This is a beautiful write up. Despite the exaggerations relating to the constitutions “hatred” upon women, the word “beautiful” is surely an understatement to qualify it at a timing of rampant auxiliary trolls(conservatives) and for whom I insist are “social media Feminists” that cannot regurgitate past the post-modern dogma they know, and makes it easier for the former to bait them around circles.
Am not into petty refutations because we really have a problem at hand, I believe (as a Male I have lived it through her eyes). Disagreements are normal, there’ll never be a consensus around one thing(for example global Feminism), but to point out a few relating to *our* very own nation space(aka Nigeria).
- First though is to address the Booker T Washington point, which is absolutely nothing but a revisionist version that aims to serve the objective of the article(stoke flame in the eyes of the opponent yea). Very well done, but am sure you are well aware that BTW was one of the prominent financiers of NAACP no? Was Ida B Wells also a prominent critic of his? or was the beef between him and and our very own hero an intellectual argument?
Even among st the brashest of Historians, the reconciliation of Booker T’s vision has been one of a common resolution — that he wanted Black people to have tools for a revolution BEFORE the revolution. Education was one of them, so was Minimal wealth. It was for that reason he was investing in institution for Black people and was playing double agent — in a way of getting MORE blacks educated UNDER white tutelage who had better infrastructures to get more blacks educated in (temporary) exchange for the servitude. Atlanta of Today and the 60’s is what it is today due to that very compromise. That compromise birthed the MLK’s and the Tennessee resistance among st many spaces of resistance in the south and this is part and parcel of Black History today. - Point 1 can be linked to point two today. With respect to the future of the North which activists find very very convenient to muddle in other to make a convenient point(as you did with that one liner which I won’t quote), I’ll point out again
- That as a Non-hausa Northerner(with Yoruba woman’s blood), it’s not and will never be cool to transcend lines of multi-cultural differences simply to “save” the other, without any understanding of the system in place and the history around it. A chunk of the Northern Fabric is over 700 years old. It’s cultures have rather evolved over centuries such that it produced another war of reforms known as the Sokoto Caliphate — Yes the very one that birthed a Daughter who was a Scholar at 16 and got married at that very age AND became the empire’s matriarch As well as multilingual ambassador(age 21) within two decades of her birth. To call it “sheer privilege” is absolutely disingenuous without understanding the objectives and goals of the caliphate (see The Caliphs Sister).
Having Line’s is not a new thing. It’s that very reason that birthed the Third Wave Feminism. It’s that very reason that created a sense of resistance in Modupe and Amina as well as many others besides Funmilayo which I’ll be writing about lord willing in the coming months. I have given out a chunk of my work on it here. https://medium.com/@Ayatullah/african-feminism-resistance-on-the-black-continent-d26cde0b53bd#.yfltier88
The nuances of our polity will always have a place with respect to navigating our torrid society and it’s ills within it. To simply Borrow a western Feminism, import it into Lagos and expect it to be received well in kaduna via Railway is absolutely unseriousness on the part of a so called ‘Saviour’ who is doing nothing than to mirror that of her 2nd Wave accomplices as well as 3rd wave colored characters who overlook the needs of their sisters abroad in other to fan Liberal ideas of their minority celebrity in the neighborhood. Checking privileges is a two way thing. Some Religions already have a template for Feminism, it doesn’t have to succumb to Liberalism’s method for all it’s bogus claims that has been running foul after 2 decades of practice.
And *if* the Liberal way has to be the ONLY way, then a systematic process must be followed knowing fully well that there are assholes everywhere to be fought. To give the impression that the majority of men are fools OR are not on board for women’s rights(noteworthy I don’t think you are saying such) is to promote an agenda of self importance. At this point in line, having to humble one’s self and speaking to the stake holders at hand is the forward step. Feminists like Ayesha Imam, Murtala’s sister, Hajiya Wali and Late Hajiya Bilkisu amongst many have been in the fore front of this war without having to budge to male stereotypes at the same time pander to agenda’s which do not fit the reality of the northern woman (to be saved from Old Pedophiles). Yes this would require having to Focus on pertinent issues relevant to one’s community instead of taking Leaps. To get an education, you don’t have to drive with due respect. You can walk and then use your pen to fight for your rights to drive.
Let’s not transcend commonsense for that of the white man. If I desire the right to free Internet, i should be able to have light first and not the other way round. While voicing out the right sentiments against these temporary cyber hoodlums, our sisters should have a right to cherry pick what exactly is relevant for them before others. For some, the survival of the Family unit is paramount and abortion is a problem. We can think regional laws for that and South West can push for a Law that the North West finds problematic for it’s women — which isn’t a big deal on the UN’s SDGs goals. At the same time,a more Human Right centered priorities can be focused on a national level instead of pursuing agendas of neo-liberals that can’t be beneficial to us.
Hopefully bit’s can be taken from this while we sharpen our guns towards the right enemy. Looking forward to more engaging discussion else where(not in your comment space lol).
More ink of resistance to your pen sister.
