Many of us have at some point come across
the very powerful maxim
“show me the state of your women and I will show the
state of your nation”
attributed to H.E Mosiah Garvey…but have we ever really
taken a moment to pause and think …on what it really means?
This bold assertion
implies that women are an integral part of a society so much so that their
condition can be used as a measurement of the condition of a people. If this be
true, then, we are compelled to rethink and review carefully the role we attach
to women. Furthermore this saying confers a large responsibility upon the women
of any given society. Lastly was this utterance born in a vacuum or are there
historical or cultural precedents that inspired the observation?
Many ideas, often radically confusing and
profusely misleading have been heralded about what constitutes a woman and what
her role is meant to be. These ideas have arisen as a result of the liberal
western mind’s deliberate domination and obliteration of all of the world’s
cultures imposing itself as the definer and designer of the preferred order.
Masquerading as liberating force the western mind defined the societal and
cultural ideas of Africa as antiquated and thus a hindrance to progress.
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| conflicting ideas |
However a thorough examination of the
status quo reveals a bleak picture; woman of African descent have gone from
being governess; powerful queens and rulers of kingdoms to single parenthood,
promiscuity, lesbianism, teen pregnancy and hysterectomies. This current state,
liberated womanhood, can be traced to movements paraded as struggle for rights
and freedoms denied women by the so called outdated societies.
On the 10th of August during
woman’s month the Breath of Life Institute hosted a seminar entitled “The Rise
of the New Eve: Reimaging African Edenic woman in the 21st Century”.
The seminar addressed the often delicate and contentious subject of the role of
women in society from an ancient, biblical African Edenic perspective.
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| Brother Khaya, Zakar'yah, Ndyebo, Slu and Themba |
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| Sister Natalia and Nomfundo |
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| Topic at hand encouraged discussion amongst each other |
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| Guests listening to speakers on podium. |
Those in attendance received valuable
wisdom from the restored African mind in the form of the Jerusalem sisterhood. The
presentations touched upon the historical timeline which depicts the
aforementioned devolution of African Edenic woman and the way back to the glory
of former times.
We learnt that there was never a gender war in African
societies but a respected functional divine order established by our Creator
that secured in perpetuity the family unit. The speakers of the day exemplified
the theme and objectives of the day reminding us of the power in being who God
created you to be.
In the first presentation, by Acote
Somchiyah, great examples of strong African female leaders who maintained their
character as women while playing leadership roles were shown unto us. Thus
proving false the notion of a black woman as a suppressed subservient.
The second presentation by our Keynote and
Guest speaker Acote Zehorah from Israel “The Resurrected Eve” was spirited and
inspiring forging in the hearts and minds of those present that Eve has now
been resurrected and strengthened by abandoning the distorted Euro-American
image and reclaiming her God-preferred African image and role.
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| Speakers for the event: Zehorah and Somchiyah |
The day was also filled with great spoken
word from Acote Khaniyah who was also
our MC for the day energized the crowd with graceful and animated presence …boom
boom bang like the djembe drum all in all we had so much fun!
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| Sisterhood attending the Public Lecture |
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| Listening to some spoken word outside the library |
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| Acote Khaniyah and Sisyah |
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| Acote Amiyah eshet Hodiel |
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| Being blessed with some spoken word after the event from Sister Nelisiwe |
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Southern Eden Jerusalem sisterhood 2008
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