Black Madonna for President www.blackmadonnaforpresident.com

1 The Aims of the Project

A somewhat simple but very common definition of feminism is "equality between men and women". But we don't want to be equal to men. We want

• to live our male characteristics like anger without being called hysterical or furious, or assertiveness and ferocity without being classified as too masculine,

• the female values (Yin) to be appreciated again: sensuality, devotion, vulnerability, intuition, mysticism, wisdom&age, and connection.

• that eroticism is seen as a sacred source of creation and creativity that takes place when Yin and Yang meet.

Connection means the inter-connectedness of everything with everything, e.g. to nature, to men, to oneself and to one's own feelings, which are in the body. Capitalism separates using racism and sexism. The aim of the project is to create awareness to the toxic shame on the above mentioned aspects and I want to devote this project especially to the women who are affected by both racism and sexism and to whom we owe sex-positive feminism: some black female dancehall and Hip Hop artists.

2 Sexuality is a Main Focus of the Project

I find the above mentioned aspects of sensuality, intuition, anger, etc. all equally important. Nevertheless I focus on sexuality more because of the following reasons. First, of all the aspects mentioned, it is the one with the most shame. Secondly sexuality is missing in spiritual groups. There is only some tantra groups or ecstatic dance goups, but I don´t see pleasurable movement of the pelvis. And where's the wild and demanding side of sexuality? This is something I was impressed with, when travelling and seeing black women dance. Isn't it sacred? Thirdly men have always controlled women’s sexuality in order to make sure that only the man’s own offsprings inherit the man’s property and women integrated into this system. This started when humanity began to think that you can own land, nature and women. This focus makes the project very challenging, because it happens constantly that women get afraid several months after they signed the model release and of course I don´t force anyone. Moreover, this subject is subject to heavy censorship.

3 Sex positive feminism and why we owe its spread to black women

That feminism has gradually become sex-positive feminism is due to the movement of black women who had enough of a dry, joyless white feminism, which interpreted their femininity and their wild sexuality in dance as an "objectification". As early as 1999, the African American academic Joan Morgan at Stanford University stated with her "Hip Hop Feminism" that feminism and a sexual pleasure on display are not mutually exclusive. Women are referred to in the songs as "bitches", "hoes" (whores) or "pussies".

Morgan made it clear that there is not only black and white, but also grey. And this grey area contains the contradictions of

• loving an art that does not accept you as belonging

• loving men who sometimes refuse to portray you in your entirety

• being against sexual objectification while proudly embracing your sexuality.

But how is it that, in the context of sex-positive feminism, the women who lived this feminism, fought hardest and made it accessible to the general public, are nowhere mentioned in this context?

4 Photos and Text according to Direct Action

The project is ongoing and contains some photos from my travels, but most photos are made within the last three years. I regard my text- and photo project as a collection which combines spirituality, politics, egalitarianism and art. There is more text explaining my project on the page www.blackmadonnaforpresident.com. The titles of the photos are supposed to be positive because this project is not a protest, but direct action. Direct action is using the ancient magic law of attraction to one´s own universe, which is the mystic part. This is the only way you can get out of prison: ACTING AS IF YOU WERE ALREADY FREE

© Ingrid Firmhofer - Image from the Black Madonna for President www.blackmadonnaforpresident.com photography project
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PEGATE AL PERREO (STICK TO THE DOG) "I want to dance/ You want to sweat/ And get close to me/ The body touches/ I'll tell you if you can provoke me/ That doesn't mean I'm going to bed." (Ivy Queen); Dancehall, Kingston, Jamaica

© Ingrid Firmhofer - Image from the Black Madonna for President www.blackmadonnaforpresident.com photography project
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“We tend to think of the erotic as an easy, tantalizing sexual arousal. I speak of the erotic as the deepest life force, a force which moves us toward living in a fundamental way.” (Audre Lorde); Sarah, yoga teacher BDY/EYU, Germany

© Ingrid Firmhofer - Meeting with the one who passed away.; Lumbalú: Funeral Ritual, Palenque, Colombia
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Meeting with the one who passed away.; Lumbalú: Funeral Ritual, Palenque, Colombia

© Ingrid Firmhofer - Mother earth, I feel you ...hold me.; Nina, Germany
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Mother earth, I feel you ...hold me.; Nina, Germany

© Ingrid Firmhofer - Image from the Black Madonna for President www.blackmadonnaforpresident.com photography project
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CHANG´E AND JESUS...because it is not important if you call it Yin and Yang, Mary Magdalene and Jesus, Chang'e and Jesus, sun and moon, Matter and Spirit, Mysticism and Magic. The meaning is the same in all cultures. ; Alícia, Cuba, Worker in tobacco factory

© Ingrid Firmhofer - "The third eye is no more sacred than the asshole." (Dane Tomas), Andrea, Germany
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"The third eye is no more sacred than the asshole." (Dane Tomas), Andrea, Germany

© Ingrid Firmhofer - Image from the Black Madonna for President www.blackmadonnaforpresident.com photography project
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“People are entitled to have their opinions, but what matters most is how I feel about me…” (Serena Williams); Agua Blanca Slumflower, Colombia

© Ingrid Firmhofer - Image from the Black Madonna for President www.blackmadonnaforpresident.com photography project
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The deep pain of being separated overwhelms me, the old tendency to retreat is there and new is the courage to show myself with it: tears flow on the lap of the woman - peace and connectedness are the gift. The hand, the grass, the sun caress me.; Diana, Germany

© Ingrid Firmhofer - THE IMMACULATE BLOODY CONCEPTION; Tresha, Jamaica
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THE IMMACULATE BLOODY CONCEPTION; Tresha, Jamaica

© Ingrid Firmhofer - You should never apologize for the way you need to be loved.; Sarah-Lena Brieger, Dancer, Germany
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You should never apologize for the way you need to be loved.; Sarah-Lena Brieger, Dancer, Germany

© Ingrid Firmhofer - Image from the Black Madonna for President www.blackmadonnaforpresident.com photography project
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"Demeter, who, distraught at the rape and loss of her daughter Persephone, wandered the earth and caused all earthly fertility to cease. Finally, Demeter encountered the dancing Baubo, who lifted her skirt, revealing her vulva and making the goddess laugh. This gesture and Demeter´s delight resulted in the return of the Green – earthy fertility" (Lubell); Silvana, Conscious Dance Facilitator, Germany-Italy

© Ingrid Firmhofer - Image from the Black Madonna for President www.blackmadonnaforpresident.com photography project
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„Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise that I dance like I´ve got diamonds at the meeting of my thighs?” ( Maya Angelou); Dancehall Queens, Kingston, Jamaika

© Ingrid Firmhofer - Image from the Black Madonna for President www.blackmadonnaforpresident.com photography project
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"And that we shall be freed, released from the Deluge and from the Lion's den. Be sent, as hurt and healed into the custody of self. In perpetuity." (Hilde Domin, Bitte), Silke, Germany

© Ingrid Firmhofer - Image from the Black Madonna for President www.blackmadonnaforpresident.com photography project
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WARRIOR WOMAN intuitively dancing away anger after a man crossed our women circle´s border by not respecting that we need our privacy having this empowerment photosession.

© Ingrid Firmhofer - Image from the Black Madonna for President www.blackmadonnaforpresident.com photography project
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Female power and the self are neither the denial of men nor the alienation of her strength. Female power is loyalty to oneself, one’s soul, body and its instincts.; Elvira, Body Therapist, Russia

© Ingrid Firmhofer - TOGETHER WE RISE; Divine Femininity
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TOGETHER WE RISE; Divine Femininity

© Ingrid Firmhofer - MY SENSUALITY
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MY SENSUALITY

© Ingrid Firmhofer - FREE FINANCIALLY INDEPENDENT WOMAN; Afra, Germany
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FREE FINANCIALLY INDEPENDENT WOMAN; Afra, Germany

© Ingrid Firmhofer - We all come from the sea.
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We all come from the sea.

© Ingrid Firmhofer - "Walden" (Thoreau); Silke, Germany
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"Walden" (Thoreau); Silke, Germany

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