Do We Need Feminism in 2011

Yes, says noted feminist scholar Beverly Guy-Sheftall. From young American girls writing rappers to protest lyrics about bitches and hos, to the women standing up in Egypt, Libya and Ivory Coast, feminism is indeed alive, well -- and needed -- in the 21st century.
As part of Women's History Month, The Root is exploring the role that feminism plays in African-American lives, from its role in hip-hop to black men embracing the term to radical women who waged war against oppression over the years. We asked noted scholar Beverly Guy-Sheftall, the former president of the National Women's Studies Association and a pioneer in black feminism, to weigh in on where she sees the movement heading today. Here are her thoughts.

As we celebrate Women's History Month this March, it is important to reflect upon the continuing struggle of women around the globe to live better lives -- in peace and with justice. Given the horrific circumstances facing our sisters and brothers over the past weeks in Tunisia, Bahrain, Egypt, Ivory Coast and now Libya, it is imperative that we envision a world in which every one of us is free from the ravages of poverty, greed, discrimination, war and authoritarian regimes.


It is my black feminist politics that propels me always to think deeply about the human condition: global realities, especially as they affect people of color, women and children; and the urgency of our need to eliminate racism, sexism, classism, ableism, homophobia, religious intolerance, xenophobia and all other oppressions that plague humans wherever they live.

Despite the importance of the politics of feminism and all of the ways in which it addresses oppression of all varieties, I still find myself having to defend my allegiances to the goals of women's movements around the world. I am still challenged about my self-identification as a black feminist. So I want to say what I mean when I use this term.

For me the label "black feminist" enables me to make visible the emancipatory vision and acts of resistance among women who articulate their understanding of the complex nature of black womanhood (in all its diversity); the interlocking nature of the oppressions we suffer; and the necessity of sustained struggle in our quest for self-determination, the liberation of black people and gender equality. It encourages me to express solidarity with other women and people of color engaged in local and global struggles for emancipation.

As I ponder the future of black feminism in the U.S., this is what I see: It is imperative that we find ways to convince black communities -- especially black youths -- that, in the words of bell hooks, "feminism is for everybody." What this means is that we must develop an abhorrence for violence against women and girls and declare a moratorium on rape.
I'm thinking at the moment about the gang rape of that 11-year-old girl in a small town in Texas. We must stop listening to and buying misogynistic music, no matter who produces it. We must say "No!" to the prison industrial complex and the needless warehousing of black women and men. We must end poverty in our lifetimes and make it possible for everyone to have a living wage and affordable health care. We must recommit ourselves to re-electing President Obama and remember why we voted for him in 2008. The alternatives are unimaginable for feminists everywhere!

For feminism to thrive, we must remember our fallen sisters whose struggles against oppression and for a better world are legendary. I'm thinking about Sojourner Truth, Anna Julia Cooper, Ida Wells-Barnett, Lorraine Hansberry, Pauli Murray, Coretta Scott King, Audre Lorde, June Jordan, Dorothy Height, and many of our mothers and grandmothers. I'm thinking as well about our feminist brothers: Frederick Douglass, William E.B. Du Bois, Bayard Rustin, Essex Hemphill, Marlon Riggs, and some of our fathers and grandfathers.

I am hopeful about the vitality of feminism when I see young black girls writing open letters to rap artists about the toxic nature of their images. I am joyous when I see women in the streets of Italy, Egypt, Ivory Coast and Libya risking their lives in pursuit of their own freedoms.

I smile when I ponder the example of my own mother, the feminist who raised me and my two sisters. She encouraged me to live freely, be independent, develop my intellect, treasure friendships with women and be outraged by injustice. The planet is (or will be) in good hands if all of our mothers raise all of their daughters and sons to be feminists!

Beverly Guy-Sheftall is the founder and director of the Women's Research & Resource Center at Spelman College, where she is also the Anna Julia Cooper Professor of Women's Studies. She has edited or co-edited Who Should Be First? Feminists Speak Out on the 2008 Presidential Election; Still Brave: The Evolution of Black Women's Studies; and Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought. She is also co-founder of SAGE: A Scholarly Journal on Black Women.








Source: Theroot

The Most Horrible Religion in the World

 

It was long thought that the most terrible "acting" religion in the world is voodoo, but as it turned out, there's something terrible, and - this is an ancient religion of Palo, which in recent years is literally reborn in Congo, and Venezuela. Palo religion or otherwise "Rules of the Congo" by and large the synthesis of several denominations who preach the worship of the dead and a black magic practitioners, compared with a voodoo just childish pranks. However, it takes its origin not in Palo Congo and Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Preached the same religion, this African slaves came from Bantu (Central Africa). Now this is where Palo preserved in its original form and is interesting, modern "Palero" (so called followers of Palo), have white skin.
At the heart of Palo religion is based on two ideas: the worship of ancestral spirits and the belief in the power of nature. It would seem perfectly harmless concept, but once you stop to think so, as soon as you see the altar Palo called "Nganga" graveyard filled with earth, sticks (the word "fell" in Spanish means a stick) and ... bones recently deceased people.

 Palo priests are divided into "good" and "evil." Mean priests "are afraid of not only themselves but Palero and adherents of other religions, including voodoo. If these all-powerful black magicians will take someone to hurt, you should not even doubt - Affliction will be fatal and there is no even the most powerful psychic can not do anything, well, if only that he follows the doomed.
"Good priests" guess and predict, looking in the mirror, attached to the horn of a bull or a goat. But very popular for divination uses gunpowder - it is divided into seven piles and lit in a certain sequence. If ignition of gunpowder is in the same order as the ignition is considered - the spirits gave a positive answer to your question. Another method of divination "good priests": take a completely white plate. This dish "good priest" touching different parts of the human body (as a plate passes information about the client), then hold the plate over a candle flame and then study the patterns of smoke (like guesswork).

 After conducting a special ritual with just separated from the flesh of human bones. The spectacle, I must say, not for the faint of heart, "newbies" and the casual viewer (though hardly anyone gets there by chance, at least, not for priests) come to the indescribable horror, say some because of it and did not recover .
The main supplier of "ritual bones Palo became the cemetery Cementerio del sur in Karakose. The cemetery all the time prowling scary types sometimes armed not only with shovels. Fresh graves are constantly torn, and the coffin opened. Sometimes, the bodies disappear completely, sometimes only the head or body, and it happens that the bones are separated from the flesh on the spot, but the flesh is naturally left, and the bones carried away. Especially popular among the "Palero" are the corpses of young people, particularly girls.
Things reached the point that the cemetery are afraid to come, not only relatives of the deceased, but also security, designed to observe the procedure in the graveyard, does not depart from the gate more than a hundred meters. All this is very unfortunate, because at Cementerio del sur buried not only ordinary citizens but also many famous people. Prior to frequent here vandals, tourists can admire the beautiful sculptures and beautiful crosses the family vault. Cemetery is included in all tourist guides, and pomp and finery Cementerio del sur compared with the famous Parisian cemetery Pere Lachaise.