A Celebration of Life
In collaboration with Dr. Dagmar Schultz, Ika’s life partner, JB and I created videos about Ika’s life. Ika was an activist, co-author of several books, author of Daheim unterwegs: Ein deutsches Leben (Invisible Woman: Growing Up Black in Germany), artist, social counselor, anti-racism consultant, martial artist, and friend…
Daheim Unterwegs: Ein deutsches Leben
Ika Hügel-Marshall was born in Germany in 1947 to a white German mother and an African-American father. Initially, she grew up with her mother, but from her sixth to her fifteenth year of life she was raised—as many Afro-German children of her generation—in a children's home. Only at the age of 39 did she meet other Afro-Germans and was then involved in setting up the “Initiative of Black Germans” (ISD). In 1993, she found her father in Chicago and met him and his family—a most profound experience.
In 1996, Ika Hügel-Marshall received the Audre Lorde Literary Award for the completion of Invisible Woman. She has given numerous readings in Germany, Austria, and the USA.
Romani Artist Ceija Stojka
Many people don’t know very much about the Roma (aka “Gypsies”), who are Europe’s largest minority and have been living in different European countries for hundreds of years yet have not been treated as equal citizens. Although they had to suffer from Nazi persecution, like Jews and other targeted groups, the story of the Romani Holocaust remains largely untold. Only in the recent past have individual Roma come forward to share their history and culture with the non-Roma—as an attempt to undo harmful stereotypes and make themselves more understood by the majority culture.