Literature and Notions of Black Lesbian Solidarity in Chinelo Okparanta’s Under the Udala Trees

Abstract

Frances M. Beal (1968) explains that being Black and female is double jeopardy; however, being Black, female, and lesbian is triple jeopardy. Many countries in Africa have criminalised same-sex marriages and sexual relationships. In Nigeria, a sentence of up to 14 years’ imprisonment is likely for people caught in consensual same-sex intercourse. By the same token, 12 northern states of Nigeria’s 36 states have the death penalty for same-sex intercourse. Lesbians in Nigeria and across Africa have continued to suffer structural and non-structural forms of castigation and criticism from various facets of society, which have had overarching effects on the psyche of lesbians in Africa. The average Black lesbian is traumatised and challenged by norms, culture, traditions and religion. These social institutions have been structured to repress lesbians and members of the LGBTQIA+ communities at large. In the fight for their rightful spots in society, solidarity becomes non-negotiable, an essential tool and motivation in the struggle for visibility and protection. Not many works of fiction from Africa have explored the trajectories and struggles of Black lesbians. One of the most significant moves was made by Chinelo Okparanta in 2015, when she published Under the Udala Trees, which is widely tagged as “lesbian fiction.” This article, therefore, contextualises the notions of lesbian solidarity as portrayed in Okparanta’s novel and its essentiality to the struggles of Black lesbian women across the African continent.