[tp lang=”en” not_in=”fr”]”The King is dead! The Queen is King…does she have a blog/published book? I’d love to read her material” was one of the tweets I got in response to Famia’s incredible performance at AWDF and Alliance Francaise’s recent International Women’s Day celebrations.

So just who is Famia Nkansa?

Famia Nkansa is a writer, poet, blogger and social commentator who is still trying to scatter her words like pebbles and write her way back home. She is currently is in the final stages of completing a novel and a book of short stories. In the meantime Famia has been generous enough to share her piece below with us. Enjoy.

The Soundtrack to an Ovary

The American children of Asian immigrants choke on popcorn and live lives with subtitles, never sure what is asked of them; whether it is from their mothers, or ethnographers asking about their mothers.

–Takeo Rivera[/tp]

[tp lang=”fr” not_in=”en”]«Le roi est mort! La Reine est roi … At-elle un blog / livre publié? Je serais ravie de lire ses productions» était l’un des tweets que j’ai reçu en réponse à une performance incroyable de Famia à AWDF et l’Alliance Française lors des récentes célébrations de la Journée internationale de la femme.

Qui donc au juste est Famia Nkansa?

Famia Nkansa est écrivaine, poète, blogueuse et commentateur social qui est encore en train de disperser ses mots comme des cailloux et de leur écrire le chemin du retour. Elle est actuellement dans les dernières étapes de l’élaboration d’un roman et d’un livre d’histoires courtes. En attendant Famia a été assez généreuse pour partager cette pièce ci-dessous avec nous. Profitez.

La Bande-originale d’un ovaire

Les enfants américains d’immigrants asiatiques s’étouffent avec du pop-corn et vivent leurs vies avec des sous-titres, jamais sûr de ce qui leur est demandé; que ce soit de la part de leurs mères, ou d’ethnographes qui leur pose des questions sur leurs mères.

-Takeo Rivera[/tp]

The women-children of African people choke on popcorn

and live lives with subtitles.

Never sure what is asked of them—whether it is from their mothers,

or the ethnographers asking about their mothers.

They marry up; they marry men; they learn to be the treasurers of society’s decrees.

And early on, they perfect the art of cleaning dust from gramophone records.

Sound is the soundtrack to an ovary. Women walking, always,

hand in hand with voices. The voices say how to behave.

The voices say when you have failed. The voices say,

“to be female and Ghanaian is to be doubly African.”

To be doubly African is to be even more defined by journalists and history books.

To live with having footnotes the world shows no interest in learning to read.

In the dreams these women have—where they are here, not halved but whole—

they wear mascara on their labia instead of lipstick, study economics instead of

teaching, study sculpting instead of econ and proclaim things that make no sense.

They teach their children how to use a new broom the first five times.

Collect the twigs on paper. To clean their teeth

with charcoal to make them pearly white.

But out of their dreams, when they are here, they hear,

“Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

And come to recognize a sound

that always only means two things:

The food is burning, so lower the fire.

You’re being heard, so lower your voice.

Recently I was invited to participate in the ‘The Forum‘, a BBC World Service programme. When I got the initial query from the producer I thought, “why not?”, and then checked details of the programme online…

“What? The programme is described as an ‘ideas discussion show which tackles the big questions of our age with some of the world’s most eminent minds.’?

Ha! I thought, I’m not sure I have one of the world’s most eminent minds but I definitely have a mind and thoughts to share so yes, lets do this. I had the opportunity to meet some lovely inspiring women on the programme. Maggie Aderin-Pocock is a space scientist who would like to retire to Mars one day in the future. I don’t even like to fly in planes and Maggie wants to go to space? More power to her. Ayanna Witter-Johnson is a prodigy in my opinion, she started playing the piano at the age of 4, is a classically trained musician and this year has set herself the goal of writing 100 songs. Yes, 100 songs o…let that inspire you to write one song, one blog post or one poem. Since I met her I’ve had her album ‘Truthfully’ on replay. Check out her rendition of ‘Ain’t I a Woman’ inspired by Sojourner Truth below.

Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze is widely recognised as the first woman reggae dub poet in the U.K. Her story is another inspiring one. She was initially diagnosed with schizophrenia and today has published several books of poetry, and received an MBE for her contributions to the field of poetry.

And then there was lil ol me 🙂 I was given the opportunity to share a 60 second idea which could change the world…my idea was inspired by my Grand Aunt whom we call M’aam ‘Fri (short for Maame Ofiri. Ofiri means an albino but somehow in the context we use it has never been seen as an insult more as a descriptor). M’aam ‘Fri is about 95 years old according to her reckoning. She is the matriarch of my maternal family. She inspires me because she has lived a long full life, been a ‘market queen’, survived the tyranny of coup makers, run her own business, raised her children and other people’s children, chose a second husband of her choice… M’aam ‘Fri never had the benefit of an education. Her brother Koffi Addo, my maternal grandfather did, and when he died just over a year ago left 2 published books, several manuscripts, letters and documents of his life. His writings are an immense historical treasure, he writes about his experiences of the colonial administration, his experiences working with Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first President; and discusses openly his life and personal relationships. M’aam ‘Fri hasn’t had the opportunity to do the same, yet in my conversations with her she has told me about her Dad (my great grandfather) who was a wealthy cocoa farmer and ‘traded’ with the whites, marrying her first husband because he was her brother’s choice of a husband for her and later choosing another husband of her choice, she’s shared with me about being a Market Queen ( a leader of market traders), travelling via a truck to the Northern regions of Ghana to purchase items to sell in the South, the atrocities of coup makers who beat market women up because they would not become members of their parties, and accused these same women of being ‘prostitutes’ when they saw their choice of underwear when they raised their dresses to lash them with a cane. These are powerful stories, and stories that I know other women will share. These stories will die if we do not capture the herstories of our mothers, grandmothers, aunties, fetish priestesses, healers who hold powerful accounts within them. Will you join me in capturing the stories of women?

You can listen to my 60 second idea below:

The forum60sec 16th March

By: Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah

[tp lang=”en” not_in=”fr”]Mama C was greatly influenced in her early years by the jazz, blues and gospel that Kansas City is famous for and integrates elements of that experience in both her music and the rhythm of her poetry along with the African beats and hip hop vibe of her spirit.
She explores the reality of her life as a Diaspora born African who has lived most of her years in Tanzania in many of her poems, one of the most famous being “I Almost Lost Myself”.
“As a member of the Black Panther Party I was taught the importance of building international solidarity among all people while honoring my Ancestral roots. That philosophy has never changed and many of my poems and songs reflect this burning desire and mission to spread peace, love and unity through my art”, Mama C reflects. “The spontaneous release of love that comes from poetry and music and art, in general… that thing that binds us all together and builds solidarity and understanding among all people no matter where they are from or what language they speak, is like magic!”

Her song writing and performing talents have been showcased on stage, television and radio in many cities in Africa and in America during the annual UAACC Heal the Community Tour. She launched her book of poetry, Warrior Woman of Peace in 2008 and plans to launch her second book of poetry titled Life Slices…a Taste of My Heaven, in 2013. Mama C debuted several of her newest poems during the Poetry Africa Tour 2010 to Cape Town, South Africa; Harare, Zimbabwe and Blantyre, Malawi and the 14^th Annual Poetry Africa Festival in Durban, all sponsored by the Creative Arts Center at University of kwaZulu Natal.

Mama C is Co Director along with George Kyomoshulu, of the newly established Arusha Poetry Club in Arusha, Tanzania which serves as a platform for East African poets and artists around the planet. She recently completed her 4^th music/spoken word album produced at Peace Power Productions studio at UAACC and she has directed and appeared in several music videos featuring East African artists.
http://soundcloud.com/mamac2011
YouTube channel: mamacharlotteuaacc

Mama C and Pete O’Neal are the subjects of two award winning documentaries about their lives and activism including American Exile narrated by Hollywood actress Alfre Woodard and the PBS documentary, A Panther in Africa by Aaron Matthews and she is one of the featured artists along with M1 of deadprez in a newly released documentary on art and activism by Michael Wanguhu titled Ni Wakati. http://www.pbs.org/itvs/globalvoices/pantherinafrica.html

http://www.niwakatithefilm.com/[/tp]

[tp lang=”fr” not_in=”en”]Mama C a été grandement influencée dans ses premières années par le jazz, le blues et le gospel pour lesquelq Kansas City est célèbre et intègre des éléments de cette expérience à la fois dans sa musique et le rythme de sa poésie avec les rythmes africains et hip hop dans l’ambiance de son esprit.
Elle explore la réalité de sa vie comme une membre de la diaspora africaine qui a vécu la plupart de ses années en Tanzanie dans plusieurs de ses poèmes, l’un des plus célèbre étant “Je me suis presque perdue».
“Etre membre du Black Panther Party m’a enseigné l’importance de renforcer la solidarité internationale entre toutes les personnes, tout en respectant mes racines ancestrales. Cette philosophie n’a jamais changé et beaucoup de mes poèmes et des chansons reflétent ce désir ardent et la mission de répandre la paix, l’amour et l’unité à travers mon art “, Reflète Mama C. “La libération spontanée de l’amour qui vient de la poésie et de la musique et de l’art, en général … cette chose qui nous lie tous ensemble et construit la solidarité et la compréhension entre toutes les personnes, peu importe d’où ils viennent ou quelle langue ils parlent, est comme par magie!”

Son don d’écriture de chansons et ses talents scéniques ont été présentés sur scène, à la télévision et à la radio dans de nombreuses villes en Afrique et en Amérique pendant la tournée annuelle ‘UAACC Heal the Community ‘. Elle a lancé son livre de poésie, Warrior Woman of Peace en 2008 et prévoit de lancer son deuxième recueil de poésie Life Slices…a Taste of My Heaven, en 2013. Mama C a débuté plusieurs de ses poèmes les plus récents lors de l’Africa Poetry Tour en 2010 au Cap, Afrique du Sud; Harare, Zimbabwe et Blantyre, Malawi et lors du 14ème Festival Poésie annuel d’Afrique à Durban, tous parrainés par le Centre des arts créatifs de l’Université du KwaZulu Natal.

Mama C est codirectrice avec George Kyomoshulu, du nouvellement créé Arusha Poetry Club à Arusha, en Tanzanie, qui sert de plate-forme pour les poètes et les artistes africains de l’Est autour de la planète. Elle a récemment terminé son 4e album de musique / slam produit par Peace Power Productions studio a UAACC et elle a dirigé et joué dans plusieurs vidéos de musique mettant en vedette des artistes d’Afrique orientale.
http://soundcloud.com/mamac2011
YouTube channel: mamacharlotteuaacc

Mama C et Pete O’Neal sont les sujets de deux documentaires primés sur leur vie et leur activisme dont leur American Exile narré par l’actrice hollywoodienne Alfre Woodard et le documentaire de PBS, une panthère en Afrique par Aaron Matthews et elle est l’un des artistes présentés avec M1 avec deadprez dans un documentaire récemment publié sur l’art et l’activisme par Michael Wanguhu intitulé Ni Wakati

http://www.pbs.org/itvs/globalvoices/pantherinafrica.htmlhttp:/

/www.niwakatithefilm.com/[/tp]

[tp lang=”en” not_in=”fr”]Boakyewaa Glover joins “Women of the World: Talking about a Revolution”, AWDF and Alliance Francaise Accra’s book slam this Friday in commeoration of ‘International Women’s Day’. Boakyewaa is the author of ‘Circles’, a gripping saga featuring a young woman who realises that her life increasingly goes around in …yup, you guessed it, circles.

On Sunday 3rd March, Boakyewaa performed a reading of Circles on the ‘Writers Project of Ghana’ show on Citi 97.3Fm in Ghana. Here she is reading a short clip.

Boakyewaa reading Circles.amr (AAC audio)

Boakyewaa has had a colorful and diverse career to date, including working as an Organizational Psychologist/Consultant for a number of consulting firms in New York, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. Prior to that, she was a News Anchor for TV3 Network and a TV Presenter for Smash TV on Metro TV. Through it all, Boakyewaa’s passion and love for writing has grown steadily, and she’s gone from writing on computer rolls and scrap paper at age 6, to publishing Circles in 2009, with two additional books lined up for publication summer 2013.

Boakyewaa also maintains a blog of short stories, articles, poems and other content such as movie reviews. Beyond writing, Boakyewaa has three other very strong, and influencing passions. First is her dedication and commitment to her family and God; second is her avid interest in psychological and philosophical theories (she studied psychology both at NYU (graduate degree) and the University of Ghana (undergraduate degree); and third is her addiction to entertainment – particularly movies, TV, music and books. In this regard, Boakyewaa refers to herself as a connoiseur of life in general, and regards life as it is as her ultimate muse.

Boakyewaa Glover is currently a Change Management Manager working for Newmont Ghana Gold Limited.[/tp]

[tp lang=”fr” not_in=”en”]Boakyewaa Glover a rejoint «Femmes du monde: Parler d’une révolution”, lors du ‘ book slam’d’AWDF et de l’Alliance Française d’Accra ce vendredi à commémoration de la Journée internationale de la femme . Boakyewaa est l’auteure de «circles», une saga de prenante avec une jeune femme qui se rend compte que sa vie va de plus en plus autour de … oui, vous l’aurez deviné, cercles.

Le dimanche 3 Mars, Boakyewaa effectué une lecture de circles lors de la ‘Writers Project of Ghana’ sur Citi 97.3Fm au Ghana. Ici, elle est en train de lire un court extrait.

Boakyewaa lisant Circles.amr (AAC audio)

Boakyewaa a eu une carrière colorée et diversifiée jusqu’à ce jour, y compris un travail en tant que psychologue / Consultante organisationnelle pour un certain nombre de sociétés de conseil à New York, Atlanta et Washington, DC. Avant cela, elle était l’une des Nouvelles ‘Anchor’ pour le réseau TV3 et Présentatrice de télévision pour Smash TV sur Metro TV. À travers tout cela, la passion et l’amour de Boakyewaa pour l’écriture n’a cessé de croître, et elle est passée de l’écriture sur les listes informatiques et papier brouillon à 6 ans, à l’édition de circles en 2009, avec deux livres supplémentaires prévus pour une publication à l’été 2013.

Boakyewaa maintient également un blog d’histoires courtes, des articles, des poèmes et autres contenus tels que des critiques de films. Au-delà de l’écriture, Boakyewaa a trois autres passions très fortes, et d’influence. La première est son dévouement et son engagement envers sa famille et Dieu; la seconde est son vif intérêt pour les théories psychologiques et philosophiques (elle a étudié la psychologie à la fois à la NYU (diplôme d’études supérieures) et à l’Université du Ghana (diplôme de premier cycle); et la troisième est sa dépendance au divertissement – en particulier les films, la télévision, la musique et des livres dans ce domaine. A cet égard, Boakyewaa fait référence à elle-même comme une connaisseuse de la vie en général, et considère la vie comme elle est, comme sa muse ultime.

Boakyewaa Glover est actuellement gestionnaire de la gestion pour le changement en travaillant pour Newmont Ghana Gold Limited.[/tp]

[tp lang=”en” not_in=”fr”]We’re really pleased to have Poetra Asantewa on the bill for our International Women’s Day book slam, ‘Women of the World: Talking about a Revolution‘. She has been described as “a sensational balance of poetry, intellect, wit, and high-mindedness”. Poetra is the kind of poet who captives an audience. Here’s a taster of one of Poetra’s poems below. To read more of Poetra’s poetry check out her blog.[/tp]

[tp lang=”fr” not_in=”en”]Nous sommes vraiment heureux d’avoir Poetra Asantewa sur le projet International Women’s Day book slam, «Femmes du monde: parlant d’une révolution». Elle a été décrite comme “un équilibre sensationnel de la poésie, de l’intellect, de l’esprit, et de la grandeur d’âme”. Poetra est le genre de poète qui captivent une audience. Voici un avant-goût de l’un des poèmes de Poetra ci-dessous. Pour lire la suite de la poésie de Poetra veuillez consulter son blog.[/tp]

Liberate She

Kuukua is one of the many talented writers who will be participating in AWDF and Alliance Francaise (Accra)’s book slam for International Women’s Day, 8th March. She will also be sharing her thoughts on writing, and providing insights into some of her experiences that has inspired her particular writing style.

She characterizes herself as a memoirist, essayist, and writer of social commentary. Kuukua is the author of several essays and prose poems. Some of her essays have been anthologized in: African Women Writing Resistance (UW Press), Becoming Bi: Bisexual Voices from Around the World (BRC), and Inside Your Ear (Oakland Public Library Press). Her essay, “The Audacity to Remain Single: Single Black Women in the Black Church,” won the Marcella Althaus-Reid Award for best “Queer Essay,” and is anthologized in Queer Religion II (Praeger Publishers). Her piece of creative non-fiction, “Where is Your Husband: Single African Women in the Diaspora and the Exploration/Expression of Sexuality” is due to be published shortly. She has participated in the Voices of Our Nation residency at UC Berkeley.

She has her hands in three projects currently: The Coal Pot, a Culinary Memoir celebrating her Ghanaian roots, Musings of an African Woman, her blog which features a collection of personal essays about immigration and assimilation, and The Innocents, an adolescent mystery novel. She hopes to compile an anthology of stories by adult children of immigrant parents sometime late 2013. Her scholarly and writing interests lie at the intersection of race and skin color, African culture, Black women’s bodies, expression of voice, and non fictional writing.

She avidly feeds a voracious travel bug that occupies the hinterlands of her soul, so is often found wandering various parts of the world. She has been feeding her love-hate affair with Ghana for the past 4 months.

Even though she’s struggling with the adjustment to Ghana—irregular availability of water and electricity, men’s sexist attitudes, and the Traffic (nothing can adequately capture it), her vision for the country requires that she deal with her own participation in the brain drain. For now, she is enjoying being Addidas, which in Twi means eating and sleeping and doing it all over again. In her case, the occasional memoir or blog post thrown in for color.

Monica Arac de Nyeko is a Ugandan writer. She was shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African writing in 2004 for ‘Strange Fruit, winning the prize in 2007 for ‘Jambula Tree’ which was described by the chair of judges, Jamal Mahjoub, as “a witty and touching portrait of a community which is affected forever by a love which blossoms between two adolescents”.

In celebration of International Women’s Month, Monica will be participating in 2 events with the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) and our partners Alliance Francaise (Accra). On Thursday 7th March Monica will join a panel of writers including Mamle Kabu, Mama C and Kuukua Yomekpe to hold a vibrant discussion on writing which will include sharing inspiration behind characters, experiences of writing, and may even include a tips for all the aspiring writers out there. On Friday the 8th of March, Monica will join writers, poets and a DJ in Ghana’s first ever book slam . This event costs GHC10 with proceeds supporting the work of AWDF.

I’m really pleased that AWDF’s blog has been nominated in the category of ‘best organisational blog’. Many thanks to all of the AWDF staff that have contributed to this blog. I plan to revamp this blog soon with even more exciting content.

In the meantime, please vote for AWDF ‘s blog to win ‘best organisational blog’. Your vote counts towards 40% of the final vote. Also take the opportunity to check out the vast array of blogs listed. Who knows you might find a new blog that you could have you hooked.

By: Nana Darkoa

The Power of ‘we’ is about teamwork. The power of ‘we’ is about unity of purpose. Unity, undoubtedly, translates into concrete strength, huge achievements, steady and sustained progress amongst other benefits.

According to a recent publication in the American Political Science Review,” a new study on violence against women conducted over four decades and in 70 countries reveals the mobilization of feminist movements is more important for change than the wealth of nations, left-wing political parties, or the number of women politicians”. New York, NY (PRWEB) September 28, 2012

This confirms the benefits of the power of ‘we’ exhibited by the feminist movement.

Its important that at this and every stage in our movement building work we evaluate our activities to date and re-strategies around them: This is my personal analysis of our current strength, weakness, opportunities and the threats we face.

Our strength is our unity of purpose in creating a better world for all. A weakness is a movement that is still fragmented and under resourced. Yet there are huge opportunities out there. There remains a critical mass of women who could join the movement to strengthen the work that we do. In other words there is more room for fresh ‘recruits’ across board. Our threats remain uninformed people who misconstrue the campaign for equality.

If we do the above, the movement will be a stronger force to reckon with. Consequently, the spirit and the power of ‘we’ will yield more dividends.

By: Grace Amenyogbeli

Administrative Manager, AWDF

Yesterday the Ghana branch of ‘Women in Law and Development in Africa’ held ‘The 2^nd Women’s Dialogue with Political Parties’. I listened to the programme at 10.30am via radio en route to interview ‘Virtuous Women and Children International’, an AWDF grantee. I was disappointed I wasn’t there in person. A typo in the event advertised via a popular Ghanaian daily had stated the time for the dialogue as 2.00pm. I felt grateful that the organisers WILDAF had partnered with Joy Fm who aired the programme live on radio.

The women’s dialogue was aimed at the presidential candidates (or their vices) of the political parties namely the Convention Peoples Party (CPP), National Democratic Congress (NDC), New Patriotic Party (NPP), People’s National Convention (PNC) and Progressive Peoples Party (PPP). The NDC and the NPP, the two dominant parties in Ghana, were not represented by their flag bearers or vices. I found this extremely disappointing and indicative of a lack of commitment to dialoguing with women. WILDAF had gone to every effort to accommodate the schedules of all the political parties and for the flag bearers (or their vices) of the two main parties not to show up speaks volumes and what I hear is “We are not truly committed to a rigorous political debate with women. We can talk the language of gender but beyond rhetoric there is no action”.

The aim of the dialogue was to provide “… a platform for political parties contesting the 2012 elections to present their vision and intended policies to women who form 51.4% of the population”. Dr Abu Sakara of the CPP, Mr Hassan Ayariga of the PNC and Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom of the PPP were quizzed in an informal panel discussion by Matilda Asante with a broad range of questions focusing on the lack of a woman presidential candidate, and each party’s policies to increase women’s representation in the party political system. As a listener none of the politicians impressed me. There were a lot of the typical sentiments about women’s important roles as mothers and the support that each politician said they got from their wives. “Typical” I thought. “Ghanaian politicans only value women as wives and mothers”. The only politician on the platform who seemed to have thought seriously about gender was Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom. He is also the only presidential candidate whose vice is a woman, Ms. Eva Naa Merley Lokko. Nduom also spoke about the affirmative action policy within his party to ensure that at least 20% of the executives are women. I couldn’t help but think, “It’s a shame that Nduom stands little to no chance of being the next President of Ghana”.

In spite of the absence of the NPP and NDC I felt that ‘The 2^nd Women’s Dialogue with Political Parties’ had been extremely useful. The dialogue places issues of concern to women as central. The dialogue is an opportunity for women to hold our politicians responsible for the commitments they make to women when they seek our votes. The dialogue also gives us an opportunity to critically assess our politicians – can their rhetoric stand up to public scrutiny, can they really unpack what they mean when they claim to take gender issues seriously? Do they turn up when representatives of women’s rights organizations invite them to dialogue with women?

In a conversation with Bernice Sam, the National Programme Coordinator for WILDAF I asked her to share her thoughts on the dialogue and she stated:

“The Women’s Dialogue with Political Parties went very well. It provided an opportunity for the flagbearers of the political parties to share with women their visions for advancing women’s rights in Ghana. It equally provided an opportunity for women to assess the commitments of these parties to women’s concerns. Further, women will be able to hold the party that wins the elections to account for the statements made at the Dialogue.”

Holding parties responsible for their campaign promises is important. I commend WILDAF for holding this Dialogue, and all the media houses that supported with live transmissions. I hope that the 3^rd Women’s Dialogue with Political Parties will be attended by ALL political parties.

By Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah

Communications Officer, AWDF