Freeing Freedom: Decentering Dominant Narratives of Freedom in Post-Apartheid South Africa

CARGC Paper 16, "Freeing Freedom: Decentering Dominant Narratives of Freedom in Post-Apartheid South Africa" by Toni Walker examines the continuous struggle over meanings of freedom in post-apartheid South Africa particularly for marginalized communities. The paper came as a result of the research project that Walker pursued during her undergraduate fellowship at CARGC. In March 2020, she took a twelve-day research trip to Cape Town and Johannesburg to interview South African Black women, nonbinary, and self-identifying queer artists and visit the neighborhoods, art galleries, and cultural centers where these artists live and work. Through a careful and sensitive analysis of six multimedia pieces enriched with insights from her interviews with the artists, Toni Walker highlights the meanings of freedom that emerge when these artists are centered. CARGC Paper 16 not only situates culture and lived experiences as important focal points for navigating meanings of freedom, but it also argues that some of the most expansive meanings of freedom can be found in the cultural expressions of marginalized Black creators.