A Childhood that shaped Activism: Satang Nabaneh

When most children were spending their afternoons playing, Satang Nabaneh was already speaking at conferences, drafting speeches, and meeting heads of state.

Her entry into public life began when she was just eight years old, and it has never really stopped. Today, she moves with ease between the roles of activist, scholar, lawyer, and teacher always with the same goal thus amplifying the voices of marginalized communities.

“I sometimes joke that I never really had a normal childhood”, Nabaneh says with a laugh. “When other kids were outside playing, I was sitting at conferences with presidents. It was exciting but also made me realize from very early on that I carried a responsibility to my community, to my country, to Africa”.

Satang Nabaneh’s activism was sparked through her involvement with the Red Cross in the early 2000s, at a time when international organizations were pushing for greater child participation. Global conversations around the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child opened new doors for children’s voices. By the age of 12, Nabaneh had been elected as The Gambia’s representative to the Children’s Parliament of the World.

Her first international trip still a vivid memory was to Senegal, where she traveled as part of a delegation led by the Gambian vice president and the minister for women and children’s affairs. At 15, she was representing The Gambia at the Commission on the Status of Women in New York.

“It was all I knew. I was constantly in public spaces. That shaped me, but it also gave me empathy and a deep sense of what it means to represent people who are not in the room”.

From a child activist to a human rights lawyer

Nabaneh activism led her to study law, not out of academic curiosity alone, but as a strategic decision. “I wanted to make sure that the people amplifying marginalized voices were also present in the legal and policy spaces. It’s not just about representing people in court it’s also about drafting the laws and shaping the policies that affect their lives ”.

That choice has defined her career. Satang Nabaneh has worked with ministries, NGOs, and international organizations. She has been directly involved in redrafting The Gambia’s Sexual Offences Act and developing the national policy on female genital mutilation (FGM). She describes herself as “lucky and privileged” to have been in those spaces but her presence there was far from accidental.

A life of responsibility and resilience

When asked what keeps her motivated through the inevitable challenges of activism in Africa, Nabaneh pauses. “It’s not an easy question,” she admits. “But I think what drives me is a strong sense of responsibility. From the time I was young, I knew that I wasn’t just speaking for myself. I was representing a community. That awareness has never left me”.

Satang Nabaneh path has not been without its difficulties. As a young woman in male-dominated spaces and often the only Black and young person in international academic settings she has faced stereotypes, dismissiveness, and harassment. She recalls teaching law at the University of The Gambia at just the age of 22, standing in front of a class with some of the students that worked for the government including parliamentarians and policemen. And worried about reframing certain things right without getting in trouble.

Sexual harassment has been another persistent reality. “Many people don’t even recognize their behavior as harassment, most times compliments that cross boundaries are normalized. As a young woman who liked dressing up, I had to learn to navigate comments that were not really compliments at all”.

Despite this, she does not dwell on hardship. “I don’t often sit down and catalogue the difficult moments” Nabaneh says. “But the challenges are tied to my identities: African, Black, woman, young. And they follow me into both activist spaces and academia”.

Building feminist institutions

If Satang Nabaneh had to single out one of her proudest achievements, it would not be her two PhDs though she acknowledges them with a modest laugh. Instead, she points to Think Young Women, the feminist organization she founded in 2010.

“We wanted to create a space for young women, to nurture leadership, to support empowerment, and to build a community. Fifteen years later, the organization is still alive, bigger, and flourishing. That is the greatest gift. It outlives me, and it inspires others”.

The organization has influenced the growth of a broader feminist movement in Gambia, one led largely by young women who proudly identify as feminists in ways that the older generation of women’s rights activists often avoided. “That intergenerational difference is important, we were willing to name things differently and take up issues like abortion, which others stayed away from”.

Through another initiative, the Sexual and Reproductive Rights Network, Nabaneh and her colleagues have strategically pushed for reforms in The Gambia’s restrictive abortion laws, expanding the grounds for legal exemptions in line with the Maputo Protocol.

Balancing multiple identities

Nabaneh wears many hats thus activist, lawyer, academic, advocate, wife, and a mother. She does not see these roles as separate. “Everything I do is intentional and rooted in my values. I’m not a traditional academic. My scholarship is shaped by activism, and my activism in turn is enriched by scholarship” she says.

This approach has not always been universally accepted. Some argue that one cannot be both a scholar and an activist. Nabaneh disagrees, “I don’t know how not to be both. My activism and my research are inseparable. They feed into each other”.

Satang Nabaneh work often challenges cultural and religious boundaries. As a Muslim woman from The Gambia, she has faced criticism for working on certain issues for instance on abortion rights. “It clashes with my background, yes. But I believe that the role of a scholar activist is to confront those tensions while holding firm to values of inclusion and dignity”.

She is also conscious of her proximity to power. Teaching at an American university, she recognizes the privilege and responsibility that comes with her position. “People accuse you of hypocrisy when you talk about decolonization while working within Western institutions. But I see my role as using that proximity to open doors for others, to bring African and Global South voices into classrooms and research spaces where they are usually absent”.

Hope in the African spirit

Despite democratic backsliding and rising repression across Africa, Satang Nabaneh insists she remains hopeful. That hope is grounded not in institutions, but in people.

“What gives me hope is the resilience of Africans” she says. “It might sound cheesy, but I truly believe that we can overcome anything. The challenges are enormous, but every day I see ordinary people especially women who wake up and keep going. That inspires me”. Nabaneh recalls a recent visit to Kilimanjaro, where she met Maasai women participating in community development programs and says, “The challenges they face are immense. And yet their resilience, their vibrancy, the colorful way they approach life was remarkable. That’s the African spirit”.

Lessons for young activists

When asked what advice she would give to a young person beginning the journey of activism, Satang smiles and says, “I can’t say it in one sentence. But maybe three things”.

First, have your own value. “You need to know why you are here and what you stand for. It’s not a cliché, your values are what will sustain you when it gets difficult”.

Second, keep learning. “Education brought me where I am, but not just formal education. Continuous learning, unlearning, relearning through certificates, webinars, or conversations. You cannot contribute meaningfully if you don’t keep growing”.

Third, build community. “None of us can do this work alone. You need people around you who are not extractive but supportive and intentional in their relationships. My greatest gift has been my network of friends and collaborators across Africa and beyond. They keep me going”.

Beyond the public image

For someone so constantly in the public eye, Satang guards her private life carefully. She laughs when asked how she manages to find time for herself. “People think I never sleep! But I do. I also watch a lot of TV it’s my guilty pleasure. My husband doesn’t understand how I can follow so many shows at once, but I do”.

She is deliberate about shielding her family from the public spotlight. “I live a very public life, but I don’t intentionally put my personal life out there. That’s a choice. It’s how I balance visibility with safety”, Nabaneh says.