What can it mean for us to gather under the shadowy umbrella of being ‘African’? One that was initially assumed to dismiss us as a monolith. To smooth away our etches wrought by a roaming fluidity. However, another assumption plagues us now—our Differences. Not understood nor hinged on where our diversity overlaps and respectfully diverges, but one that Others us amongst each other beyond humane recognition. In today’s political climate, this issue makes the ambitious call to bring us together through authenticity and individual uniqueness. An ambitious ask which, by design, expects severely vulnerable answers. The idea of conceptualising or even grasping Africanness and its offshoots bears a heaviness that feels both loaded and hollow. Over 3,500 ethnicities and the longest populated continent, we have stories to tell for generations.
But what tethers us today? Willingly and unwillingly? Here, at Hummingbird, we turn to imagination as the answer and cradle it as mightily transformative. The very act preserves our hopes, spurs our crafts, and powers our resistances—to keep them vibrantly beating. In this instance, it boldly appears in stories that examine, explore, extract and exhume the remains of our lives. Stories that shape our current realities and simultaneously beckon possibilities, because believing in alternative realities is paramount to our existence. Because imagination is the final form of resistance for the ordinary person. Its ignition is contradictory: magical but not an apparition forming without substance, although when it happens—fleetingly—it may seem that way. But its infinite iterations must be evoked from a well of emotion, brazenly wretched from murky depths and contemplatively filtered through an intricately woven sieve. Bluntly, its properties need to be earnestly earned. It is only then that we can translate what’s beating inside us into something to grasp. And that is what readers can latch onto. At the heart, the touch of imagination is a multitude meeting of hands – reassuring and reflexively offering to impress upon each other.
The diverse scope of this edition’s stories has all been touched by the profound process of careful crafting. Careful enough to notice, ruminate on…to express and then to share. This issue engages with stories reanimated from memory, recaptured for the present to be remembered in the future. They propel explorations winding through busy streets, briefly stalling at intersections; before finally burrowing deep in our homes, perhaps for a visit or to dwell indefinitely. Or, perhaps, the scenic route is taken as they meander through markets, run in rivers, totter in trotros, never finding a resting place, continuously building momentum. Stories with a purpose will tirelessly travel guided by imaginations and tethered by our shared and heterogeneous realities.
Begum Nathoo, Drama/Screenplay/Hybrid Fiction Editor.
Begum (she/her), originally from Dar es Salaam Tanzania, is a writer and
filmmaker with a profound love for the art of storytelling. Her creative spirit
finds inspiration in the world of film festivals and their collaborative spirit.
Her creative journey is deeply intertwined with her belief in filmmaking as a
powerful tool for resistance and revival. She's dedicated to exploring
themes that resonate with the human experience, particularly those
shaped by ongoing colonial landscapes. Her lens is focused on the intricate
dynamics of familial and found relationships, delving into the essence of
intimacy.