Hommage à Hadiza Moussa

Drawing African Diasporic women anthropologists in dialogue: Decolonizing the canon

“…In my drawing of Hadiza Moussa, the noticeably lighter, wispy lines incorporate a double sadness: first from the heart‐wrenching stories Moussa recounts in Entre Absence et Refus d'Enfant (2012), especially those expressed by Fanta, Halima, Fennye, Fadima, Lobbo, and Gooro on experiencing infertility; and second, from the discovery that Moussa died in an accident only a year after the publication of her ambitious work (see Fresia et al, 2014). The photograph that I could find was posted on a GoFundMe page sponsored by Alice Kang to translate Entre Absence et Refus d'Enfant posthumously.…”

“…For Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain, credited with being Haiti's first woman anthropologist, I chose to draw a photo, despite its less-than-ideal lighting, for her gaze and the wonder it evoked in me for the sense of her emplacement, within the contexts both of the photograph and also of her voluminous work, much of which is now archived at Stanford. Gooro on experiencing infertility; and second, from the discovery that Moussa died in an accident only a year after the publication of her ambitious work (see Fresia et al, 2014). The photograph that I could find was posted on a GoFundMe page sponsored by Alice Kang to translate Entre Absence et Refus d'Enfant posthumously.…”