Not only that, the FTX is also equipping me with added essential skills to deepen my usage of technology within the African Women's Movement.
My participation in such a forum like the FTX is timely in that I am member of a young Zambian feminist movement dubbed: Generation Alive. Generation Alive is a movement formed by young Zambian women from heterogeneous backgrounds and is committed to giving voice and visibility to young women in decision making and leadership.
I am now cognizant of the powerful role that ICTS and social media play in creating and influencing change, and as such for the past 2 days, I am usually online trying to explore new ways that I can effectively use the internet through social media and other forms of ICT's such as the traditional ones like radio, telephones, cell phones which are all essential tools that can be utilized towards the attainment of the movement's goals.
This particular Feminist Tech Exchange was organised by Women's Net and JASS. Womens Net is a feminist organisation that works to advance gender equality and justice in South Africa, through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and JASS is dedicated to strengthening the voice, visibility and collective organising power of women.
Being at this Feminist Tech Exchange has given me an opprtunity to see ICT's from a new light. For instance Im now aware that ICTS/ social media are a powerful tool for attaining gender equality and stopping patrachy! ...no doubt!
by: Chanda B Katongo
4 comments:
Great Chanda.
I so agree, ICTS have power that we need to take advantege of.Often , we believe that movement building is limited to our campaigns, meetings and face to face interactions but now we have to make feminist realize that our causes can be amplified via ICTS and the we can definately raise the voice, visibility and collective organizing using the different tools.
absolutely Patience. thanx for that comment, you know when i get back to Zambia Im defintely going to make other young women realise the potentials of ICT's and make them see how useful a tool ICT's are in promoting feminist agendas, mobilising, changing mindsets etc....
ICT's and social media are an exciting ways of communicating agreed. More often than not there is something that they do not do for me; which is reach the women who cannot read and write. Women who rely on other ways of communication. Women in the margins should be able to participate in ICT's in ways that speak to their context; the context and situation of the poor. Until the day this information reaches a woman who works day and night organising in her community; who has to walk long kilometers to send a message about a meeting she wants to have in her community I will not be satisfied. I will say ICT's work for certain women only but not for those most vulnerable. I dont know how that can be done but I think we should be thinking about doing it to do justice in communication. Maybe I am suggesting the impossible.
No a, its not the impossible, its really more about bridging the digital devide and making ICT's more accessible to women who do nt have the access to these useful tools, because are things are...its more like ICTs are only working for a certain type of woman, but what about those in rural area, or who do not know how to use the tools? we ought to think about what things we can do to enable those people to also fully tap into the potentials of ICT's.
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