May Ayim | |
|---|---|
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| Born | Brigitte Sylvia Andler 3 May 1960 |
| Died | 9 August 1996(1996-08-09) (aged 36) Berlin, Germany |
| Other names | May Opitz |
| Education | University of Regensburg |
| Occupations | Poet,writer,educator,activist |
May Ayim (3 May 1960 – 9 August 1996) is the pen name ofMay Opitz (bornBrigitte Sylvia Andler); she was anAfro-Germanpoet, educator, and activist. The child of a German dancer and Ghanaian medical student, she lived with a white German foster family when young. After reconnecting with her father and his family inGhana, in 1992 she took his surname for a pen name.
Opitz wrote a thesis at theUniversity of Regensburg, "Afro-Deutsche: Ihre Kultur- und Sozialgeschichte auf dem Hintergrund gesellschaftlicher Veränderungen" (Afro-Germans: Their Cultural and Social History on the Background of Social Change), which was the first scholarly study of Afro-German history. Combined with contemporary materials, it was published as the bookFarbe Bekennen: Afro-deutsche Frauen auf den Spuren ihrer Geschichte (1986). This was translated and published in English asShowing Our Colors: Afro-German Women Speak Out (1986). It included accounts by many women of Afro-German descent. Ayim worked as an activist to unite Afro-Germans and combat racism in German society. She co-foundedInitiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland [de] (Initiative of Black People in Germany) to that purpose in the late 1980s.
Born Brigitte Sylvia Andler in 1960 inHamburg-Altona, Germany, she was the daughter of unmarried parents Ursula Andler and Emmanuel Ayim. Her father, aGhanaian medical student, wanted to have her raised by his childless sister, but German law made 'illegitimate' children a ward of the state and did not give rights to biological fathers.
After a brief time in a children's home, Andler lived in a foster family called Opitz, who raised her with their biological children. She grew up inWestphalia, where she later said that her childhood was unhappy. She considered her foster parents to be strict and spoke about how they used physical violence against her. This was one of the issues she explored in her later poetry.[1] She later said that the family threw her out of the family home at the age of 19, which the Opitz family denied.[citation needed] She continued to keep in touch with them. That same year she graduated from Friedenschule, the Episcopal School inMünster, and passed herAbitur. She attended teacher training college in Münster, specialising in German language and Social Studies.
Opitz attended theUniversity of Regensburg, majoring in Psychology and Education. During this period she travelled toIsrael,Kenya and Ghana. She found her biological father, Emmanuel Ayim, then a professor of Medicine, and developed a relationship with him and his family. She used May Ayim as a pen name from 1992 to reflect this connection.
May Opitz's thesis at the University of Regensburg,Afro-Deutsche: Ihre Kultur- und Sozialgeschichte auf dem Hintergrund gesellschaftlicher Veränderungen (Afro-Germans: Their Cultural and Social History on the Background of Social Change).[2] This was the first scholarly study of Afro-German history, ranging from the Middle Ages to the late 20th-century present.[3] In 1986, it was the basis of the book,Farbe Bekennen: Afro-deutsche Frauen auf den Spuren ihrer Geschichte (published inEnglish translation asShowing Our Colors: Afro-German Women Speak Out, 1986).[3] Opitz edited this withKatharina Oguntoye andDagmar Schultz, having added many accounts by contemporary Afro-German women. At this time she also co-founded theInitiative Schwarze Deutsche (Initiative of Black People in Germany).
Contemporary Afro-German women discussed their struggles growing up black in Germany, and how individuals explored their homeland and multi-ethnic identity. In some cases, it meant trying to find black fathers; in cases of adoption, they sometimes tried to find both parents.
Opitz, Oguntoye and Schultz decided to allow as many generations as possible to speak in this book. As the editors met with other Afro-German women and became involved with them, they connected with each other in a new way through this shared ancestry. The Afro-Germans began sharing their experiences with each other and contacting other Afro-Germans, as they searched for and discovered their history. The editors and writers said they did not want to have to explain their existence anymore. They wanted to be sure of their identity and able to assert it to others. The editors went public with their experiences in this book, discussing their histories and the prevalence of racism, while sharing their own personal experiences. Opitz, Oguntoye and Schultz felt that as they pushed for Afro-Germans to become more visible, future generations of Afro-Germans would feel less isolated and marginalized. This group identified as Afro-German, in part to prevent being defined by others.
Opitz helped found theInitiative Schwarze Deutsche und Schwarze in Deutschland (Initiative of Black Germans and Black People in Germany). It is known in short asInitiative Schwarze Deutsche (ISD), pushing for Afro-Germans to unite in mutual support.Audre Lorde was a chief leader in founding this group. A film documentary,Audre Lorde: The Berlin Years 1984 to 1992, covers her life and this period of growing Afro-German identity in the culture.[3]
After a visit to Ghana, where she met her paternal family, she returned to Germany and trained as aspeech therapist. She wrote a thesis onethnocentrism in the discipline. After more travels, she settled inBerlin in 1984, lecturing at theFree University of Berlin. She continued to write articles and poetry exploring the issues of multi-ethnic peoples in Germany and personal identity.
In 1992 she took her father's name Ayim, and used May Ayim as her pen name.[3] She was active as an educator and writer, taking part in many conferences and publishing a poetry collection,Blues in schwarz-weiss (Blues in Black and White, 2003 in the US).[4]
After working strenuously to prepare forBlack History Month in 1996, Ayim suffered a mental and physical collapse. She was admitted to the psychiatric ward of the Auguste Viktoria Hospital in Berlin in January 1996. The doctors eventually diagnosed her as havingmultiple sclerosis. They stopped her medication, which had been based on believing she had severe depression, and discharged her in April 1996. Continuing to struggle with depression, Ayim was readmitted in June following asuicide attempt. Discharged again in July, she died by suicide on 9 August by jumping from the 13th floor of a Berlin building.[5]
May Ayim's poem "They're People Like Us" is cited inPaul Beatty's 2008 novelSlumberland. Her writing (as May Opitz) is included in the 1992 anthologyDaughters of Africa.[7]
She is the subject ofLinton Kwesi Johnson's elegiac poem "Reggae Fi May Ayim" on his 1999 albumMore Time.[8]
The opening track on The Other Others eponymous 2023 album is called "The Birth of May Ayim".[9]
