Biography
Frédérique, a Congolese Canadian raised on Treaty 6 Territory (Edmonton, AB), explores the intersection of religion, gender, identity, migration, and trauma. Focused on women forcibly displaced and settled in settler-colonial spaces in North America, she empowers marginalized voices to share stories for resistance and healing.
Paper Abstract
Colonial ideologies persistently cultivate an imagination that neglects African and Indigenous perspectives on land and body. This paper questions how this affects our relationships, environmental ethics, and ethic of care. I propose a decolonial womanist perspective that empowers the land as a storyteller and justice seeker, using a theology rooted in decolonial womanism to unveil the deep-seated colonial evil causing negligence towards the land and each other. This perspective navigates the temporal tensions and urges us to understand our past, present, and envisioned future. Recognizing the importance of memory and repentance, the Earth, as an unbiased scorekeeper, aids in the detangling process. I use the imagery of detangling, Black womxn’s hair care regimens as a means to demonstrate how the land one inhabits and the stories it possesses helps us detangle the complex legacies left by colonialism, paving the way for truth-telling and justice.