Project’ (BEP).
Furthermore, Dr Sunny Omwenyeke has been active in various self-organised refugee and migrant groups, including The VOICE Refugee Forum, The Caravan, Bremen Open Monday Plenum (BOMP), Decolonise Bremen and currently Antira United, a group he co-founded in Bremen.

Peter Emorinken-Donatus

Peter Emorinken-Donatus is the originator, co-initiator and co-leader of this project ‘South-North Bridges Africa’. He is also the host of the transformation workshop. Peter Emorinken-Donatus is, among other things, a freelance journalist, educational consultant and long-standing environmental and human rights activist. The 57-year-old winner of the taz Panter Prize 2022 (jury) was born in Nigeria. He is also known as an avowed opponent of the Shell company and is considered one of the best-known voices from the Global South for environmental/climate justice in Germany, where he has lived for over 30 years. Emorinken-Donatus is the initiator, co-founder and spokesperson of the movement ‘Bündnis Ökozidgesetz’, which was founded with the aim of criminalising ecocide. Together with a number of experts from the Global South living in Germany, he founded a BIPoC think tank: ‘Care & Repair – Decolonial Think-Tank For Environmental Justice’.

Emorinken-Donatus has been on the supervisory board of Greenpeace Germany since 1 June this year.

Back in 1997, he received an award from Business Crime Control for his civil courage and commitment against white-collar crime. He is currently continuing his research on the topic of flight and displacement in connection with the environment, ecocides and the climate catastrophe.

Sista Marianne Ballé Moudoumbou

Sista Marianne Ballé Moudoumbou is of Cameroonian descent. She was born in France in 1966 and grew up there, but has lived in Potsdam for decades. She is a linguist, cultural scientist, graduate interpreter (French, German, Spanish and English), empowerment trainer, moderator and activist. Sista Marianne Ballé Moudoumbou is a founding member of the “ Zentralrat der afrikanischen Gemeinde in Deutschland” and currently spokesperson for the “Pan-African Women’s Empowerment and Liberation Organization (PAWLO-Germany) e. V.” Her Engagements spread across a variety of other boards/kommissions, organisations, movements and initiatives such as: “Komitees für ein Afrikanisches Denkmalals in Berlin” (co-founder), “African / Black Community, ABC” (co-founder), “Landesintegrationsbeirat Brandenburg”, “IHK Potsdam” (member of the Plenary Assembly), “VENROB e.V.” (member of the commission of spokespersons), “Netzwerk entwicklungspolitischer Gruppen, Initiativen und Vereine im Land Brandenburg”, “Stiftung Nord-Süd-Brücken” (NGO representative) etc.
For decades, Sista Marianne Ballé Moudoumbou has been particularly active against racism and for equality/equity in the resistance against oppression, but also for the official recognition of the genocides and other crimes committed during the “Maafa” (the Great Destruction) and for appropriate reparations. In 2022, she was awarded the “Ribbon for Courage and Mutual Understanding” by the Governor of the state of Brandenburg, Dietmar Woidke, for her relentless engagements.

Abdallah Smith

Abdallah Ekow Manuar Smith, is a sustainability consultant with over 7 years experience in solar, waste management, and agric project development. He has received a Masters’ in Sustainability Science from Lund University in Sweden. Currently, the Co-Director of Ghana Food Movement, overseeing strategy and governance. Committed to transforming Ghana’s food system toward a more equitable, just and healthy one for all. He is also an award-winning African Futurist writer with a published novella called ‘The Men from Staywell.’

Jemila

Jemila is 22 years old, uses she or no pronouns and studies social sciences in Düsseldorf. She previously worked on a project called ‘Locals United’, which focussed on intersectional climate justice. Since then, she has been interested in how we ended up in a climate catastrophe in the first place, how this is linked to colonialism and what resistance against these systems can look like. She is also involved in the Socialist Democratic Student Association (SDS) at her university.

Shelly Quest

Hip hop, soul, rock, a little dub, good vibes & feelings! Born in the Bronx (New York), the rapper, songwriter, producer and designer describes herself as a ‘spiritual gangster’. Shelly Quest grew up in a large family. Her stage name is a tribute to her uncle Eric, a rapper with the stage name ‘Johnny Quest’, who inspired her early on. She currently lives in Cologne. Her hip hop live band ‘Shelly Quest & The Soul Pushas’ consists of some of Cologne’s most experienced musicians, such as JP (guitar) Tim (bass) Tino (drums) and Tobi Total (keyboard).
In their artistic work, they use a variety of means such as colour, sound and movement to express their activist approach. The focus is on the demand for the social empowerment and inclusion of marginalised people, especially in culture. As a rapper, she also challenges her audience with empowering and provocative lyrics and questions existing role models and social images. In other words: pure edutainment!

Shelly Quest sees music as a kind of therapy. She says of herself: ‘I think I’m an activist in many ways. Not necessarily in a political sense, but I want to activate the community…get them to do things’!