| Like a meteor On sail in space, Meandering through columns Of menacing clouds, He sailed with saber And landed On the landscape of Midwest. His mettle manifested, The miasma melted. As battle blaze Of brave beacons raged, Insignia with inscription "Anthony Enahoro" shined. After decades Of dreams of democracy The democrat demurred At desecration of democracy And departed to the dingle To dine With departed democrats. Now, Mealy mouthed moguls of mock Mouth mockery Garbed in garb of praise.
--- On Thu, 12/16/10, Ayo Obe <ayo.m.o.obe@gmail.com> wrote:
From: Ayo Obe <ayo.m.o.obe@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Date: Thursday, December 16, 2010, 10:18 AM
I wonder whether we in Africa, or from Africa, can ever really get to grips with this black/white thing in America – and I write as one who was born and largely raised and schooled in Britain. The whole idea that certain aspirations and behaviours are "acting White". I wonder whether we can ever really immerse ourselves in what that burden means. Would a child from the poorest backwater of Nigeria have to run the gamut of pressure to not do well in school, or expectation that they simply weren't capable of doing well for fear of getting 'uppity' (from peers as well as elites)? Reading this dialogue one is reminded of tensions in American society that caused the late (and, now that he is safely dead, universally agreed to be) great Michael Jackson's outburst: "I'm not going to spend my life being a colour!" Or of another African writer – apologies for forgetting her name – who remarked on the way Western critics dismissed her novels for not being about 'real' Africans because they weren't about war, famine, poverty, domestic violence, pregnancy, infertility etc. Thus, Chimamanda Adichie, a "celebrated, educated, woman of privilege" becomes 'not real'. I still remember attending a dialogue in Dakar between President and Mrs. Clinton and African human rights activists and our being required to wait because Mrs. Clinton, who had been in discussion with anti-FGM campaigners wanted them to be present so that we would all know that it was about 'real' Africans. This insistence that – in relation to Africa or black people, only obscurity, illiteracy and deprivation are 'real'! Apparently we are all works of fiction here, having this USA Africa Dialogue. Or is it only we women who are not real? Look, to those of us who understand feminism in the simple, idiot's dictionary definition, it is "belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes" it's not that complicated. For me, this also includes "fighting the idea that there is an ontological difference between man and woman, and that because of that each of them should stick to predetermined roles and be judged negatively if they don't."
As to the suggestion that "An immediate need of women in Lagos or Los Angeles, is not to become governor or even mayor", Jesse Jackson probably faced the same questions about the deprived condition of black people in the US when he decided to run for President, though that would have been because he was black, not because he was a man. Yet these are not questions that are asked of white men who run for political office. Lavonda's suggestion seems to imply that we should all leave the political space to them – but at the same time expect immediate needs of healthcare and education to be addressed! Or is it only women, black, Latina, and brown women who must wait until everything is alright before they contest for political office? Though what they would be contesting for in that utopia, escapes me. Fact is that many people – possibly even Jesse Jackson and some women – seek public office precisely because they want to tackle "fires" like healthcare and education. Is it really being proposed that they should stand aside and leave the space to only white men? Oh, perhaps they are personally ambitious too? Only white men are allowed impure motives? Puhleese!
It has been suggested that aside from "universal issues (health, safety, right to vote etc.) feminism should not be the same everywhere: each culture, country, situation poses different problems and requires different solution". I think that is reasonable. But it flies in the face of reality to suggest that all black women, or all women in Lagos have the same needs and concerns, and it is simply fascist to insist that they must. We are all different – height, weight, class, looks, education, job, career, material assets, marital status, children, age, everything! We all exist, and we are all real. As they (admittedly, rather rudely) say in the US: Get over it. Chimamanda Adichie may live mostly in the United States, but she has the writer's eye for the details of the life of the middle class woman in Lagos. Is there anything wrong in her capturing and putting it down in words? I don't think so. Ayo On Tue, Dec 14, 2010 at 8:02 PM, Lavonda Staples <lrstaples@gmail.com> wrote: Dr. Gloria, I am not arguing against anything. I'm trying to point out that the writing/opinions offered by Ms. Adichie are nearly the exact same verbiage espoused during the period leading up to failed attempts at an Equal Rights Amendment in the late 1960's and early 1970's. The rights and privileges, fulfillment of the United States Constitution, sought by those women were not aligned with the needs of common women. The forerunners of that movement, the most vocal and the most seen (i.e. Gloria Steinem) were White, privileged, and very far removed from the daily lives of women of color. There was no component which dealt with rights for Latina women who were at that time heavily involved in hand labour in sweat shops, agricultural labor in the Armerican west and southwest, or their access to medical and educational facilities. Concurrently, there was little attention paid to childcare for the increasing numbers of Black women who would go through the experience of motherhood either alone or with the help of an urban matriarchal system. Additionally, Black Americans faced the freedoms given by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with agricultural and industrial skills. This was truly unfortunate as the advance into the techonological age had already been noted by the American president, Dwight D. Eisenhower (in his "Military Industrial Complex" speech) nearly 10 years prior. Added to that the chaos which marked the transition from the Civil Rights Era to the Black Power Movement and the rising action of the economic crisis which would soon engulf all Americans without regard to race or gender. The rhetoric of the women's movement was exceedingly injurious to Black families as the needs of White women really had nothing in common with the needs of Black and Hispanic women or families. Even up to 1974, Black women were waging fights for simple school houses in their communities (see, "Silver Rights" by Betty Curry - re: education in Sunflower County, Drew, MS). Black women bought into a debate which was not to their advantage. As late as 1974 Black men were still fighting for recognition within the AFL-CIO, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and the UAW (see, "Race, Reform and Rebellion..." by Manning Marable - re: A. Phillip Randolp and Bayard Rustin as paid voices against the causes of Black men in the UAW). The problem with asking for gender equality between Black Americans at that time is that there was no racial or economic parity. So the tenets of feminism could not be applied and acted as a wedge between Black men and Black women. Until circa 1964, Blacks married and stayed married at higher rates or equal with Whites. The raison d'etre was survival as a community and, in the microcosm, as a family. The White feminist argument, at best, is a selfish individualistic argument (it's my turn, it's all about me, I need to be fulfilled, etc. and on and on). The arguments and debates from Hispanic and Black women was ALWAYS family centered, education as a route for improvement for family, medical access to improve pre-natal, neo-natal, and maternal care, safe and affordable childcare so that the FAMILY could prosper through working more hours or simply working outside of the home. Contemporarily, the authorship of White feminists STILL shows a clear line of demarcation with the very history of minority women. In the last ten years there have been titles such as, "The Second Shift," "The Sandwich Generation." Minority women have ALWAYS worked outside the home or had to pursue labor at home to gain extra funds. Minority women have ALWAYS taken care of parents out of respect and duty to the family system. So how in the world does White feminist rhetoric have any real world utilty to African, African American, and Latinas? It doesn't! Ms. Adichie, in that short article, was talking very "white." She was speaking as if she had no knowledge of the situation in which her sisters live within. I stand on what I said just like John Henry - like a man who will not be moved: her statements as a celebrated, educated, woman of privilege reflect very little, if any real-world knowledge. They are dangerous to the point of sedition. And she does not demonstrate, not even in the modicum, a working knowledge of the immediate fight of every day needs of women. An immediate need of women in Lagos or Los Angeles, is not to become governor or even mayor. In my opinion, just one voice in six billion, she might listen to the proverb regarding putting out the fire on herself before she puts out the fire on the child. "Herself" might be a collection of needs which include healthcare and education and "the child" in this case, is her associates' political desires. It ain't what you want it to be - sometimes it is what it is. La Vonda R. Staples
-- La Vonda R. Staples Adjunct Professor, Department of Social Sciences Community College of the District of Columbia 314-570-6483 "It is the duty of all who have been fortunate to receive an education to assist others in the same pursuit." -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin. For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue- unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
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