Social Media: Advocacy or Surveillance Tool for Gender Minorities Globally

media release: Africa Talks is a new monthly talk series purposefully launched by the African Studies Program at UW-Madison in collaboration with the African Center for Community Development, Inc to coincide with the 50^th Anniversary of Africa at Noon. This year, we want to celebrate 50 years of sharing scholarships on campus by reminding our community that the work we do must extend beyond the walls of the university. Advanced graduate student affiliates of the African Studies Program will present a one-hour talk to community members at the Community Relations office in UW South Madison Partnership (UWSMP). Read more about this partnership at Capital City Hues.

Speakers: Nneoma Onwuegbuchi, Department of African Cultural Studies, UW-Madison, in Conversation with Tyrone Creech, executive director of GSafe

In this talk, Nneoma Onyinye Onwuegbuchi and Tyrone Creech will explore the risks and rewards of utilizing social media platform for social advocacy. These platforms offer new opportunities to traditionally marginalized communities to organize and advocate. At the same time, social media platforms can expose vulnerable populations to state surveillance and violence.  The discussion will explore this tension using examples from gender and sexual minority communities in West Africa and Madison.

Speakers Bios

Nneoma Onwuegbuchi’s research focuses on gender and sexuality in West African media cultures, particularly Nigeria, Ghana, and Cameroon. Her dissertation project examines the representation of gender and sexual minorities in various forms of media, including films, novels, and social media. Through her transnational work, she aims to explore the connections between gendered body politics in West Africa and broader global issues such as neoliberalism and consumerism all within the context of diverse media capitalism. Various awards from institutions such as the UW-Madison African Studies Program and the CUNY Graduate Center have provided research support for her work. Onwuegbuchi holds a B.A. in Literary Studies from the University of Nigeria Nsukka and an M.A. in African Cultural Studies with a minor in Gender and Women’s Studies from UW-Madison. Onwuegbuchi’s dissertation advisor is Dr Jacqueline-Bethel Mougoué.

Tyrone Creech, Jr. is the executive director of GSAFE.