Black Liberation in ‘White’ Scandinavia

By Anon Yu Henriksen, BA International Relations and Korean

Scandinavia. A small corner of the world, known for its hostile weather, Vikings and wealth. The image of the three countries has been shaped by the likes of Frozen, Midsommar, and HC Andersen. What all of these have in common, is a dazzling whiteness, almost reminiscent of the snow that covers large parts of Scandinavia in the winter months.

What might surprise some is that Norway, Sweden and Denmark all have well-established Black movements. As we celebrate Black excellence this Black History Month, it is crucial to deconstruct common misconceptions. Is Scandinavia really homogeneously snow-white? The short answer is no, and in order to shift this view of Scandinavia, we must look to both the present and the past. 

Following the murder of George Floyd, the organised Scandinavian Black Movement flourished. Students were especially central. The main organisers behind the BLM protest in Oslo on June 5th 2020 were the organisations African Student Association and Afrikans Rising in Solidarity and Empowerment (ARISE). The BLM protests in Sweden were also led by young people, such as Aysha Jones. She was the initiator behind BLM Sweden, according to SVT, the Swedish equivalent of the BBC. The momentum surrounding the protests rejuvenated old Black organisations and started up new ones. One example of the latter is the ‘Afro Danish Collective’, founded in the wake of the 2020 Copenhagen BLM protests.

However, many Black organisations had already existed for decades. The Swedish organisation ‘Afrosvenskarnas Riksorganisation’ (The National Organisation of Afro-Swedes) was founded in 1990, and, according to their website, they gather the African diaspora to fight against Afrophobia. Similarly, the Norwegian NGO, the ‘MiRA Resource Centre for Black, Immigrant and Refugee Women’ was started in 1989. ‘MiRA’ is also patronised by the Norwegian Queen, according to their website.

The fight for Black liberation in Scandinavia has a deep history and can be drawn all the way back to the countries’ participation in the slave trade. Overshadowed by the British, French, and Belgian participation, many tend to forget that all Scandinavian countries actively took part in colonialism and slavery. Many slaves also revolted against their Scandinavian ‘owners’. The 2023 Danish film Viften depicts one of these revolts. In 1848, slaves rebelled on the island of St. Croix, then in the Danish West Indies.
 

A screening of Viften is part of the programme at this year’s Black History Month in Norway. Celebrating its five-year anniversary this year, the festival highlights the Afro-Norwegian diaspora’s history, art, and culture. This year’s theme is the ‘Art of Creating History.’

Michelle A. Tisdel is a research librarian at the National Library of Norway, the initiator of ‘Lift Every Voice,’ a project that aims to document the history of Norwegian antiracism and the project leader for Black History Month Norway. One of the figures that Tisdel has focused on in her research is Ruth Reese (1921-1990), an African American-Norwegian singer, author, and activist. Reese moved to Norway in 1956 and was already vocal about issues concerning Black people in 1958. ‘She was strongly affected by her upbringing. Her family fled from Alabama due to racial violence and settled in Chicago. There, she was surrounded by everyday activists, as segregation still was a matter of fact in all of the US,’ Tisdel explains by phone from her home in Norway.

‘Reese brought her experiences from her upbringing and from her later engagement in anti-racism with her when she moved to Norway, originally to perform classical and African American music.’ Reese was a successful singer, who toured many places in Europe both before and after settling down in Norway.

‘Ruth Reese was definitely a pioneer. What makes her special, is not her experiences with racism in Norway. There were other Black singers in Norway at that time, who probably also went through some challenges. Reese is special because she actively fought against global racism.’ Through multiple opinion pieces, two books and travelling lectures, such as Racial Hatred and Democracy (1960), Reese was one of the first Black people living in Norway to introduce antiracism and Black liberation to the population. In her lectures, she also performed multiple musical pieces. Reese wanted to show that African American music was not simply entertainment, but an expression of the African American heritage, suffering, and resistance,’ according to Tisdel. 

Scandinavia. A small corner of the world, full of Black excellence, activism, resistance and endurance. Shaped by the likes of Aysha Jones, Michelle A. Tisdel and Ruth Reese. This Black History Month I celebrate the brave Black women who are and have been fighting for their liberation in Scandinavia.