Edition Nº 04 · Berlin

What we carry
does not
end with us.

Date
June 2026
Location
Afrotopia, Berlin
Series
First Gen / 2026
Migration & identity · Generational pressure · Belonging & exclusion · Care & resilience · Community knowledge · Migration & identity · Generational pressure · Belonging & exclusion · Care & resilience · Community knowledge · Migration & identity · Generational pressure · Belonging & exclusion · Care & resilience · Community knowledge · Migration & identity · Generational pressure · Belonging & exclusion · Care & resilience · Community knowledge ·
01 — The Series
A dialogue series where lived experience becomes shared knowledge.

First Gen is a dialogue series for people who are the first in their families to build a life in Germany — and for those who carry what comes with it.

Each edition focuses on a specific theme. But the work remains the same: to create a space where lived experience is taken seriously, where knowledge is shared across generations, and where conversations can happen without simplification.

Because what we carry is not individual. And it does not resolve itself. The series is free to attend, community-led, and built to continue beyond the room.

02 — This edition
June 2026 / Berlin
In partnership with Afrotopia

Why this work
matters.

Across communities, access to support is shaped by stigma, structural gaps, and expectations of resilience. First Gen creates space where these realities can be spoken about — and where knowledge is shared beyond formal systems.

1 in 3
Participants report unmet mental health needs
62%
Describe stigma or cultural fit as a barrier
04
Editions delivered since 2023
03 — Themes

What we
sit with.

Each edition brings different questions into the room. Not to resolve them quickly, but to give them the attention they require.

  1. 01 Intergenerational trauma and migration-related stress Inheritance
  2. 02 Pressure to succeed as the first Expectation
  3. 03 Racism and everyday microaggressions Environment
  4. 04 Identity across cultures and expectations Belonging
  5. 05 Mental health and stigma within communities Stigma
  6. 06 Burnout, anxiety, and emotional fatigue Fatigue
  7. 07 Ways of healing beyond conventional models Practice
04 — In conversation

In
conversation.

These are not panels. They are moments where people speak openly, listen closely, and recognize themselves in each other.

Listening circle
Listening circle
Shared table
Shared table
Open dialogue
Open dialogue
05 — Voices

Who has
shaped the room.

Across editions, First Gen has brought together practitioners, thinkers, and community voices — people working at the intersection of lived experience and structural reality. Not as distant experts, but as participants in the same conversation.

This space grows through the people who step into it.

If your work, experience, or perspective belongs in this conversation, we want to hear from you.

Express interest for 2027
06 — Programme

Held with time
and care.

Because some conversations cannot be rushed. The evening moves through welcome, dialogue, rest, and reflection with enough space to breathe.

18:00
Doors & welcome tea
Arrive early. We sit, we share food, we settle.
Hosts
18:45
Opening — what we carry
A grounding ritual and short framing of the evening.
Kwame Asante
19:00
Panel: stigma, language, the family table
On naming what was never named at home.
Okonkwo · Kone · Bello
20:00
Break · listening room
A quiet room with archive recordings from past editions.
20:30
Workshop: practices beyond therapy
Small-group exercises drawing on community-rooted healing.
Naomi Kone
21:30
Closing — what we leave with
A circle to name one thing each. No pressure to speak.
All
22:00
Soft close · stay if you wish
The room stays open until 23:00.
09 — Questions

Before you
support.

Your contribution supports space and production, documentation and archiving, community access, and the speakers and contributors whose work deserves to be seen and heard.
Yes. First Gen is free to attend by design. Donations help keep the door open without shifting the cost onto guests.
First Gen is a community-led dialogue series shaped by hosts, volunteers, partners, contributors, and the people who return to the room each year.
Yes. You can share skills, introduce collaborators, support documentation, volunteer at an edition, or express interest as a future voice.
11 — Community

Held by
many.

First Gen exists because people give their time, energy, and care to make it happen. Volunteers, partners, and collaborators shape each edition in visible and invisible ways.