MOTHERS OF THE MOVEMENT
DAUGHTERS OF DESTINY
SISTERS OF SUBSTANCE
Betty Shabazz
Coretta Scott King
Harriet Tubman
NANA BULUKU
Deep within the less studied African Cosmology lies the Vodun Theology of the Fon people of Benin, which started during ancient Dahomey days. In the genesis of all these is the Nana Buluku, an ancient goddess in the image of an old woman who is believed to be the creator of the world, especially the cosmos who took the back seat after birthing the sun and the moon, her twin children. She is believed to be the most revered deity and the genesis of any form of worship and religion in West Africa.
As a deity, Nana Buluku comes in other forms among various West African traditional societies aside from the Fon in Benin. She can also be found within the Ewe communities in Togo and parts of Ghana, as well as among the Akans. She is also strongly present and revered in Nigeria, among the Yoruba and Igbo traditional communities. Among the Fon and Ewe in Ghana, she is known as Nana Bukuulu and Nana Bukuu, and Nana Kuruku among the Yoruba of Nigeria. The Igbos of Nigeria refer to her as the Olisabuluwa. The Akans of Ghana call her Nana Buruku. Among these societies, she is still actively worshipped as the mother goddess.
Nana Buluku is said to have created the universe and given birth to the moon and the sun. The moon is known as the divine spirit Mawu, and the sun as the Divine spirit Lisa. In many folk songs and tales that give an account of her story, Nana Buluku retired after her hard work and left the world in the hands of her twin children Mawu and Lisa.
ELIZABETH OFOSUAH JOHNSON
Black Madonna
Ezili Dantor (Black Madonna) and the Haitian Revolution
Black Madonna of Częstochowa.
It is accounted that the slave revolt of 1791, started with a pact which followed a big feast in honor to Ezili Dantor. For this reason, she is considered the national lwa. Considered to be the lwa of vengeance and rage, made it to be popular among single mothers during the 1980s and 1990s in Haiti and Dominican Republic.
The syncretic modern representation of this lwa is commonly associated to the Black Madonna of Częstochowa, the patron saint of Poland. The original association of Ezili Dantor with this catholic icon is hypothesized to be from copies of the icon brought to Haiti by Polish soldiers sent by order of Napoleon Bonaparte, to subdue the then still ongoing Haitian Revolution. It is accounted that the Polish legion decreased significantly in numbers in contrast with the insurrected slaves, forcing the remaining captive soldiers to switch band to the side of the slaves. As a consequence of this action, during Jean-Jacques Dessalines's 1804 massacre, which took place short after the Haitian victory; the Poles were left alive and granted citizenship for the newly founded Republic of Haiti.
The Code Noir, (Black Code) was a decree originally passed by France's King Louis XIV in 1685. The Code Noir defined the conditions of slavery in the French colonial empire, restricted the activities of free Negroes, forbade the exercise of any religion other than Roman Catholicism, and ordered all Jews out of France's colonies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezili_Dantor
Mighty Mothers of Martyrs Memorial
-
Amadou Diallo—Kadijatou Diallo
Oscar Grant—Wanda Johnson -
Sean Bell—Valerie Bell
-
Eric Garner—Gwen Carr
-
Trayvon Martin—Sybrina Fulton
-
Dontre Hamilton—Maria Hamilton
-
Jordan Davis—Lucy McBath
-
Michael Brown—Lezley McSpadden , mother of
-
Hadiya Pendleton—Cleopatra Pendleton-Cowley
-
Sandra Bland—Geneva Reed-Veal
-
Tamir Rice—Samaria Rice
-
Breonna Taylor—Tamika Palmer
-
Dale Graham—Darlene Cain
-
James Rivera Jr.—Dionne Smith-Downs
-
Ramarley Graham—Constance Malcolm
-
Cary Ball Jr—Toni Taylor
-
Donte Jordan—Pamela Fields
-
Tinoris Williams—Vickie Williams
-
Usaamah Rahim—Rahimah Rahim
-
Kimoni Davis—Kimberly Davis
-
Henry “Bubby” Green V—Adrienne Hood
-
Earl Shaleek Pinckney—Kim Thomas
-
Matthew Felix—Guerlyne Felix
-
Ronald Greene—Mona Hardin
-
George Floyd—Larcenia Floyd
-
Tamara Rice
-
Walter Scott
-
Alton Sterling
-
Philando Castille
-
Stephon Clark
-
Atatiana Jefferson
-
Aura Rosser
-
Tyre Nichols
Ululation
Ululation is a howling or wailing sound. In many cultures, the sound of ululation is common at a funeral, while in others the mourners only sniffle quietly. Ululation is often mournful and it's always full of emotion. It's a common cultural reaction to a death, as well as a highly expressive way of grieving.
Ululation is practiced either alone or as part of certain styles of singing, on various occasions of communal ritual events (like weddings) used to express strong emotion.
In Ethiopia and Eritrea, ululation (called ililta) is part of a Christian religious ritual performed by worshipers as a feature of Sunday or other services in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church,[11] Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and some Ethiopian Evangelical Churches. And it is also randomly (spontaneously) uttered during secular celebrations such as parties or concerts. Elsewhere in Africa ululation is used as a cheer, mourn or attention seeking sound by women. In Hausa ululation is called guda, in Zulu lilizela in Tsonga nkulungwani and in Northern SiNdebele ukubulula. Ululation is incorporated into African musical styles such as Tshangani music, where it is a form of audience participation, along with clapping and call-and-response.
In Tanzania ululation is a celebratory cheer sound when good news has been shared or during weddings, welcoming of a newborn home, graduations and other festivals even in church when sermons are going on. In Swahili it is known as vigelele and in Luo dialect it is known as udhalili. Generally, women exuberantly yell lililili in a high-pitched voice. Female children are usually proud of being able to ululate like their mothers and aunts.
Ululation is rooted in the culture of North Africa and Eastern Africa as well as Southern Africa and is widely practiced in Tanzania, Kenya, Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Sudan, Ethiopia-Eritrea, Somalia, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. It is used by women to give praises at weddings and all other celebrations. It is a general sound of good cheer and celebration, when good news has been delivered in a place of gathering, even in church. It is also an integral part of most African weddings where women gather around the bride and groom, dancing and ululating exuberantly. During graduation ceremonies ululation shows pride and joy in scholastic achievement. The women ululating usually stand and make their way to the front to dance and ululate around the graduate.
Among the Lakota, women yell lililili! in a high-pitched voice to praise warriors for acts of valor.
Shirley Chisholm- Josephine Baker- Maxine Waters
Quotes
-
I'm looking to no man walking this earth for approval of what I'm doing.
-
Of my two handicaps, being female put many more obstacles in my path than being black.
-
My greatest political asset, which professional politicians fear, is my mouth, out of which come all kinds of things one shouldn't always discuss for reasons of political expediency.
-
Shirley Chisholm
-
I ran away from home. I ran away from St. Louis, and then I ran away from the United States of America, because of that terror of discrimination, that horrible beast which paralyzes one's very soul and body.
-
My people have a country of their own to go to if they choose... Africa... but, this America belongs to them just as much as it does to any of the white race... in some ways even more so, because they gave the sweat of their brow and their blood in slavery so that many parts of America could become prosperous and recognized in the world.
-
The hate directed against the colored people here in St. Louis has always given me a sad feeling... How can you expect the world to believe in you and respect your preaching of democracy when you yourself treat your colored brothers as you do?
-
Josephine Baker
-
We know that when a woman speaks truth to power, there will be attempts to put her down... I'm not going to go anywhere.
-
I'm a strong black woman, and I cannot be intimidated. I cannot be undermined.
-
-
I have a right to my anger, and I don't want anybody telling me I shouldn't be, that it's not nice to be, and that something's wrong with me because I get angry.
-
-
I am one who believes in the power of the people. I am inspired when I see people hit the streets, who challenge their elected officials, and are willing to stand up and fight. I encourage it.
-
Maxine Waters
Mary McLeod Bethune
Dorothy Height
Coretta Scott King
Angel Davis
Quotes
"Next to God we are indebted to women, first for life itself, and then for making it worth living."
“The true worth of a race must be measured by the character of its womanhood.
“I leave you love. I leave you hope. I leave you the challenge of developing confidence in one another. I leave you respect for the use of power. I leave you faith. I leave you racial dignity.”
-- Mary McLeod Bethune
“Greatness is not measured by what a man or woman accomplishes, but by the opposition he or she has overcome to reach his goals.”
“We have to improve life, not just for those who have the most skills and those who know how to manipulate the system. But also for and with those who often have so much to give but never get the opportunity.”
“If the time is not ripe, we have to ripen the time.”
“I want to be remembered as someone who used herself and anything she could touch to work for justice and freedom…. I want to be remembered as one who tried.”
—Dorothy Height
Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won, you earn it and win it in every generation.
Women, if the soul of the nation is to be saved, I believe that you must become its soul.
My story is a freedom song of struggle. It is about finding one's purpose, how to overcome fear and to stand up for causes bigger than one's self.
The woman power of this nation can be the power which makes us whole and heals the rotten community, now so shattered by war and poverty and racism. I have great faith in the power of women who will dedicate themselves whole-heartedly to the task of remaking our society.
—Coretta Scott King
In a sense the quest for the emancipation of black people in the U.S. has always been a quest for economic liberation which means to a certain extent that the rise of black middle class would be inevitable.
And I guess what I would say is that we can't think narrowly about movements for black liberation and we can't necessarily see this class division as simply a product or a certain strategy that black movements have developed for liberation.
To understand how any society functions you must understand the relationship between the men and the women.
You can never stop and as older people, we have to learn how to take leadership from the youth and I guess I would say that this is what I'm attempting to do right now.
—Angela Davis