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Neo Sinoxolo Musangi is a gender non-conforming artist born in Kenya--where they exhibit their live performances and artwork. They also identify as a feminist activist and academic. Neo is involved in various organizations such as Iranti-Org, Johannesburg-based Queer Media Organization, and the String Fabulations which is composed of other queer artists. Additionally, Neo has written scholarly articles where they explore sexuality and heritage. They also write poems online which are featured in the Feminist Loft.

Biography
Neo attended Egerton University, a public university in Njoro, Kenya, where they obtained their bachelor's degree in Education. They also hold a master’s degree in African literature from the University of the Witwatersrand, located in Johannesburg, and are pursuing their doctorate there as well. Additionally, Neo is attending the British Institute in Eastern Africa where they are a Humanities Research Fellow. With their education, they aim to conduct research on social issues and develop their art.

Social Media
Neo claims that social media has a significant impact on their life; it helped them validate their identity and sexuality. They once believed to be the only gender non-conforming person in Kenya because they didn’t see anyone else on the internet that identified as such. Through their stage of doubt and isolation, Twitter eventually connected them to a community that shared their same identity. Neo claims that this online community saved their life. They do not feel comfortable sharing their stories in academic settings, thus, social media served as an outlet. However, this positive encounter did not exist without pushback. On Twitter, Neo has been targeted and ridiculed for their gender.

Activism / Performances
Their performances are always public, mostly taking place in the busiest streets of Nairobi, Kenya. On their Youtube channel, Neo has uploaded two of their performances: “In Time and Space” and “I Came Here to be Free”. For “In Time and Space”, Neo stays in one spot, in a public setting, where they start to dress in typical male clothes and then undress to later put on typical female clothes; the cross-dressing occurs multiple times throughout the performance. The purpose of this performance is to dismantle the public's idea of what a typical male or female looks like; it questions the relationship between clothes and gender. It is especially difficult for the audience to conclude on Neo’s gender because they have a gender-neutral haircut and they remain silent throughout the performance in order to prevent the audience from using Neo’s voice as a factor. This performance was influenced by an incident where Neo was attacked and instructed to strip so that their gender could be revealed. This performance, in a way, is a reenactment of this incident while also showing fluidity in gender.

“I Came Here to be Free” is a more recent performance where Neo is dressed in a black and red suit. They are wearing a blonde wig and have their face painted white. Attached to Neo’s suit is the LGBTQ flag which is being dragged on the floor behind them. The flag has chains attached to their waist and appears to have blood spots. In the second part of this performance, Neo sits up against a wall and is taking off the white paint on their face. The black and red suit and the blonde wig are no longer on their body. This performance has been interpreted as a critique of the European colonizers--who are often blamed for dismantling the homosexual nature of Africa’s history. In 2014, Neo was invited to do an artistic performance at a queer conference and festival that took place in Africa at the University of Cape Town. There, they did a public performance where they read and destroyed a bible in front of a crowd. Neo is seen scribbling on the bible with a red marker and then starts tearing and crumpling the bible’s pages. In the end, Neo gives the torn bible to a person in the crowd. Neo claims that the performance was about a critical reading of the bible and how they realized much the bible justifies violence. To them, it's scary to think about violence within religious groups and how colonizers were able to spread Christianity in the continent while being violent. Though most of Neo’s activism is done through performances, they also display activism through other mediums. On their Twitter account, for example, they write and retweet posts for their followers to see. One picture reads, “You are not an intellectual. You are not an artist. You are not a critic. You are not a poet. You just have internet access. Neo also publishes “rants” on her facebook about topics such as the rape crisis in Kenya. Another example of her activism is when Neo visited the Jerusalem Church of Christ in Nairobi and discussed the grammar of Gender. Lastly, Neo was a photographer for a photographic exhibition called “Bodies Unbound”.

Writing
Neo wrote an article in Zethu Matebeni’s book titled “Reclaiming Afrikan: Queer Perspectives on Sexual and Gender Identities”. Neo’s article is called “In Time and Space” where they describe their performance. Additionally, Neo wrote a research article titled “Homing with My Mother / How Women in My Family Married Women”. This article focuses on a family’s history concerning ancestral queerness. Neo has her own website called Feminist Loft: Unintelligent Black Thoughts and Other Failures of a Queer Mind. On this site, Neo has published more informal, small and long pieces of writing and spoken word. Some examples include “Rage",“Queer Desire and Displacement (Or When an Acronym Is Not Enough)”,“In Complete Disregard Of The Power Of Love (Spoken Word)”.