Brenda Odimba

Brenda Odimba (also spelled as Brända Audimba) is a Belgian engineer and activist. Odimba was one of the spokespeople of the 2021 hunger strike of undocumented migrants in Belgium.[2] Odimba founded the association NewSisterhood.[3]

Brenda Odimba
Brenda Odimba at the Beguinage church
Born1989 or 1990 (age 32–33)[1]
Brussels, Belgium
EducationUniversité libre de Bruxelles, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Occupations

Early life

Odimba was born is Brussels. Her father is Belgian and her mother was born in Congo. Her mother lived in Belgium as an undocumented worker for a number of years.[4] Obimba studied at Université libre de Bruxelles and Vrije Universiteit Brussel.[1] She is a trained engineer.[5]

Decolonial activist

Odimba is a decolonial activist.[6] She helped organize the George Floyd protests in Belgium in 2020[4] and is part of an unofficial Black Lives Matter movement.[5] Odibma participated in the protests for the removal of statues of Leopold II in Belgium. She also advocated instead for public spaces dedicated to the memory of Patrice Lumumba.[5]

Protest at the Béguinage Church

As a child of an undocumented migrant, Odimba acted in support of the 2021 hunger strike of undocumented migrants in Belgium, which took place at the Béguinage Church in Brussels.[7] Odimba called on the Belgian government to align its legislation on undocumented migrants with the rules of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations.[8] After the hunger strike had been brought to an end, Odimba denounced the rhetoric of Sammy Mahdi, the Belgian State Secretary for Asylum and Migration at the time, as manipulative. Odimba deplored that the strike had as an unintended consequence to divide the undocumented population between those who took part in the strike and those who didn’t.[9]

Climate justice activist

Odimba is an environmental activist. In 2021, she was one of the plaintiffs who took the Belgian public authorities to court over their failing to take action to meet the international climate targets.[10] Odimba also objected to individual projects by the oil industry to expand their production capacity.[11]

References
  1. "Amour et humanité pour les sans-papiers (carte blanche)". Le Vif. July 21, 2021. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  2. "Grève de la faim des sans-papiers: 250 personnes manifestent leur soutien en face de Bruxelles-Central" [Hunger strike of undocumented workers: 250 people show their support at Bruxelles-Central]. L'Avenir (in French). July 17, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  3. "Open brief: voor de vrijlating van de Vermeer Drie" [Open letter: for the release of the Vermeer Three]. DeWereldMorgen (in Dutch). November 14, 2022. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  4. Schultz, Teri (June 10, 2020). "Will cities in Belgium take down statues of Leopold II?". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  5. Schulz, Teri (June 5, 2020). "Belgians Target Some Royal Monuments In Black Lives Matter Protest". NPR. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  6. "La troisième saison des Grenades série d'été a débarqué sur La Première" [The third season of the Grenades summer series has landed on La Première]. RTBF (in French). June 28, 2022. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  7. "Ik, Belg, kind van sans-papiers" [Me, Belgian, child of an undocumented migrant]. DeWereldMorgen (in Dutch). July 17, 2022. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  8. "Brenda Odimba sur les grévistes sans-papiers : "Le Roi doit agir, il est le garant de la Constitution"" [Brenda Odimba on undocumented strikers: “The King must act, he is the guarantor of the Constitution”]. BX1 (in French). July 20, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  9. Murphy Madia, Sarah (September 19, 2022). "Why undocumented migrants went on hunger strike in Belgium". Al Jazeera. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  10. Birchard, Rosie (March 26, 2021). "Belgians sue state over climate targets". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  11. "Nouveau projet pétrolier de TotalEnergies: une bombe climatique et sociale" [New TotalEnergies oil project: a climate and social bomb]. Le Soir. May 23, 2022. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
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