Since 1911, International Womens' Day has brought together those who care about and advocate for women's equality, and the women and young people of Afrocats gathered in strength and solidarity this past weekend to celebrate a special IWD event at Manchester Museum.
Supported by funding from Manchester City Council, participants and the team members enjoyed lunch together, took part in discussions about our upcoming Support Hub where participants can find practical career and IT support, and were treated to multilingual poetry and dance performance by participant Helen – have a watch below!
Helen said:
'Thank you for inviting us here to celebrate today. This day is for women all over the world, from different languages, and cultures, and the meaning behind today is so that we can fight for our dreams, and the future. Women are amazing and wonderful - we can do everything. Every day is International Womens’ Day.'
'I want to congratulate the whole Afrocats group for today, and I had a great time. I enjoyed the food a lot, and I enjoyed the activities. Thank you.'
Another participant reflected:
'I came so our voices can be heard, and so that we have the independence to liberate ourselves in any way or form, to show solidarity, so that women are acknowledged - that’s the most important thing to me because centuries back, women’s voices were not heard, and we were always behind the scenes.
'There’s the saying ‘behind every successful man is a woman’ but I want to change this to be the other way around! We want to be involved in the same things that men are. That independence is something we can celebrate.'
Well said - the Afrocats couldn't agree more.
And then, we danced!
It wouldn’t be an Afrocats celebration without some dancing, and led by the ever-dynamic Nessa, both kids and adults let off some steam with some Afrobeats - even CEO Magdalen made some moves!
And as promised, we showcased our special IWD mannequin ‘Rosette the Suffragette’ along with tons of fabulous new crepe decorations handmade by participants on the day with the creative support of our amazing project producer, Edel – have a look below and get inspired by everyone’s heartening IWD messages.
Finally, to round off a wonderful day, here are a few words from our inspirational and award-winning leader Magdalen:
'IWD reminds us what we can do, what we need to do, and it also reminds us how important we are. Women have supported me all my life, beginning with my mother, and now everyone who supports me with Afrocats. They have all been women, continue to be women, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without the support of women.
'And so I will continue to champion women. Thank you for sharing your voices, and next IWD, we will make our celebration even bigger!'
As they say, women hold up half the sky, so let’s continue to inspire each other all year round.
Find out more about IWD by visiting their website – and remember to follow Afrocats on our socials to see how we support Manchester’s global majority women and communities across the city.
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