She Power Community

Juan C. P Rz
May 18, 2023
9 min read

The She Power Community is a women empowerment group that consists of six women where everyone aims to create a global community of empowered women by creating safe spaces to build, expand and empower communities and on creating space for girls and women of ALL identities and promoting inclusion & diversity through various tools, such as dance, seminars, and workshops.

The community was founded in December 2021 and was born out of the common desire of the core members to share their journey of empowerment and the tools that helped them along the way and supported them on their own journey.

Our desire is to create a global community of empowered women and to engage in conversations with women around the globe, to encourage more conscious and progressive living globally, to create bridges between women of diverse backgrounds – culturally professionally, geographically… - that foster communication and collaboration, as well as promote future projects and spread these to a wider community.

"So you see, the young generation now feel more and more empowered. Things are progressing in a good direction with us being able to use our voices in some spaces."

Would like to showcase our cross cultural action "Filling the Gaps".

Which took place from 1st of September 2022 till 02nd of October 2022.

Our aim with this cross cultural action was to bridge boundaries through cross-cultural artistic awareness and to popularize alternative ways of living and working.

The diverse actions of the project with a focus on the Global South create "safe spaces" for solution-oriented exchange, encourage concrete action and enable systematically underrepresented groups more visibility.

Together with the participants and visitors, new perspectives were developed for a diverse, inclusive, socially just and sustainable society of the future.

And i can proudly say we were successful. We hope to make it a yearly project.

Dance, Seminars, and Workshops: The Tools for empowerment by The She Power Community

What came first in your life? Creativity or social work?

Um It's funny that you put it that way. I mean people around me say that I'm creative because I dance but I don't really see myself as a creative person. It just comes natural to me, you know! I love to express myself through dance. So, when you guys asked about the creative part of our work with our community, the first thing I thought of, was of the other members of our community. They are all so creative in their own right. We have designers of sustainable clothing, artists and entrepreneurs.

How many people are in your organization?

We are six women. Three of whom are designers. One is based in Ghana; two are here in Graz, two in Vienna and one recently moved to Carinthia . As I said, they design sustainable clothes and I dance. I've always been dancing since I was a little girl. Dance and music are a natural part of Ghanaian life. You know growing up there, you had music all around you. So, dance was a social part of my life.

When did you come to Austria?

At a very young age. At the age of 12.

How did you start doing social work?

Back then, the African community wasn’t as big. But it got bigger and bigger and you know, It wasn't easy to be a black girl in Austria which is a predominantly white country. So, I always tried to help wherever I could. I started with translation. I could speak German, which I picked up quickly in school . And even if it were just accompanying families that had difficulties with the language to places they needed translation. I did that. That's how I got into that. So I started with just being an interpreter for people in my mother tongue TWI and then when I was 15, I got the chance to be in a Play in the main theater here in Graz and I remember how amazed and how happy my community was for a black girl to be on that stage, because representation as you know, matters. Also I don't know if I understood the gravity of the whole thing, but the older I got, I understood better how important it is to see yourself in places where people who look like you don’t usually get the chance to be.

I just love movies, I love film, I love theater and dance any ways to express myself.

And then it all kind of kick started, I did some translations there, I did some workshops. I got the chance to work with an African man who is the developer and project manager of the initiative "IKU-Spielend EXPERIENCE", IKU ( Intercultural Educational Work in Kindergartens and schools). With IKU project we went to schools, kindergartens and other private and public institutions in Styria and worked against racism, prejudice and exclusion of any kind.

And as an Ambassador/ Speaker for the Afro Asia Institute here in Graz i visited primary schools with other African Colleagues, each representing our Homelands by organizing workshops. It was about showing the Pupils different parts of Africa that they don't usually get the chance to see. There is this stereotypical narrative, what being an African means, or where we live or what kind of food we eat. So, that was our way of showing them the other part of it. My part was usually done through Afro dance or storytelling

They are now more and more different African organizations here in Graz who are doing amazing work. One of them is Tanaka. An organization founded here in Graz by young African women. One of them a young Nigerian woman who just published her first book, Birthmark. I'm so proud of that girl. Three years ago, they also organized Black Lives Matter demonstration here in Graz and got 10,000 people on the streets. So you see, the young generation now feel more and more empowered. Things are progressing in a good direction with us being able to use our voices in some spaces but we still have a long way to go.

"I've always been empathetic to suffering. The suffering and hardships of my community is always something that I see clearly, and I just want to contribute."

So the creativity was with you from the beginning?

I just grew up with it. Dance and music was all around me. It feels so nice to be talking to you about it right now because I just came back from Ghana three weeks ago. So everything is so fresh and I just remember the energy , the joy everywhere I went on the street, there's just music, there's instruments, there's dance.

I don't have any training whatsoever. I did ballet when I was 12, but it was too expensive for my parents to afford, which was a shame because I really loved it. I wanted to have a foundation in ballet, but I did not attend for very long. I usually just do my choreography myself and mix a lot of African dance styles.

Do you feel strongly connected to social work as a profession itself?

I have always been aware that I am a foreigner, that I am being treated differently, that being in the skin alone is problematic. So, I always wanted to help and that's because of the love I have for my community. I just want to be of use to my community. It does fulfill me. I've always been empathetic to suffering. Sometimes in the way that I kind of magnify the feelings around me. The suffering and hardships of my community is always something that I see clearly, and I just want to contribute.

Can you elaborate on what you mean by magnifying the feelings around you? How does it affect your approach to social work and your relationship with the community?

It is sometimes very difficult to put myself first. I'm getting better at it though the older I get. But I don't see it as a bad thing to care about people and it is kind of my North Star, it guides me. I follow my heart and with that comes trust.

It can be draining at times but it definitely is a good thing because I don't want to be too immune or detached from the feelings and suffering around me, you know, I want to be able to feel it and help if i can.

I must say, the same thing happens to me, but honestly, I try to detach myself sometimes.

I usually don't read about it, you know? That's how I try to stay sane. But we live in a world with social media and technology, and you get to hear all these things. But I stopped reading the newspaper, I stopped watching the news and stuff like that. But you are going to hear it or see it anyway, it's not always that easy to avoid things.

Do you have any further plans with your social projects?

I’m in College right now to be a social worker because I don't have a degree for that even though I have been working most of my life in some form in the social sector. But now I’m finally getting my degree. I also work for the red cross, in a project for female genital mutilation. There's a lot of suffering, but also a lot of beauty in my work.

How does it feel to study social work after so many years of experience?

For me it's to learn the laws and some tools. In Graz there are about 300,000 inhabitants and there are a lot of Africans, but we don’t even have a handful of black social workers which is just madness you know. So, for me, when I got the opportunity I started studying at age of 38 because I knew how important it is. The representation of people to come to these big offices and to see somebody sitting there that looks like them. That alone takes off some edge and it gives them ease you know. it's not always very gloomy this work but I know it's necessary for me to do more.

Does not it come also with some level of maturity and realization of, what needs to be done?

I think it does come with time. Even though I've been helping in so many forms without a degree. 10 years ago, I didn't think I will be going back to school. But now I do realize I needed to.

Can the combination of the two be problematic in any way? For example - using one another without proper compensation or trying to promote social topics for artistic fame.

I think we need each other. If we're giving concerts for the benefits or whatever, you do need musicians or you do need artists, but also you should be fair, you know, I am lucky enough to have at least budgets and funds available for things like that, therefore I don't necessarily need to use artists in a bad way.

How do you determine your target audience?

The project I work for at the Red cross is funded .And it is aimed for a certain target group. I work mostly with African and Arabic women. Some of whom are asylum seekers. . Even If I don't speak Arabic or Somali, just the fact that I look like them calms them. So, I just realized it is a necessity.Officially we are not allowed to add another group of people. But sometimes, those are exactly the people that need it, you know? Luckily I work with people who understand that Human beings come before all these numbers and all these Bureaucratic stuff. If survivors need our help, we just go through the counseling and everything that we need to do to be able to get this person immediate help.

But yeah, within the community, we need to decide. First, according to our founders. Who are these people that we can talk to? And to be honest, it's not always easy because there are just some topics that are not talked about in the African community. So, you do really need to decide what target group that you're going for. But honestly it doesn't sometimes make sense to me. But I'm also grateful that I have people behind me and that I'm not working alone, people that think the same, that just want to help the people that need it.

Do you think art has ability to address or even solve pressing social issues?

I think it can amplify the reach of how it gets out in the world. So, in a sense I think it is capable of solving things because there is power in numbers and the art has an ability to reach so many souls and I think, if it reaches you and it does something with you, it can do a lot.

Ending issues of social injustice. Ending social issues. But just the fact that it brings people together or it can bring people together.

Can you mention one specific project, which for you was the most successful?

As an ambassador for the Afro Asian Institute here in Graz, we went to the rural parts of Syria. And they hardly saw any foreigners. Some people have never seen black person and for me going there and dancing African dance or cooking with them African meals or telling them African children's stories. It was very impactful. The reflections we had later with the kids, that is when I really realized that these projects were very impactful. Being able to come to these places where they have no idea. Some people think that Africa is just one country. So, putting little seeds and trying as best as we could to show them what Africa is. It is such a vast continent, and there are so many beautiful things. And just being able to teach them a little bit about it was very inspiring. I enjoyed that very much. And through my work now I unfortunately don't get the chance to do it so often, but it's something that I always enjoy any time I find time to do that.