African Women Writing Resistance: An Anthology of Contemporary Voices

Contents

Preface: Roots of the Collection xiii Acknowledgments xv Foreword: A Song in Seven Stanzas for Our Granddaughters xix Abena P. A. Busia (Ghana) African Women Writing Resistance: An Introduction 3 Jennifer Browdy de Hernandez with Pauline Dongala, Omotayo Jolaosho, and Anne Serafin Part One. Engaging with Tradition 13 The Day When God Changed His Mind 15 Eve Zvichanzi Nyemba (Zimbabwe) The Old Woman 22 J. Tsitsi Mutiti (Zimbabwe) vii Contents Interview with Kaya a Mbaya (Congo), a Babongo Woman 27 Pierre Piya-Bouanga (Congo-Brazzaville) Interview with Elisabeth Bouanga (Congo-Brazzaville): Remembrance of Things Past 33 Pauline Dongala (Congo-Brazzaville) Part Two. Speaking Out: Young Women on Sexuality 39 Woman Weep No More 43 Sibongile Mtungwa (South Africa) Letters to My Cousin 50 Catherine Makoni (Zimbabwe) Story of Faith 59 Mamle Kabu (Ghana) Lovesung for a Father, with Poet’s Note 75 Zindzi Bedu (Nigeria) It’s Not Rape If . . . 84 Ann Kithaka (Kenya) To Be or Not to Be a Lesbian: The Dilemma of Cameroon’s Women Soccer Players 85 Sybille Ngo Nyeck (Cameroon) My Name Is Kasha 90 Kasha N. Jacqueline (Uganda) Cosmo Africa and Other Poems 93 Cheshe Dow (Botswana) Part Three. Challenging the Institution of Marriage 97 Child 101 Ann Kithaka (Kenya) viii Contents Hailstones on Zamfara 104 Sefi Atta (Nigeria) The Good Woman 118 Patricia Chogugudza (Zimbabwe) Ngomwa 131 Ellen Mulenga Banda-Aaku (Zambia) They Came in the Morning 140 Iheoma Obibi (Nigeria) The Battle of the Words: Oratory as Women’s Tool of Resistance to the Challenges of Polygamy in Contemporary Wolof Society 149 Marame Gueye (Senegal) Part Four. Focusing on Survival: Women’s Health Issues 167 Tell Me Why: Two Poems 171 Ann Kithaka (Kenya) Surviving Me 174 Janine Lewis (South Africa) The Struggle to End the Practice of Female Genital Mutilation 192 Nawal El Saadawi (Egypt) Slow Poison 198 Makuchi (Juliana Nfah-Abbenyi) (Cameroon) Just Keep Talking: Two Poems 210 Cheshe Dow (Botswana) Tell Me a Lie 212 Ann Kithaka (Kenya) Prayers and Meditation Heal Despair 214 Pauline Dongala (Congo-Brazzaville) Contents ix Part Five. Taking a Stand: Women as Activists against War, Environmental Degradation, and Social Conflict 219 A Poem Written in the Ink of the Blood Shed in Rwanda, with Poet’s Note 223 Nathalie Etoké (Cameroon) Excerpt from Biography of Ash 228 Khadija Marouazi (Morocco) Women’s Responses to State Violence in the Niger Delta 235 Sokari Ekine (Nigeria) Excerpt from Child Soldier: Fighting for My Life 248 China Keitetsi (Uganda) Don’t Get Mad, Get Elected! A Conversation with Activist Wangari Maathai (Kenya) 259 Danielle Nierenberg and Mia MacDonald Part Six. Writing from a Different Place: Perspectives on Exile and Diaspora 265 Musings of an African Woman: Excerpts from a Memoir in Progress 267 Kuukua Dzigbordi Yomekpe (Ghana) A Moroccan Woman in the Glocal Village: Reflections on Islam, Identity, and Cultural Legacies 273 Touria Khannous (Morocco) Knowing Your Place 281 Diana Adesola Mafe (Nigeria) Letter to Clara 285 Susan Akono (Cameroon) x Contents Part Seven. Standing at the Edge of Time: African Women’s Visions of the Past, Present, and Future 293 “We Are Our Grandmothers’ Dreams”: African Women Envision the Future 295 Pauline Dongala (Congo-Brazzaville), Marame Gueye (Senegal), Omotayo Jolaosho (Nigeria), Nimu Njoya (Kenya), and Abena P. A. Busia (Ghana) Liberation 313 Abena P. A. Busia (Ghana) Suggestions for Further Reading 315 Contributors 327 Contents xi ...