IWD: Binta – The Conversation

When: March 8, 2025

Where: Leicester, United Kingdom

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International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating women’s achievements and calling for action and equity. It is celebrated annually on 8 March and recognised by the UN.

For Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage, International Women’s Day is an opportunity to highlight the issues faced by women from the African and African Caribbean Diaspora, as International Women’s Day calls for increased momentum and urgency in addressing the systemic barriers and biases that Black women in particular face, both in personal and professional spheres.

The evening will feature the UK premiere of a new documentary Binta – The Conversation by Opal Palmer Adisa. The film shines a light on trailblazing poet Jean “Binta” Breeze. Emerging in the 1980s as the first female dub poet, Breeze forged a voice, speaking for and to the Black female experience, with her poem, Riddim Ravings (‘The Mad Woman Poem’) considered a classic of modern Caribbean poetry and an anthem for the scorned Black woman. The film screening will be followed by a panel discussion using Jean “Binta” Breeze’s legacy as inspiration to further the much-needed conversation about Black women, culture, stigmatisation and silence.

Panellists include:
– Zamzam Ibrahim, a climate activist, founder of IYADA and UN advisor
– Stella Kanu, CEO at Shakespeare’s Globe
– Opal Palmer Adisa, a multi-genre writer, film producer, gender specialist and cultural activist