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Media Resources Highlights
A few of our buttons collected over the years.
Table of Contents:
Women of Color Links and Resources
Women of Color Media Highlights
Link to: Women of Color Periodical Compilation
Link to: Women of Color Periodicals, 1968-1988
Elana Denise Anderson, November 2011
Editor, Women of Color Media
International & Regional: Global Africa Asia The Americas Alphabetically by Country: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
These are just some of the women of color media. For full list and full descriptions, see the Directory of Women's Media
International and Regional
International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT)
Website: http://www.iawrt.org
Women's World
An international free speech network
of feminist writers based on the premise: "We have formed
the Women's World Organization for Rights, Literature and Development,
or Women's WORLD, because nowhere on earth are women's voices
given the same respect as men's.
Website: http://www.wworld.org
East African Media Women's Association
Website: http://www.peacebuildingportal.org/index.asp?pgid=9&org=4050
Online Women Bulletin
Asia Pacific Online Network of
Women in Politics, Governance, and Transformative Leadership.
Website: http://www.onlinewomeninpolitics.org/
RELAT- Red de EscritorasLatinoamericanas
The Women's World Program in Latin
America
Website: http://www.wworld.org/programs/regions/latin.htm
Alphabetically by Country
Revolutionary Association of the Women
of Afghanistan (RAWA) (located
in Pakistan)
RAWA is the oldest political/ social of Afghan women struggling
for peace, freedom, democracy, and women's rights in fundamentalism-blighted
Afghanistan since 1977.
Website: http://www.rawa.org
Bolivia
RED - ADA (Red Nacional de trabajadoras de la información y comunicación
Website: http://www.redada.org/
Brazil
Fêmea
Website: http://www.cfemea.org.br
REBRA
Rede de Escritoras Brasileiras
(Brazilian Women Writers' Net) is a non governmental, non profitable
association (NGO), which renders services and assembles women
writers in Brazil.
Website: http://www.rebra.org
Native Women in the Arts
Website: http://www.nativewomeninthearts.com
Institute for the Advancement of the Aboriginal Women
Website: http://www.iaaw.ca
Chile
Agenda Salud
Isis International
Website: http://www.isis.cl
Argumentos para el Cambio
Website: http://www.argumentos.cem.cl/
Boletin Red Feminista Latinoamericana y del Caribe Contra la Violencia
Domestica y Sexual
Website: http://www.isis.cl
Con-spirando Revista
Website: www.conspirando.cl
Ediciones de las Mujeres
Website: http://www.isis.cl
Perspectivas
Website: http://www.isis.cl
China
Women's News Digest
Association for the Advancement
of Feminism
Website: http://www.aaf.org.hk/
Costa Rica
Radio Internacional Feminista
Feminist International Radio
Endeavour (FIRE)
Website: http://www.fire.or.cr/
Banat Wa Bas
Website: http://www.banat9bass.com/
Ethiopia
IAFFE Newsletter
Website: http://www.iaffe.org
Grassroots Organizations Working Together in Sisterhood
Website: http://www.workingwomensforum.org
Indian Journal of Gender Studies
Website: http://intl-ijg.sagepub.com
Manushi: A Journal about Women & Society
Website: http://www.indiatogether.org/manushi/
Meow 104.8
Website: http://meowfm.com/
Stree Academic Publishers
Established in 1990, STREE is a
small independent publisher based in Calcutta, India, bringing
out scholarly, well designed books in Bengali and English on social
and women's issues.
Website: http://www.geocities.com/streebooks
Women Unlimited
Website: www.womenunlimited.net
Women's Feature Service
Website: http://www.wfsnews.org
Italy
Journal of South Asia Women Studies
Asiatica Association
Website: http://www.asiatica.org
Japan
Japanese Association for Women in Sport
Website: http://www.jws.or.jp/
Japan Foundation of Bar Associations
(JFBA)
Website: http://www.nichibenren.or.jp/
Kitakyushu Forum on Asian Women
Website: http://www.kfaw.or.jp/
Japanese Women
The Fusae Ichikawa Memorial Association
National Women's Education Centre (NWEC)
Newsletter
National Women's Education Centre
Website: http://www.nwec.jp
Women's Messages from Japan
Website: http://www.ichikawa-fusae.or.jp
Jordan
Arab Women Media Centre (AWMC)
Website: http://www.ayamm.org
FEMNET News
Website: http://www.femnet.or.ke
Our Rights
Website: http://www.femnet.or.ke
Korea
Asian Journal of Women's Studies
Asian Center for Women's Studies
Website: http://www.ewhapress.com/english/subpage.asp?code=ewupbook&subp=01&cate=45&mode=&gbn=viewok&ps=10&sp=&sw=&gp=1&ix=937
Asian Women
Asian Women Research Institute for Asian Women
Website: http://asianfem.sookmyung.ac.kr/english/object.htm
Through Women's Eyes
Website: www.hotline.or.kr
Women's News
Web site : http://www.womennews.co.kr/default.asp
CIMAC Comunicación e información de la mujer A.C.
Website: http://www.cimac.org.mx
Creatividad feminista
Website: http://www.mamametal.com
Debate feminista
Website: http://www.debatefeminista.com
Nicaragua
La Boletina
Website: http://www.puntos.org.ni/boletina/
Pakistan
Newsheet
Website: http://wluml.org
Pakistan Journal of Women's Studies
Website: http://pakistanwomenstudies.com
Pavam-e-Zan (Woman's Message)
Website: http://www.rawa.org/index.php
Perú
Movimiento Manuela Ramos
Website: http://www.manuela.org.pe
Philippines
ANNOUNCE
Website: http://www.isiswomen.org
Mujeres Hoy
Website: http://www.mujereshoy.com
OnlineWomen
Website: http://www.onlinewomeninpolitics.org/index.htm
WE! - Women Envision
Isis International-Manila
Website: http://www.isiswomen.org
Women in Action
Isis International-Manila
Website: http://www.isiswomen.org
South Africa
Feminist Africa
Website: http://www.agi.ac.za/projects/feminist-africa-journal
GIST, Girls Identities Superior in Technology
Website: http://www.womensnet.org.za/girlsnet-empowering-girls
Intersections
Website: http://www.womensnet.org.za/publications/intersections
Women's Media Watch
Website: http://www.samgi.org.za/
WEAVE (Women's Education & Artistic
Voice Expression)
Website: http://www.wworld.org/about/affiliates/weave.htm
Women's Net News
Women'sNet
A vibrant and innovative network support programme designed to
enable South African women to use the Internet to find the people,
issues, resources, and tools they need for women's social activism.
Website: http://www.womensnet.org.za
ADPC (associació de dones periodistes de Catalunya)
Website: http://www.adpc.cat
Mujeres en Red
Website: http://www.mujeresenred.net
Trabajadora
Website: http://www.ccoo.es/mujeres
Vindicación Feminista
Website: http://www.vindicacionfeminista.com/
Sudan
The Ahfad Journal: Women and Change
Website: http://www.ahfad.org/ahfad_journal.html
Thailand
Asian Women Workers Newsletter
Website: http://members.tripod.com/~cawhk/9904/9904nls.htm
Trinidad & Tobago
CAFRA News/ Novedades CAFRA
Website: http://www.cafra.org
Awli News
Akina Mama Wa Afrika
Website: http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/amwau.html
Isis-WICCE (Women’s International Cross-Cultural Exchange)
Website: www.isis.or.ug
Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET)
Website: http://www.wougnet.org/cms/
United States of America
Email list: Afwoscho -A list for women and men (academics, scholars, activists, policymakers, and students) who are interested in discussing gender issues in Africa. To subscribe, send the message SUBSCRIBE AFWOSCHO Your Name to LISTSERVE[no.spam*]LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU or see the Afwoscho web page.
Majordomo@QueerNet.ORG
APLB: An electronic mailing list which focuses on issues
related to Asian and Pacifica Islander lesbian and bisexual women.
Bamboo Girl
Website: http://www.bamboogirl.com
Bad Jens: Iranian Feminist Newsletter
Website: http://www.badjens.com
Black Ensemble Theatre
Website: www.blackensembletheater.org
Email List: Black_Women_Depression - A forum for black women who are dealing with depression, anxiety, bipolar, other mental illness or just the strain of having to deal with "strong black woman" syndrome. For more information or to subscribe, see the black_women_depression Yahoo group's website.
Bridges: A Journal for Jewish Feminists
& Our Friends
Website: http://bridgesjournal.org
The Center for Indigenous Theatre
Website: www.indigenoustheatre.com
Chicana/Latina Studies: the Journal of Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social
formerly VOCES: A Journal of Chicana/Latina Studies
Website: http://malcs.net/issues.htm
Currents
Website: http://www.unifem.org/
Digital Sisters, Inc.
Website: http://www.digital-sistas.org
Directory of Women's Media
Website: http://www.wifp.org/DWM/DirectoryWomensMedia.html
Feministas Unidas: A Coalition of Feminist
Scholars in Spanish, Spanish-American, Luso-Brazilian, Afro-Latin
American, and U.S. Hispanic Studies
Website: http://titan.iwu.edu/~hispanic/femunidas/
GirlChild Press
Website: http://www.girlchildpress.com/
Email list: Girlfriend - Provides a forum for Black women in cyberspace. Topics are wideranging, including such issues as current events, spiritual quests, travel, politics, hair, money,children, popular culture, careers, sexuality, men, women. etc. "Girlfriends can be Black women by birth or by choice (black-identified) of any political orientation and sexual preference." For more information or to subscribe, see the GIRLFRIEND web page.
Email list: Graduate Center Women of Color Network - A listserv for women of color pursuing their Ph.D.'s. Based at the City University of New York, the list is open to women of color doctoral candidates anywhere. The list's aim is to equip its members with the tools to survive and succeed in graduate school and to help members manage their various identities (daughters, partners, mothers, workers). The list posts announcements for events, conferences, papers, grants, jobs, etc. To join, please email Stephanie Campos at smcamposwatson[no.spam*]yahoo.com
GuerrillaGirlsBroadBand, Inc.
Website: www.ggbb.org
Her Own Words
Website: http://www.herownwords.com
Iranian Women's Studies Foundation- Seminar
Publications
Website: http://www.iwsf.org/
IAWM: International Alliance for Women in Music
Website: http://www.iawm.org
IWMF Directory
Website: http://www.iwmf.org
International Black Women's Film Festival
Website: www.ibwff.com
JENdA: A Journal of Culture and African
Women Studies
Website: http://www.jendajournal.com
Journal of Middle East Women's Studies
Website: http://inscribe.iupress.org/loi/mew
Latina Style Magazine
Website: http://www.latinastyle.com
Making Face, Making Soul: A Chicana Feminist
Homepage
Website: http://www.chicanas.com
National Congress of Black Women
Website: http://www.npcbw.org
Native Earth Performing Arts
Website: http://www.nativeearth.ca/en
Onyx Woman: Online Edition
Website: http://www.onyxwoman.com
RedBone Press
Website: www.redbonepress.com
Sister Says!
Website: http://www.sisterfund.org
SisterSpeak
Website: http://www.npcbw.org
Sister to Sister/ S2S
Website: http://www.coloredgirls.org
Uruguay
Cotidiano Mujer
Website: http://www.cotidianomujer.org.uy/
Federation of African Media Women--Southern
African Development Community/ FAMW-SADC
Website: http://www.kubatana.net/html/sectors/fed003.asp?sector+MEDIA&details+Tel&orgcode+fed003
WomenPlus
Website: http://www.zwrcn.org.zw
Women of Color Links and Resources
Bagong Pinay a.k.a NewFilipina.com
http://www.newfilipina.com/index2.html
"NewFilipina, Inc. is a growing non-profit org that produces BagongPinay. NFI's mission is Filipina empowerment through multimedia. Our mission: to broaden Filipinas' horizons and to help them discover and harness the power and strengths that they have within themselves. Our projects also aim to connect Filipinas to other Filipinas around the world, to ideas---old and new, and to the means to take action for themselves and for others."
Black Girl International: The Internet Resource for Black Women
http://www.blackgirl.org
"BLACKGIRL INTERNATIONAL is composed of sites that are suggested by its readership. If you would like to recommend a site to be added, please contact us. This site is intended to give black women the opportunity to see World Wide Web pages devoted to, written about, and written by us. Here you'll find the uplifting, the empowering, the thought-provoking, and even occasionally the controversial. The only criterion for inclusion on these pages is that the content is about black women, contains content of particular importance to black women, or that the authors are black women."
Black Women in Sisterhood for Action (BISA)
http://www.feminist.com/bisas1.htm
"Black Women in Sisterhood for Action (BISA), founded on January 10, 1980, is a national non-profit corporation whose purposes are to develop and promote alternative strategies for educational and career development of black women in the world of work; provide scholarship assistance to deserving youths; provide support and social assistance to senior black women in the community; share information and resources in meaningful ways with the community-at-large; and to provide leadership, role models, and mentors for young people."
Career Communications Group, Inc.
http://www.womenofcolor.net
"Join the Women of Color mailing list! From the beginning, the annual Women in Technology issues of Hispanic Engineer and USBE & Information Technology magazineshave been popular vehicles for companies to locate and attract successful women in technology. Hundreds of companies have reached thousands of female students, professionals, young and old, all across the world, who look forward each year to learning of their colleagues' success. Among many of the fine people in your company, we know there are special women of color who are engineers, scientists, technologists, officers, and managers whose accomplishments make them candidates for recognition in the 2000 Women in Technology edition and during the Women of Color Technology Awards Ceremony. So tell us about the outstanding women in your company by completing and returning the recommendation form." (click on hyperlink above).
Documents From the Women's Liberation Movement, Duke University
http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/wlm/color.html
FLAME
http://www.flamme.org
"Flame" is a network of African sisters online, committed to strengthening the capacity of women through the use of ICT's to lobby, advocate and participate in the Beijing +5 process regionally and globally. "Flame" also serves as an electronic forumfor women to share and exchange ideas, strategies, information, and issues of concern to their lives.
Incite! Women of Color Against Violence
http://www.incite-national.org
"INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence is a national activist organization of radical feminists of color advancing a movement to end violence against women of color and their communities through direct action, critical dialogue and grassroots organizing."
Muslim Women's Homepage
http://jannah.org/sisters
National Congress of Black Women
http://www.npcbw.org
Native American Women on the WWW
http://www.library.wisc.edu/libraries/WomensStudies/native.htm
Native American Women Playwrights Archive
http://staff.lib.muohio.edu/nawpa
Native American Women's Health Education Resource Center
http://www.nativeshop.org/index.html
News Portal about women in Africa
http://allafrica.com/women
Nuestras Voces
http://www.wifp.org/pcspanish.html
"La sección en español del Instituto de las Mujeres para la Libertad de la Prensa (WIFP): Lo que buscamos es difundir los medios de comunicación de y por las mujeres en diversos ámbitos: cultura, política, derechos humanos, etc.; así como nuevos espacios donde podemos dar a conocer nuestras voces."
RIMA - Red Informative de Mujeres de Argentina
http://www.rimaweb.com.ar/
RIMA- Red Informativa de Mujeres de Argentina es un proyecto de comunicación que se realiza a través de: una lista de distribución por correo electrónico homónima dedicada a la información y el intercambio entre mujeres feministas, periodistas, organizaciones del movimiento de mujeres, investigadoras, estudiantes, y activistas del país y también de países de Latinoamérica. Cuenta con un sitio web www.rimaweb.com.ar y listas de distribución asociadas: una dedicada a la distribución de gacetillas y avisos, y un boletín de actualización del sitio web.
South Asian Women for Action (SAWA)
http://way.net/sawa/
A Boston based collective of women of South Asian descent, which dialogues across gender, race, religious, class and age lines. Members of the collective articulate what it means to be living in the United States as a South Asian woman. They give their experiences political and creative expression through a variety of media, including visual art, theatre and writing.
UGOGURL Your Black Travel Portal
"Provides a forum for the exchange of vital information
among African American travelers"
http://www.ugogurl.com
Voices from the Gaps: Women Writers of Color
http://voices.cla.umn.edu/
Voices From the Gaps is an instructional Web site focusing on the lives and works of North American women writers of color.
Women of Color, Women of Words
http://scils.rutgers.edu/~cybers/home.html
"Women of Color, Women of Words is a site dedicated to African American women who have gifted, shaken up, and disturbed the theatre world with their powerful words. It is a testament to their courage and perseverance. Hopefully, this site will encourage other sister storytellers to make their words heard."
Woman Spirit by Julia White
http://www.powersource.com/gallery/womansp/default.html
Women of Color Resource Center
http://www.coloredgirls.org
Established in 1990, Women of Color Resource Center is a non-profit education, community action, and resource center working on social justice issues that affect women of color. WCRC develops and distributes education and information resources about women of color that support, sustain, and advance social justice movements.
Women's Issues from "The Wind River Rendezvous"
http://www.bluecloud.org/women.html
The Women of China!
A very active organization in China that helps unite and encourage women to take part in China’s reform and to make a name for themselves in the world. They attempt to build women’s self-esteem, self-confidence, self-reliance and overall development. Their main goal is to promote gender equality in every aspect of life, especially in the workplace. However, they also try to “actively develop friendly exchanges with women and women's organizations around the world with a view to strengthening mutual understanding, friendship and cooperation, and making contributions to world peace.”
They are affiliated with many other organizations that try to promote what they are currently promoting. Institutions such as China Women’s Development Foundation, Developing and Training Center for Talented Women of the ACWF, China Women’s University, China Women’s News, China Women’s Publishing House, and even Chinese Women’s Travel Service.
Currently, their projects include Fighting against Trafficking in Women and Children, projects involving promoting better health and home care for children, Advocacy on Gender Equality, and Small Loans for Women. From all their hard work on their campaigns and projects, they were able to win awards entitled Ten Outstanding Mothers Awards, Awards for the Top Ten Outstanding Women, and Five-good Civilized Families.
For more information, go to www.womenofchina.cn/html/folder/80-1.htm
* * *
Palestine Women's Radio
NISAA FM is a commercial, non political radio station in Ramallah (Palestine), whose mission is to entertain, inform, inspire and empower Palestinian women. Women constitute about 50% of the Palestinian population, and since no woman radio station exists in this region, and given the uniqueness of the Palestinian socio-economic landscape, NISAA FM offers an excellent opportunity for persons and organizations concerned with Women and Empowerment.
NISAA FM is a pioneering station, dedicated to women and focusing on all aspects of living in Palestine with programming that views the woman as a contributor in the development of society and the intention is to positively enhance the general image of women in Palestine.
NISAA FM is a unique women’s radio station – it is a station for women and not only about women. Besides providing music, entertainment and a platform for discussion of women’s experiences, their shortcomings and successes, the vision of the station is two fold, namely to improve connectivity and exchange of information between women who are separated by walls and checkpoints and secondly to engage men in the discussion about women’s rights in a sensitive manner so as to educate and not provoke. Also NISAA FM, through Blogs, Facebook and new social media, shall enable Palestinian women to contribute to the content of the station, thus making them ‘media producers’ rather than ‘media consumers’ only. It will also accord them the opportunity to expose to the region and beyond, their ‘voice’ and with the cooperation of local partners such as Women NGOs and the Business Women Forum, NISAA FM will have links on their websites for greater local and regional penetration.
For more information, vist their website at: http://www.radionisaa.net/english.html
* * *
It's a (Wo)man's World: Women's Education and Artistic Voice Expression
WEAVE amplifies the woman's voice. Created to support black women's writing and publishing in Cape Town, South Africa, it serves as a collective outlet for many. The organization thrives on mutual exchange through skill sharing and moral support. In 1997, the dream became a reality when WEAVE exploded on the literary scene through its affiliation with the umbrella organization Women's WORLD, an international free speech network of feminist writers.
The situation in South Africa has been one inundated by racial struggles. The institution of apartheid had become so defining to their culture that even when the premise did not apply, it was still hard to break out of that mold. Hence, their writings were criticized for not branching out and exploring anything new. Black women writers felt it as their duty to make their voices heard and work together in order to overcome their frustrations. These black women writers wanted to define themselves indefinitely, and WEAVE was a means to an end. No longer was conflict the central focus of their writings nor were there wrongful depictions of black people by white authors.
The women in WEAVE organize publications as well as public poetry readings, cultural festivals, and writing workshops. They also set a precedent by forming the first self-published, multi-genre collection of black women's writing to come out of contemporary South Africa called ink@boiling point.
WEAVE made new feats possible by the simple act of defiance mixed in with hope. Out of crisis came better forms of change, and consequently more media venues in which to express that change.
* * *
Global Black Woman
Global Black Woman is a magazine that covers a variety of issues with a focus on topics and features "that enable us to discover and best express ourselves as women empowered in our destinies and gracious to those in need wherever they may be." Dana W. Reynolds-Marniche, the Editor and Publisher of the magazine, writes that the goal of the magazine is "to embrace balance and wholeness, emotionally and psychologically, as well as abundance and grace - spiritually and materially." Subject matters identified in the table of contents include, for example, "Pioneering Women of Substance," "World Affairs," "Cultural Odysseys," "Church Matters", Education, Science & Technology," and "Race, Media & Politics."
While articles on race and media provide critical analyses of the impact of the media on racial and religious views, the "Women of Substance" section highlights powerful women from diverse fields such as theatre and law to media. For example, the "Women of Substance" section of one issue features Adriane Gaines. The article charts the career path of Ms. Gaines, President and General Manager of WWRL in New York,the state's only black-owned station. Another issue profiles Soledad O'Brien, co-anchor of Today - Weekend Edition.
Outstanding Books of Interest
Blood Stains, A Child of Africa Reclaims her Human Rights, by Khady (UnCUT/VOICES Press, 2010)
The Road of Lost Innocence, by Somaly Mam (Random House, 2009)
Infidel and The Caged Virgin and Nomad, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Meyebela, My Bengali Girlhood and Wild Wind, by Taslima Nasreen
Crusade for Justice, The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells, by Ida B. Wells, Edited by Alfreda M. Duster
I, Rigoberta Menchu, An Indian Woman in Guatemala, by Rigoberta Menchu
Song in a Weary Throat, An American Pilgrimage by Pauli Murray
Dust Tracks on a Road, An Autobiography, by Zora Neale Hurston
Burned Alive, A Survivor of an "Honor Killing" Speaks Out, by Souad
Desert Flower, by Waris Dirie and Cathleen Miller
Do They Hear You When You Cry, by Fauziya Kassindja and Layli Miller Bashir
Aman, The Story of a Somali Girl as told to Virginia Lee Barnes and Janice Boddy
Born in the Big Rains, A Memoir of Somalia and Survival, by Fadumo Korn
My Forbidden Face, Growing Up Under the Taliban: A Young Woman's Story, by Latifa
The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices, by Xinran
Slave, My True Story, by Mende Nazer
My Travels Around the World, by Nawal El Saadawi
First They Killed My Father and Lucky Child: A Daughter of Cambodia Reunites with the Sister She Left Behind, by Loung Ung
Open Wide the Freedom Gates, A Memoir, by Dorothy Height
Zoya's Story, An Afghan Woman's Struggle for Freedom, by Zoya
Unbought and Unbossed, by Shirley Chisholm
Angela Davis, An Autobiography, by Angela Davis
Red Azalea, by Anchee Min
The Africana Woman's Spirituality: Expressions Through Movement, by Elana Anderson, WIFP
Our Colorful World, by Samantha Gina Young, WIFP
Modern Slavery, by Samantha Gina Young, WIFP
The Africana Woman's Spirituality: Expressions Through Movement
Pearl Primus - Katherine Dunham - Carmen de Lavallade
By Elana Anderson, WIFP
December 14, 2011
INTRODUCTION
The outset of this endeavor is fraught with angst, for I, as artist, as scholar, have grappled with the “warring ideals” of both identities within me (Du Bois, 3). The life of the artist and the life of the scholar, seemingly at odds, come together in me as they have in so many other Africana women. This project is really a beginning. Here is where I shall begin the story of my own life. It is here that I shall attempt to reveal the nature of movement and spirit (the combination of which, in my opinion, defines dance), how it informs the very nature of the Africana woman and how that information has in the past and continues to be expressed and therefore, communicated. Through the exposition of a bit of the lives of three courageous women, one cultural organization, my own experience within it and my offering to it, I hope to contribute in some small way to the continuum of excellence and the legacy of achievement that are hallmarks of Africana womanhood in particular, but not only so, for excellence and achievement mark the lives of all women, in all respects. My intention is to explain the term “Africana” to the best of my ability, discuss the birth and formulation of the Black Dance Aesthetic, highlight those women that I consider to be the “mothers” of Black Dance, and finally to illuminate the organization wherein I discovered my love for the art form, and what I believe to be the lasting impressions of that experience.
WHAT CONSTITUTES THE TERM “AFRICANA”?
For the most part, the word “Africana” has come to be inclusive of phenomena that occur within and about continental Africa and its Diasporas, including the United States and the Caribbean. Initially, the term africana was primarily used as the feminine form of the latin word africanus. Roman women who bore this name (there were two of them) were the daughters of the man who defeated Hannibal in the Second Punic War of 218-201 BCE, Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus. As part of traditional Roman naming practices, Africanus was the fourth name given in honor of that achievement, a nickname, so to speak (www.wikipedia.org [visited 11/11/2011]). The term has been defined philosophically by Lucius Outlaw of Vanderbilt University as “a ‘gathering’ notion under which to situate the articulations (writings, speeches, etc.), and traditions of Africans and peoples of African descent collectively [and] is to include, as well, the work of those persons who are neither African nor of African descent but who recognize the legitimacy and importance of the issues and endeavors that constitute the disciplinary activities of African, [Afro-Caribbean] or African-American—persons whose work justifies their being called ‘Africanists’” (Outlaw, 64). It also has socio-political connotations and is described by scholars such as Maulana Karenga as a necessary and organic outgrowth of both African Studies and Black Studies higher education programming. There is even an encyclopedia named as such, spearheaded by the late, great W. E. B. Du Bois and completed posthumously by Kwame Anthony Appiah and Henry Louis Gates, Jr. For purposes of consistency, I have chosen to highlight the work of three women who, in my opinion embody the term Africana.
THE BLACK DANCE AESTHETIC: Moving in Spirit
The Black Dance Experience, as it is wont to be called by both artists and scholars alike, has shaped many lives over the years and evolved in conjunction with notions of race and culture. From the early days of minstrelsy, through the eras of the Harlem Renaissance, Jim Crow, Civil Rights and now Globalization, dance in the context of the Black artist, particularly the female artist, has informed emotional, intellectual, mental, physical and spiritual achievement.
Black Dance, in the sense of the concert dance genre, came to be racialized very early in the American psyche, and set apart as different. Though concert dance was first defined by John Martin in 1932 as that in which dancers are “committed to the principal that emotional experience can express itself through movement directly and are dedicated to a point of view rather than a system”, the dance as performed on American stages by “negroes”, decidedly jazz and tap, was excluded from the definition (Manning, xiii). The likes of Williams and Walker, Josephine Baker, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, and/or the Nicholas brothers did not count as Negro Dance (as it was first called) proper. Negro dancers were urged by the choreographers of the day to dance not as others had before them but in a way so as to evoke a visceral response from its Negro audience. The term “Black Dance” came to be used during the Black Arts Movement of the late 1960s, and Susan Manning succinctly states, “blackness and whiteness became perceptual constructs on stage, ways for linking bodies and theatrical meanings, ways for reading bodies in motion” (Manning, xv). Thus, race became a defining feature of the concert dance medium, and both manifestations of it evolved in tandem, that is interdependently, giving and taking from one another as years passed.
The sexualization of the Black body in motion began long before the racialization of Black Dance, and gender specificity came to characterize much of the early work of Black Dance “fathers” like Lester Horton, Alvin Ailey and Donald McKayle, all men and all choreographers and grounders of the aesthetic. It is quite tragic that the “mothers”, whose snapshots shall follow, have not received the same veneration for the same amount, if not more, of the work done in the development of the aesthetic. Black Dance came to be characterized as a world where “the men [were] men, and the women [were] delighted by it” (Manning, 218). That same sentiment manifests today in the ways in which Black women are portrayed through the mainstream media. “[T]he celebration of Black women’s bodies”, according to Patricia Hill Collins, has become “increasingly replaced by the objectification” of them in a contemporary context (Collins, 128). It is not unlike the assertion of Brenda Dixon Gottschild in The Black Dancing Body, as she described the dancing of Josephine Baker when she was not on stage. She writes of “dimensions of [Josephine] Baker that were never tapped, perhaps ironically because her body itself was so sensational” (Gottschild, 182). The spiritual work of countless artistic women remains trapped within the physical because audiences are often unable to see beyond their bodies. The lives and work of the three women highlighted so briefly in this article are a testament to the fact that art, specifically dance, has enabled the Africana woman to transcend such constraints, revealing her multidimensional nature. Black Dance, in all of its manifestations, has allowed the Africana woman to express the strivings of her spirit in ways that are creative, honest, informative and inspirational. I can only hope that my own work represents it well.
THE MOTHERS OF BLACK DANCE
Pearl Primus was a pioneering anthropologist who brought African movement forms and African American movement forms together both in her body and in her scholarship. Her life and work are unparalleled for its aesthetic value and for transcending the social, political and cultural constraints that were placed upon art during the fourth through seventh decades of the twentieth century in the United States. Born in Port-of-Spain Trinidad, Pearl Primus is said to have “lived and worked among several worlds, each only partially known to the others” (Schwartz, 1). From my own personal experiences with her, I was encouraged to indeed use dance as a weapon of liberation, of self-assertion, and of love for my fellow human beings. She said:
“Dance has been my vehicle. Dance has been my language, my strength. In the dance I have confided my most secret thoughts and shared the inner music of all mankind. I have danced across mountains and deserts, ancient rivers and oceans and slipped through the boundaries of time and space. Dance has been my freedom and my world. Dance is my medicine. Dance is the fist with which I fight the sickening ignorance of prejudice. It is the veiled contempt I feel for those who patronize with false smiles, handouts, empty promises, [and] insincere compliments. I dance not to entertain but to help people better understand each other.” (Schwartz)
Fiercely strong, loyal, fearless and a deeply erotic performer, Pearl Primus thrilled audiences and simultaneously challenged their perceptions of race, sex, politics and culture. If this is not the work of Spirit, I ask you, what is?
Secondly, and simultaneously, the work of Katherine Dunham was brilliant in that it brought folkloric dances of the Caribbean to the wider American artistic audience through commercial stages and artistic styling. It was Katherine Dunham who succeeded in elevating the value of Caribbean dance and its connection to the African American experience. She did for dance what Harry Belafonte did for music with regards to audiences across the globe. In his exposition of her as a scholar (she too, was an anthropologist and mentored by Robert Redfield and Melville Herskovits) and an artist, Richard A. Long describes her as having “distinguished three processes involving the African background of Black Dance” (Long, 63). They were incorporation, secularization, and interaction. Katherine Dunham’s work was based in Jamaica, Martinique, Trinidad and Haiti. She wrote three books that chronicled her research and developed a technique, which is still popular and taught in the school of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater today. Her dance company, spanning almost five decades from 1939-1986, performed internationally on stage as well as in film amid much controversy, but that did not deter Dunham from pursuing dance passionately and as a means of ultimate expression. During her later years she was awarded several honorary doctorates from major universities throughout the United States.
Finally, Carmen de Lavallade, a living legend (yes, still performing at the time of this writing at the age of 80), has managed to bring the entire notion of Black dance full circle by continuing to live her art long after what is considered the appropriate retirement age in any profession. Carmen de Lavallade is the epitome of grace and aplomb, and is the consummate artist. The icon’s career has spanned 50 plus years, and having seen her in her latest project, I have only respect and admiration for her work. FLY: Five First Ladies of Dance, performed first in May of 2009, came to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Arts a little over a year ago, where I was fortunate to witness the brilliance of this Africana woman’s artistic voice firsthand. She, along with four other women, all over the age of 60 (Dianne McIntyre, Bebe Miller, Germaine Acogny and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar), performed a series of solos that were stunning to watch and equally as moving for their content. Previously, I had sat at de Lavallade’s feet during a master class that she conducted at the American College Dance festival in Champaign, IL in 2001. Of FLY…, she said, “I think it's crucial for young people to see the roots of dance today. The choreographers in the program all highly influenced contemporary dance. Too often, dancers from the past seem to just drop off a cliff. Growing up, I saw all the great artists: José Limón, Miss Ruth (Ruth St. Denis) and Martha Graham. It gave me a good grounding for my own work and respect for what came before me” (www.theroot.com [visited 11/12/2011]). I wholeheartedly share this view, and have used it as a basis for my work with Deeply Rooted productions. Carmen de Lavallade’s life and work are a testament to the longevity of art as both a vessel of spirit and a channel of it.
DEEPLY ROOTED PRODUCTIONS
Deeply Rooted Productions, the current manifestation of the organization that gave me an artistic voice, is actually the latest incarnation of an organization founded in 1982 by Kevin F. Jeff, now affectionately known as “Iega”. Jeff’s Jubilation! Dance Company was grass roots, based in Brooklyn, NY and created as a vehicle for Black artists to be more intricately involved in the vital decisions that affected their work as artists and their livelihoods as people. As sure as the AIDS epidemic devastated the Black Dance community, the organization regrouped several times over to become what it is today. Deeply Rooted Productions, established in 1996, is a natural outgrowth of Jeff’s personal artistry and legacy and could be considered the reincarnation of Jubilation! Dance Company. Despite the fact that it is now located in Chicago, IL, Jeff is still at the helm of the organization, keeping art and artists at the forefront of his efforts. The company’s mission is “to re-imagine and diversify the aesthetics of contemporary dance by bringing together modern, classical, and African-American traditions in dance. In its uncompromising pursuit of excellence in performance, the development of new choreography, the training of dancers, and the creation of a diverse audience, the company seeks to demonstrate how art and beauty play a transformative role in society” (www.deeplyrootedproductions.org).
Deeply Rooted Productions performed the finale of its fifteenth season just this past weekend, the flyers for which can be seen below.
As is evident on the flyer, Deeply Rooted Productions is committed to the elevation of the Africana woman’s artistry through its performance content. The fact that the organization chose to present women who are tied to the community of Chicago, where so many Black families migrated at the height of the Industrial era, speaks volumes about the organization’s continued commitment to its constituency. The organization boasts four performing ensembles as well as a dance education component that includes classes for young people, men and mature women.
AN INTERNSHIP LIKE NO OTHER
My internship with Deeply Rooted Productions actually began in March of 2011 when I received a call asking me to conduct a local audition on the organization’s behalf. It is no secret that I have a history with the organization, as I was a founding member of its Dance Theater. I spent the major part of my career as a dancer there, and was only too glad to be a part of it once again in this particular capacity. I had taught classes before, but not quite like the one I had to teach for the audition; in this audition, I had to combine both classical and contemporary techniques, teach a short phrase of choreography, communicate the spirit of the organization, AND assess those auditioning. It was a daunting task, but one that I must have performed well. Upon my recommendations, every person that auditioned was welcomed to the Summer Intensive 2011. I had no idea at that time that I would be asked to participate as both an instructor and choreographer. When asked to do so, I jumped at the chance, for I knew that it would give me an opportunity to return some of the invaluable information that I had received over the years and at the same time begin to merge the dancer and scholar within. Additionally, I knew it would give me the chance to work with young African American women and help them to develop their own artistic voices and ways of speaking through movement.
My tasks in the internship were to teach dance classes, direct rehearsals, coach the existing repertoire and choreograph a short piece for a young group of girls that would demonstrate my spiritual leanings and help the girls to express themselves. I was present in the same environment with the girls for five hours per day, six days per week for four weeks. In this way, I was able to interact with them both artistically and socially. I think my choreography was a hit! I choreographed a dance to the song “Yesterday”, by gospel recording artists Mary Mary. I chose that song because it reminded me of the songs I used to hear in church as a child. It has a very old sound to it, one that helped me to connect the history of Black Dance to the spirit of the artists and the art.
This topic was the very reason that I embarked upon the journey of a Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies from Howard University. I wanted to become familiar with the ways in which women have been marginalized in a general sense, and learn how combat that marginalization within an artistic framework. Female dancers are considered a dime-a-dozen in the industry and their voices are often silenced by treatment that supports such a mindset. By providing an example of artistic freedom and expression, I was able to communicate the necessity of speaking with one’s own voice to the female students. Even though there were males participating in the intensive, I chose to concentrate my efforts on the young and older women involved.
I learned from this internship that women, young and old, are still influenced by gender stratification and sexual discrimination and that spiritually, they are suffering and desperate to escape! I also learned that as artists, women are prone to a medium for which they become instruments. I believe that this transcends the genre of any specific art. As I worked with the girls, I noticed that the more I stressed the importance of moving beyond mere “technique”, the more free the girls became in their movement expression. I discovered through this process and internship that young girls need to be encouraged, especially as dancers, and as women, to go beyond the limits that may have been placed upon them by society or even by themselves.
The internship was all that I expected and more. To see the girls bring my choreography to life was so very rewarding and absolutely amazing. We were all in tears at the final rehearsal, because we all recognized the breakthrough that the girls made and the absolute commitment to art that they demonstrated on the dance floor. They were able to speak with their bodies in a way that many of them had not before. Also, the classes that I taught for the older women were filled with witticisms and playful banter as I expressed to them that it is never too late to dance. They in turn taught me that sometimes you have to allow yourself to go with the flow of your constituency. Though I may have entered the class hoping to accomplish a myriad of technical things, my mothers, as I affectionately came to think of them, would let me know right away how fast they felt like moving on a particular day. It was so uplifting.
With regards to interconnectedness, the internship was the best possible one in which I could have participated. We were able to communicate, which is key to any teacher/student relationship. Because of my background in dance in general and in particular with this organization, I was able to bring a unique perspective to the students and able to communicate with them what I have learned as a student at Howard University. To see the eyes, young and old, sparkle as I spoke of the inequalities that women face in this world, told me that my words were not falling on deaf ears and that my position was viable and even respected in the environment. I inadvertently found myself mentoring some of the students, and listening to some of the others. It was an incredible give-and-take, and an experience that I will draw upon in a positive way for years to come.
CONCLUSION
Women embody the spirit of all humanity. Through movement as basic as the pounding of foufou or the kneading of bread, to the illusion of floating above the earth like a ballerina, that spirit bursts forth in a spray of colors that often belie the drudgery and/or the difficulty in which such movements may be couched. Every move that we make as women is like a dance, full of meaning, full of compassion, full of our very essence. Movement and spirit become one as art, and we express through it because not expressing would mean denying our own humanity and our spiritual existences.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience. Kwame Anthony Appiah and Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Editors. New York, NY: Basic Civitas Books, 1999.
Arewa, Caroline Shola. Opening to Spirit: Contacting the Healing Power of the Chakras and Honuring African Spirituality. Baltimore, MD: Afrikan World Books, 1998.
Bell, Cheryl, Ana Marie Forsythe and Marjorie B. Perces. The Dance Technique of Lester Horton. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Book Company, 1992.
Bolles, A. Lynn and Perry, Barbara Shaw. “Women of the Caribbean”. Africana Studies: A Survey of Africa and the African Diaspora, Third Edition. Mario Azevedo, Editor. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2005. 465-480.
Bush, Barabara. Slave Women in Caribbean Society, 1650-1838. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1990.
Castaldi, Francesca. Choreographies of African Identities: Négritude, Dance, and the National Ballet of Sénégal. Chicago and Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2006.
Collins, Patricia Hill. Black Sexual Politics: African Americans, Gender, and the New Racism. New York, NY: Routledge, 2004.
DeFrantz, Thomas F. Dancing Revelations: Alvin Ailey’s Embodiment of African American Culture. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2004.
DuBois, W. E. B. The Souls of Black Folk. West Valley City, UT: Waking Lion Press, 2006.
Dunham, Katherine. A Touch of Innocence: Memoirs of Childhood. Chicago, IL and London, England: The University of Chicago Press, 1994.
Estes, Clarissa Pinkola. Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype. New York, NY: Ballantine Books, 1992.
Gottschild, Brenda Dixon. The Black Dancing Body: A Geography From Coon to Cool. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.
__________. Waltzing in the Dark: African American Vaudeville and Race Politics in the Swing Era. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.
Growing Up Girl: An Anthology of Voices from Marginalized Spaces. Michelle Sewell, Editor. Hyattsville, MD: GirlChild Press, 2006.
Henry, Paget. Caliban’s Reason: Introducing Afro-Caribbean Philosophy. New York, NY: Routledge, 2000.
History and Memory in African-American Culture. Geneviève Fabre and Robert O’Meally, Editors. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1994.
hooks, bell. Ain’t I A Woman: Black Women and Feminism. Boston, MA: South End Press, 1981.
Long, Richard A. The Black Tradition in American Dance. London, England: Prion, 1989, 1995.
Manning, Susan. Modern Dance, Negro Dance: Race in Motion. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2004.
Mbiti, John S. African Religions and Philosophy, Second Edition. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Educational Books, Inc., 1989.
Outlaw, Lucius. “African, African American, Africana Philosophy”. The Philosophical Forum. Vol XXIV, No. 1-3 Fall-Spring 1992-93 pp. 63-93.
Schwartz, Peggy and Murray. The Dance Claimed Me: A Biography of Pearl Primus. New Haven, CT and London, England: Yale University Press, 2011.
Shepherd, Verene A. Women in Caribbean History: The British-Colonized Territories. Princeton, NJ: 1999.
Terborg Penn, Rosalyn. “Through an African Feminist Theoretical Lens: Viewing Caribbean Women’s History Cross-Culturally”. Engendering History: Caribbean Women in Historical Perspective. Bailey, Barbara, Brereton, Bridget and Shepherd, Verene, Editors. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press, 1995. 3-19.
The Black Woman: An Anthology. Toni Cade Bambara, Editor. New York, NY: Washington Square Press, 1970, 2005.
The Sex Box: Woman. Anonymous, Editor. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, 1996.
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Our Colorful World
by Samantha Gina Young, WIFP
June 22, 2011
The world is not black or white. Unthinkable things occur in various parts of the world that tends to leave a lifelong image in the heads of those who have witnessed these things. These things can be summed up in five words; “Women and Children Being Abused”. The word “abused” in this context is not to be taken lightly. It does not just mean getting yelled at, or a random slap every now and then. No. These women and children experience daily domestic violence, rape, human trafficking, and sometimes it may lead to their death. These horrific events do not just occur in places of war, but also in places that one would never expect.
Places such as Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Congo, Thailand, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon have been known to host some of the most destructive wars in history. Women and children were abused to the point of death during these wars, and even now, after the war is over, the abuse has not stopped. It has become part of everyday life for these women and children. Most of these women and children are unaware of their rights and that further complicates this injustice.
Ann Jones, author, photographer, and a gender adviser for the United Nations, wrote a book on her journey through these countries; War Is Not Over When It’s Over. Her mission was to help women become aware of their rights, and empower them to stand up for themselves. Her method was a photography project. She gave cameras to some of these women and asked them to photograph things that were good and bad in their village or area. By doing so, the women were able to come up with a list of issues they wished to be addressed or changed. In her book, while visiting Cote d’Ivorie, she wrote the following:
Wives were told everyday to do things they didn’t have the time or strength to do, let alone the inclination. Failure brought punishment. When the women began to bring in their photos, I learned that men routinely beat their wives for their failures: to produce dinner on time, wash the clothes, sell tomatoes, stay at home, go to the field to work. The list was endless. Men also beat their wives for small acts of assertion: going to visit a neighbor, answering back, being tired or “lazy”. Men referred to wife beating as “education. (27-28)
This is not only the case in Cote d’Ivorie, but it’s the case in most war-driven places. According to the UN Commission on the Status of Women, at least 1 out of 3 women and girls are beaten and/or sexually abused in their lifetime. This statistic is on a global scale. The main areas of the world that this statistic occurs are Africa, Middle East, and most of Asia. What makes it even worse for some of these women is the fact that they are uneducated and do not know what their rights are. As Ann Jones quotes in her book while watching the uneducated women in Africa, “[She] thought of all the women [she’d] met in Afghanistan who told [her] they wanted to learn to read so they could see if the Quran really said what mullahs and husbands told them it did.” (25). Women in the Middle East are not so different from the women in Africa.
There has been a lot of revealing recently of what women in the Middle-East experience. Many of the women who escaped from their homes in the Middle East have written memoirs and autobiographies detailing what they went through and what women who have not escaped are still going through. Such women are Zana Muhsen (Sold: One Woman’s True Account of Modern Slavery), Nujood Ali (I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced), and Taslima Nasrin (My Girlhood, Gusty Wind, Split Into Two, Those Dark Days).
One particular story of women in the Middle East that has opened people’s eyes of the inhumane events that women still endure in this part of the world is the story of Soraya M. The biographical novel has been recently adapted into a movie. It was the movie that brought to light the issue of stoning women as punishment. The book and movie revealed that this primitive punishment is still in existence.
What makes all this abuse towards women even more horrific is the fact that most of it is domestic. Women and girls suffer from beatings, domestic rape, and molestation from their fathers, husbands and in some cases, brothers. This sort of abuse can be found in even the most unexpected places of the world, such as the Caribbean islands.
The Caribbean Islands sounds like the perfect vacation spot, doesn’t it? White sandy beaches, clear blue water, authentic Caribbean spicy food, cultural music, and warm, cheerful natives. The Caribbean is like a paradise, a way to escape the harsh times of everyday life and have some real fun. However, ask yourself, are these cheerful natives really as happy as they seem, or is there more than what meets the eye?
The answer is, yes. There is a lot more to these Caribbean citizens than what is seen by tourists. One has to remember, although the Caribbean is a paradise, every island in the Caribbean is under the Third World Country category. There are things that occur in these islands that would shock even the most unstirred person.
The islands are known for their beautiful beaches, waterfalls, carnival festivals, and abuse. Young children, teenagers and women on the island have been physically, mentally, and verbally abused. Unlike other countries, where the abuse is from peers or gangs, the islands abuse is mostly from the parents and family members of the child, and on most occasions, it’s the male members. The abuse can go from a simple slap on the head to a full on rape.
One particular island where this abuse is prominent is Trinidad and Tobago. According to the Minister of the People and Social Development of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Glenn Ramadharsingh, “there were a total of 13,684 calls for help to Child Line, for the period of January to September [in 2009]”. The Child Line is the child abuse services that the island offers for children and teenagers to call when they are being abused. According to UNICEF, 77% of children on this island are subjected to what their parents call “child discipline”. This discipline comes in the form of brutal beatings that leave the children scarred for life. As these children become adolescents, 10% of them gain the mentality of acceptance to their abusive family members (unicef.org).
In an interview with a young woman, Jynona Moore, from Trinidad and Tobago, she revealed some of what she had to endure from her father growing up.
“And then he slapped me across my face. I didn’t know what to do . . . so I ran into my room. It was quiet for a while. I thought he was doing something else. But then . . . he opened the door to my room . . . he had the bamboo stripped broom . . . you know, the thin pieces of bamboo tied together . . . the one that stings a lot? He swung it towards my arm . . . it stung at first . . . but he wouldn’t stop. He pushed me onto my stomach, and then . . . began to swing at my back. I passed out after the . . . sixth whiplash . . . I think it was the sixth. But yea . . . that’s how it started. It continued every day after that . . . just worse . . . and worse with each day.”
Some of the islands in the Caribbean have laws that try to prevent this abuse from happening in the future. However, the mentalities of the past have rolled over so much that no one pays attention to these laws. The Child Abuse Hotlines seem to be the only source of help for these children and teenagers. But even that is not enough.
One would assume that as we move further into the 21st century, these issues would not be so prevalent. Yet, the issues simply change slightly due to various conditions. The encouraging aspect is that this information is getting out and, particularly because of the internet, we can share ideas on what needs to be done, what has been successful, and where we should go from here.
About the author:
Samantha Gina Young, WIFP staff in the summer of 2011, is from Trinidad and Tobago.
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Modern Slavery
by Samantha Gina Young, WIFP
July 13, 2011
Wasn’t slavery supposedly abolished decades ago? One would believe that it was, but the reality is that slavery is still occurring. The difference is the recent slavery situations have been carried out more cleverly than ones before. It has been so secretly accomplished that no one in our modern world would suspect the tragic truth. Slavery has not been completely abolished. It is, in fact, now subjected to the weakest of those among us. It’s inflicted upon those who come from extreme poverty and war-driven countries.
Two young women spent the majority of their young lives subjected to the rigorous torture of slavery, but escaped. They have written, with the help of translators, their entire experience. They wanted to show the world that this sort of grave injustice is still occurring, and not many people are aware of the situations, or the permanent impact it has on the victims. These two young women come from very different backgrounds, from very different countries, but the situation they experienced couldn’t be more similar.
Mende Nazer was born in a small village in the Nuba Mountains of northern Sudan. She is a member of a large family consisting of her mother, father, brothers, sisters, and her cat, Uran. Her story, Slave: My True Story, does not begin with her days as a modern slave. She starts her heart stopping novel by describing her childhood. She discusses how hard but happy her life was as a young Nuba girl.
Her family’s sole means of survival was cattle herding and farming. She lived in a small hut with her mother, father and cat. Although she was given her own bed, Mende’s closeness to her father caused her to sleep in the same bed with him most nights while she was a child. She was extremely close to her father in other aspects as well, such as helping him with herding of the cattle across rivers, harvesting the crops, and going on trips with him. She was able to go to school where she was the in top two of her class. She experienced the culture of the Nuba people with her family and friends, and lived an extremely happy youth with her humorous and protective father.
Everything for Mende changed at the age of 12. Her village became under attack one night, and although her father fought to keep her safe, Mende was caught and abducted by the Arab raiders. On the ride with her abductor to the Arab campsite, Mende was sexually assaulted by her kidnapper. She was placed with the other young children and then slowly, they were each picked by another Arab man to go to Khartoum. During her time in Khartoum, she met an older Nuba lady who worked for her newest abductor. Mende was forced to bath, eat and put on proper clothing. She was then shown, along with her fellow abductees, to various wealthy Arab families, as if she was special prize to be won.
Mende was then bought by one of the new Arab families and taken to their home. She was instructed to do the everyday chores, and whatever else her mistress commanded her to do. The penalty for not abiding to her mistress’ wishes was severe beatings. One particular beating was so tragic that Mende needed serious medical attention. For years she was subjected to this type of treatment and her only sense of genuine kindness was from the gentleness of her mistress’ children.
As the years progressed for Mende, her hopes were ignited again upon meeting one of her friends from the Nuba tribes who had also been abducted. After the friend explained that her family was still alive and looking for her, Mende gained a newfound courage. Yet, she was stuck in her slavery-state. A few months later, Mende was sent to England to work for her Mistress’ sister as a slave. While in England, the sister sent Mende to stay with a few family friends while they went on vacation. Her new home allowed her the freedom of having personal time. Something that Mende was never accustomed to. During her free time, she met a man from Sudan who helped her get into contact with someone in England who was from Nuba. The Nuba savior helped her escape from her mistress’ sister in a unique and nerve wrecking way.
Mende’s struggles did not end their though. She needed to seek asylum from the British government. However, the UK officials believed that they could send her back to Sudan and all would be well. What they did not take into account was that the family who had kept her as a slave had connections to the Sudan army. They would easily find Mende and take her again.
After many protests in the UK and Continental Europe, the British government gave in and offered her asylum. Unfortunately, at the present time, it is still extremely dangerous for Mende to return to her home and see her family. But, she is able to converse with them over the phone. Hearing their voice gives Mende hope that one day she will be with them again. One day she will hear her father’s jokes again. One day she will see her brother’s strong fighting body. One day she will see her home.
Zana Muhsen was born and raised in Birmingham, England. In her personal biography, Sold: One woman’s heartbreaking, true account of modern slavery, she describes the events that occurred at the age of 15 which changed her life as well as her sister, Nadia, forever.
Her book begins, as Mende’s did, with a description of her life in Birmingham. She lived a life of freedom and independence. She attended school, and had many friends. She did what regular teenagers love to do; hang out with friends, party, shop, etc. Her life began to turn strict when her father realized that she was growing into a young woman. He tried to keep her away from boys and certain friends whom he deemed unfit for her to have friendships with.
At the age of 15, Zana’s father offered to send her on a vacation trip to Yemen with some of his friends. Her father described Yemen as a place with “beautiful beaches fringed with palm trees, sunshine all the time and camel rides across the desert” (pg. 16). He convinced both Zana and Nadia that Yemen was a paradise. Additionally, if Zana and Nadia went to Yemen, they would finally be able to meet their older brother Ahmed. Zana and Nadia agreed quickly, excited that they would be able to experience some time in a different country. Their mother, although skeptical about the whole idea of her daughters going to a different country with her husband’s friends, still allowed their departure to occur.
Zana was to leave first with her father’s friend, Abdul Khada, and Nadia was going to follow her with another friend of their father’s, Goward. Upon her arrival at Yemen, Zana instantly knew that her father had tricked her. Yemen was hot, deserted, and houses were so far apart from each other that it took at least 20 minutes to walk from one house to another. Zana was taken to Abdul Khada’s house and introduced to his wife and children.
Soon, Zana was told that she was not here on vacation. In fact, her father had sold her for 1,300 Euros to Abdul Khada. She was sold with the intention of becoming the wife to Abdul Khada’s son, Abdullah. Zana realized quickly that she had been abducted from her world of freedom and a world where she could dress as she wanted, wear her hair down and have fun, to a world where she had to cover her entire body, forced to do hard labor and where walking outside for a few minutes could result in instant death.
Zana was forced to have sexual intercourse with Abdullah, her husband who hated her as much as she hated him. She was thrown into doing chores such as fetching water 12 times a day from wells that were far away from her new home. When she needed to walk to the wells, she had to endure risking her life from the various poisonous snakes, scorpions, and other reptiles that seemed to lurke everywhere in Yemen.
Zana was strong, however. She refused to give in easily to Abdul Khada’s demands. She fought and argued with him at all times, but eventually she had to give in to his requests. She was forced to give up wearing her usual skirts and tops, and start wearing clothes that covered her entire body, including her precious hair.
Zana’s nightmare continued when she realized that her warning letters had not reached her mother, and Nadia was still on her way to Yemen. Zana knew that Nadia has also been sold into marriage as she had. Upon meeting Nadia, Zana informed her sister of the truth. Their only hope was for one of their letters to reach their mother, but it was later found out that their father hid all the letters from their mother.
After some time Abdul Khada forced Zana to do a voice recording for her mother, telling her mother how wonderful her new life is and how much she loved living in Yemen. Zana’s father hid the tape from his wife out of fear that his wife would hear the fearful tone of her daughter’s voice and know that what they were saying was not true.
However, years later, Zana’s brother, Mo, showed the tape to their mother who instantly knew the truth. Their mother went to the authorities in England, but was told that nothing could be done because her daughters had married Yemeni men and unless the men gave their permission, the girls could not leave Yemen.
Hope came slowly in the form of journalist Eileen McDonald, who wrote numerous articles about the girl’s treatment as slaves. The media coverage from the articles caused an outbreak in the UK. This outcry forced the Yemeni government to allow the two girls to go home on the condition that they must leave their children in Yemen. Nadia volunteered to remain in Yemen and take care of Zana’s son.
The book ends with Zana’s heartbreaking choice of leave her sister and her son for freedom, or staying in Yemen as a slave. Zana’s decision was to leave Yemen and gain her freedom and independence once again.
There are hundreds of young girls who are subjected to what both Mende and Zana endured. The popular media is more concerned about the wars in these poverty-driven countries such as Mende’s than the outcomes of the wars and the affects these wars have on young girls. Zana’s story is overwhelmingly powerful because of the unique background she had. It’s almost unheard of that a girl born and bred in England could be forced into the life Zana had. Both stories reveal secrets and truths in the world we live in which we often look past or do not notice. Slavery is still in existence.
Earlier Editors:
Samantha Gina Young, Editor
May, 2011
Delma Webb, Editor
Julia J. Jalloh, WIFP office, December, 2002
Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press
Washington, DC
www.wifp.org