Embracing All of Me 1.9 The Power of Name: Bisexuality, Belonging, and African Liberation with Zamokuhle Zulu
What if your name was the gateway to the highest version of yourself? In this episode, host Ross Victory sits down with Zamokuhle Zulu, a South African scholar-activist, lecturer, artist, and writer whose work spans African feminism, decolonial psychology, and building Pan-African LGBTQ+ networks.
Zamo shares how reclaiming his bisexual identity meant reconciling personal truth with collective cultural responsibilities, in a society where family and community remain central to survival. He speaks candidly about growing up in a township, moving to Cape Town, confronting generational trauma, and why “coming out” isn’t always the safest form of queer expression in the diaspora.
Together, they unpack how African feminism became a liberating framework for Zamo to find his voice, and why some Black Americans believe queerness is a colonial import, despite rich pre-colonial histories of fluid identity across the continent.
This episode is for anyone who has ever felt torn between tradition and truth, duty and desire. Zamo offers a path toward embracing oneself that resists erasure and reclaims belonging across borders by realizing you don't have to be anything. You get to sit down, be you, and do what you do!
Email Zamo: zamokuhle.zulu@outlook.com