#feministfriday episode 488 | not deterred
Good afternoon team,
How are you doing? Good, I hope. I for one am extremely excited for a Friday night in watching The Traitors; I'm not taking that nourishing activity as inspiration for Fem Fri though, because instead this is a Fem Fri of high energy activists.
Firstly Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, an absolute legend who, as you will read at the below link, founded and subsequently radicalised what was basically a Women's Institute. They fought for justice and won:
As the AWU was unable to gain permits to protest against the alake’s mistreatment, Ransome-Kuti is said to have led training sessions for their demonstrations, which they referred to as “picnics” or “festivals”. During this long and protracted campaign against unjust treatment and taxation, many women were put on trial as individuals. Ransome-Kuti herself was imprisoned in 1947 for her refusal to pay taxes. African Feminist Forum states that the movement was “not deterred and entered a radical phase, with increasing sit-ins, demonstrations and market closures, including using songs and the ridicule of male power.”
https://thisisafrica.me/africans-rising/african-women-revolutionaries-funmilayo-ransome-kuti/We can't hear the songs the AWU sang, but we can here the songs of Miriam Makeba, activist against apartheid:
The removal of the country's creative seat—Sophiatown—was a huge blow and triggered the exile of many prominent artists and musicians, including Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, and Abdullah Ibrahim, among other. Combined with the consistent and widespread imprisonment of resistance leaders, these shocks also inspired songs of mourning. One particularly beautiful song from the early years is Nongqongqo ("To Those We Love") [and] Miriam Makeba's 1966 recording propelled the song into popularity.
Songs of Struggle: Music and the Anti-Apartheid Movement of South Africa — Periphery Center
“They used to clap hands. They’d think we made nice music ... ‘Oh, these blacks can sing so nice!’ and they'd clap their hands and we'd sing: ‘We will shoot you, we will kill you … (laughter) ... be careful what you say. ... You’re going to die, slowly … (laughter)... be careful what you say, what y
Here's Nongqongo:
Love,
Alex.