In the organizer's words:

Talk with Hamado Dipama, Noa K. Ha, Manuela Bauche (inquired), Bebero Lehmann and René Aguigah

Streets, squares and monuments in Germany still honor people and places associated with colonial crimes. Many of these dedications were created after the historical colonial period. They have their origins in the glorification of German colonialism during the Weimar Republic and the Nazi dictatorship and continue to shape cityscapes to this day. In contrast, the history of Black people in Germany was not told in public spaces, cultural institutions or the media for a long time. In recent years, resistance fighters and colonial migrants have only been remembered slowly and thanks to the commitment of civil society initiatives.

The NS-Dokumentationszentrum's current intervention Erinnerung ist ... shows the connections between colonialism and National Socialism using two object histories. One is the story of the street sign Von-Trotha-Straße, whose namesake was partly responsible for the genocide of the Herero and Nama. The second is the story of Theodor Wonja Michael's beer mug, who survived National Socialism and fought for a self-determined Afro-German identity after 1945.

The event will explore the question of how the glorification of German colonialism continues to have an impact today and what a decolonial or post-colonial culture of remembrance in the public sphere might look like.

About our guests

Hamado Dipama is spokesperson for the Bavarian Refugee Council and part of the Migration Advisory Board of the City of Munich. As the founder of B.O. Panafricanism, he works as an anti-racism and anti-discrimination consultant at AGABY to make racism and discrimination visible and to bring about structural change. Dipama is also a member of the Bavarian Broadcasting Council and is involved in various initiatives that deal with the issues of flight, migration and racism.

Noa K. Ha is an urban researcher at the German Center for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM) with a focus on postcolonial studies. She investigates the impact of colonial histories on contemporary urban developments and memory practices. Her research interests include the analysis of urban spaces in the context of migration and racism as well as the development of decolonial perspectives in urban research.

Bebero Lehmann (Documentation Center and Museum on Migration in Germany (DOMiD)) is a historian and curator. She was instrumental in the founding of Decolonize Cologne and the Theodor Wonja Michael Library and is active in the Berlin project Decolonial Culture of Remembrance in the City and the Initiative of Black People in Germany (ISD). Her work focuses on the visualization of migration histories and their influence on German society.

The event will be moderated by cultural journalist René Aguigah (Deutschlandfunk). He is the author of the book James Baldwin. The Witness. A Portrait (2024) and has dealt intensively with questions of identity, racism and intercultural dialog.

A cooperation between the Munich Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism and the Munich City Museum as part of the International Weeks against Racism.

Price information:

No registration necessary. Visitor information and further information at nsdoku.de/program.