The African Diaspora & Turkey, a Black History Month Project

"Writing is an act of desire, as is reading."
- Dionne Brand, A Map to the Door of No Return: Notes to Belonging (2011)

The late Mustafa Olpak opened his memoir, Kenya-Girit-Istanbul: Köle Kıyısından İnsan Biyografileri, by stating: the first generation lives, the second generation rejects, the third generation researches. His refrain resonates with the spirit of Black History Month, an annual observance in February that celebrates the African diaspora. For its celebration in 2021, I wanted to honor his legacy and the history of the African diaspora in the Anatolian region through highlighting people such as Mustafa Olpak, Frederick Bruce Thomas, and Dursune Şirin. If, as Dionne Brand pens, "Writing is an act of desire, as is reading", then this series was borne of the desire to place Black figures more squarely in the region’s rich cultural history. Moreover, I wanted this to be read both in and outside of Turkey, as many tend to understand Black History Month, the African diaspora and its attendant histories as a singularly U.S. specific. As my series aimed to demonstrate, there are local Turkish histories that are global in both reach and impact.