#3: In this Moment: When Suffering Ceases for Queer Africa
In my first video-essay, “The Dukkha of Loving Others: Homophobia in Africa,” I discussed how the recent rise in state-sponsored homophobia harms all Africans: those who identify as queer, those who are perceived as queer, those of us who are allies, and the masses being force-fed false narratives about identity and tradition.In my second essay, “How We Caused (and Perpetuate) the African Homophobia We Now Decry,” I refuted claims that same-sex activity is a foreign import and showed that in fact homophobia is the foreign import, closely tied to the colonial and neo-colonial agenda, and benefiting African elites.In my fourth and final installment, I will address the work that could be or is being done to end the suffering caused by homophobia in Africa.This essay will address the Third Noble Truth—that is, Suffering ceases when attachment to desire ceases. I would like to focus on the actual moment when suffering ceases, the moment of No Self in mindfulness, a moment as fleeting as the breath. But one breath, one moment of pure mindfulness is the beginning, as during my time as the first African Buddhist nun/Thailand’s first black nun, the Head Nun told me, “Mindfulness is like a drop, a drop, a drop forming a stream.”Suffering ceases in this moment when we see our liberation as connected to others:
Open Letter from diasporic writers Chimamanda Adichie, Jackie Kay, Helon Habila; Newspaper headline about Diasporic LGBT Nigerians protesting law.
“I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else’s freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken from me. The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.” --Former President of South Africa, the late Mr. Nelson Mandela“When you have money, it’s quite easy to set yourself free from discrimination and danger. Many of the white gay and lesbian people here [South Africa] can afford to reside in a safe and progressive area, but the majority of us live in townships. In openly embracing your sexuality there, you run the risk of getting abused, raped or murdered.” Junior’s statement emphasizes that gay and lesbian equality in South Africa is strongly mediated by race and class, and that sexual freedom is often available to those who have the racial and literal capital to afford them.
Suffering ceases in this moment when we let go of fear, hatred and greed, and celebrate someone else’s love:
Video of two Zulu men marrying, with the support of community, in traditional garb/ceremony: “Still, the cultural significance of the gay Zulu wedding video -- and the power of media itself -- cannot be ignored. LGBTI Africans all over the world were able to see their relationships affirmed in the media.”
Suffering ceases in this moment when we recover our true history and write ourselves into the literature:
Anthologies of queer African history; Queer Vernaculars Visual Narratives; Kenya's Sexual And Gender Minorities Media AgencyBinyavanga Wainaina: the best known Kenyan writer of his generation, one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People, and an openly gay man.
Suffering ceases in this moment when we see our selves and our stories on the screen:
Out in Africa film festival, a South-African Gay and Lesbian film festival launched to celebrate the inclusion of the clause prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation in the South African constitution.Close TV: Africa’s first LGBT TV Network
Suffering ceases in this moment when we see ourselves in art/on stage:
Critically Queer exhibition curated by Jabu Pereira from Iranti-org, and the colloquium on the crisis in Africa, curated by Dr Zethu Matebeni from Huma, UCT. Neo Musangi performed at the Jammie Stairs at UCT. Their performance is titled, Killing The Dead.Queer and Trans Art-iculations: Collaborative Art for Social Change, an exhibition at the Wits Art Museum in Johannesburg.Clip from I Stand Corrected, a play based on true story of interracial queer relationship, created and performed by Mojisola Adebayo & Mamela Nyamza
Suffering ceases in this moment when we connect with each other in some space, even cyberspace:
Queer bloggers with Tell Your Story message boards: Spectra Speaks; PalmWine: We are LGBTQ Nigerians who believe that human rights and dignity are our birthrights; Transitioning Africa FB page.A Trans man living in UgandaDr. Frank Mugisha, @frankmugisha, The official Twitter Acc of Ugandan gay rights activist. Winner RFK award 2011. Rafto Prize 2011. Phd - Ghent University. ED - SMUG. Founder Icebreakers UgandaAfrican LGBT Digital Media Project WE ARE QUEER AFRICA is None on Record’s exciting new series that gives LGBT Africans a platform to share their stories with each other and the world. The purpose of WE ARE QUEER AFRICA is to offer a new narrative about LGBT Africans that goes beyond homophobia and creates a safe space for people to document their experiences.
Suffering ceases in this moment when we stand against an unjust law:
“[O]ne has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that ‘an unjust law is no law at all’."--Letter from a Birmingham Jail, the late Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.Clip from Ikenna Azuike satire, WHAT DO NIGERIANS THINK OF SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
And in this moment when we run free, feeling the breath pushing through our bodies:
Rainbow Identity Association (RIA) the only organization in Botswana working with transgender and intersex people, organized their 4th social soccer tournament, which attracted 9 teams from around Botswana, including women, men, queers and non-conforming gender persons.African Pride Parades: Pride Uganda; Limpopo Pride; Soweto Pride; Ekhuruleni Pride; People's Pride.
This is the moment dukkha ceases.[divide style="3"] 
Faith Adiele is the author of Meeting Faith (W.W. Norton), a memoir about becoming Thailand’s first black Buddhist nun, which won the PEN Beyond Margins Award for Best Memoir.
She is the writer / narrator / subject of My Journey Home, a PBS documentary about reconciling her Nigerian / Nordic / American family; and co-editor of Coming of Age Around the World: A Multicultural Anthology (The New Press). Named as one of Marie Claire Magazine’s “5 Women to Learn From,” Faith has spoken at universities, churches, temples and community centers around the world, and her writings on spirituality, travel, and culture have been published in such periodicals as YES! and O: The Oprah Magazine. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. [divide style="3"]
About BPF's The System Stinks
Buddhist social justice curriculum To help promote collective liberation and subvert the highly individualistic bent of much mainstream dharma these days, Buddhist Peace Fellowship presents our second year of The System Stinks — a collection of Buddhist social justice media named for the favorite protest sign of one of our founders, Robert Aitken, Roshi. This year, we've asked some of our favorite dharma teachers, practitioners, and activists to reflect on the Four Noble Truths — suffering; the causes of suffering; cessation of suffering; and a path to cessation — from a systemic, social justice perspective. Other Buddhist groups from around the world have also used the Four Noble Truths as a lens for social movements: for good examples, the International Network of Engaged Buddhists, and the Sarvodaya movement in Sri Lanka. In a U.S.-based context (not predominantly Buddhist), where mindfulness is increasingly separated from ethics, we are eager to uphold this social justice tradition. If you like what you see, spread the word to show the world another side of Buddhism! We are deeply grateful to the teachers and practitioners who lend their voices to this cause. In alignment with our media justice values, all contributors to the 2014 series have been offered humble compensation for their work.