Header Image - The Worlds of Ntozake Shange
The Worlds of Ntozake ShangeAND DIGITAL STORYTELLING

Aissata Ba

What’s in a name?

by Aissata Ba 1 Comment

Before even understanding the term, I already described myself as a feminist and I easily got upset when people misuse the term. A student from a class I took during my freshmen year stated ” I am not a feminist because feminism only creates a farther gender imbalance. I identify more as an equalist.” Not to invalidate her being an equalist, but I think she had a deep misunderstanding of what feminism is and aims for. For me, feminism was never about women overpowering men or stating “off with their heads,” but it was more about fixing the gap and creating an equal understanding that all humans deserve. Coming from a Senegalese family where patriarchy is still dominant, I had to learn about feminism independently. I have a very strong yet traditional mother who still holds the believes ingrained in gender roles. I have come to consider myself as a learning feminist because I am learning that different women want different things. There are women who want to remain in a patriarchal home and there are those who seek modern reinventions of gender differences and gender roles. Learning that as a form of feminism is where I am in my journey as a so called feminist.

I think there is a great misunderstanding of feminism and a great misuse of the term. For some reason, there are women activists who refused to identify with feminism though their ideas are similar in thought. The radical women who organized around feminist issues are still, to me at least, feminists as they sought to liberate women in whatever form that takes. The works of the women we have discussed mainly pays attention to feminism for women of color.  There is an obvious difference between white feminism and WOC feminism. I like to explain this difference by saying “white feminism concern equal pay but WOC feminism concern more with getting the job first before the equal pay.”

Shange in many words

by Aissata Ba 1 Comment

In this week’s post, I wanted to talk about the theme of blackness as shown in Ntozake Shange’s Sassafras, Cypress and Indigo, however due to the current events, I want to write about something else instead. Today, Shange was found to have peacefully passed away in her sleep. I had the greatest honor this year to meet one of the most inspirational black writers/poets out there. Ntozake Shange was a woman with a very powerful presence and ability to motivate people. An ability to guide, inform and teach others. She had love for humanity and her work reflected that. As I had stated before, I never heard about Shange until coming to Barnard, never read a single work of hers until taking this class. However, reading a few of her works has given me a platform, motivation and desire to find my voice in the thing I do on the daily.

As Shange stated, “Where there is a woman there is magic. If there is a moon falling from her mouth, she is a woman who knows her magic, who can share or not share her powers. A woman with a moon falling from her mouth, roses between her legs and tiaras of Spanish moss, this woman is a consort of the spirits.”  A woman is unbreakable when she finds her power in her voice. Shange found her voice, her power and motivated others to find their’s. She’s a reminder of those people who see the world in a different way, who are perhaps misunderstood by others because of it but still manage to manifest the best out of people.

Ntozake Shange never stopped to remind us to love and appreciate ourselves and the people around us. She never stopped or allowed anyone to stop her from being heard. Her work has and will continue to show me the importance and power voice has, especially as a woman of color. Though she is no longer with us, her influence and work will forever remain. Rest in Power!!!!

The “Angry Black Women”

by Aissata Ba 2 Comments

I find it interesting and not at all surprising that no matter where we, as women of color, go, we have to re-identify and prove ourselves. We have to convince others why we belong and deserve to be where we are. We contribute so much to history but nothing is ever credited to us. I think this is one of the many things that make black feminism or any feminism different from that of white feminism. Up to my knowledge and I recognize that that knowledge is limited, white women do not have to go through the phase of needing to accepted or the desire and requirement to create a discourse space. By discourse space, I am referring to a space that welcomes all kinds of discourse. This is a necessary component and, most of the times, an obstacle for black women because their stories and contributions are always ignored or not given the credit at which it deserves. They are not allowed to be angry at the system that keeps them oppressed, they are not allowed to be intelligent as that would make them intimidating, they are not allowed to talk about race because “why does everything have to be about race” etc. This Becky Thompson mentions when talking about the ignored stores and contributions of women like Angela Davis, Assata Shakur, and Marilyn Buck. The stories we don’t learn about because “black women do not contribute much in intellectual communities.”

I found Thompson’s conversation about the small group of white women who were “determined to understand how white privilege had historically blocked cross-race alliances among women, and what they, as white women, needed to do to work closely with women of color.” An important aspect of fighting against any type of oppression is first realizing that it exists. Then comes recognizing who benefits and who surfers from this oppression. When the group that benefits from this oppression, even if it’s just a small population of them, realizes their privilege then and only then can there be hopes of eliminating that oppression.

 

 

Modern Victimization in Violence

by Aissata Ba 0 Comments

lady in blue: a friend is hard to press charges against

lady in red: if you know him

you must have wanted it

lady in purple: a misunderstanding

lady in red: you know

these things happen

lady in blue: are you sure

you didnt suggest

lady in purple: had you been drinking

lady in red: a rapist is always to be a stranger

to be legitimate

someone you never saw

a man wit obvious problems

These few lines from Shange’s Latent Rapists’ stand alone without the need of further explanation. The talk about rapes and sexual misconducts against women are not new or unfamiliar, especially with the kind of society and current events surrounding us recently. What I find very interesting is the fact that the blame has not changed from the year For Colored Girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf was written and today. Women are still being blamed for being raped, being told that somehow it’s their fault for wearing suggestive clothings or walking alone, etc. Rape culture has continuously ignored who was doing the raping.

In this video, Trevor Noah talks about “president” Donald Trump’s usage of victimhood. Trump held a rally a couple of days ago in which he states that this is the worst time to be a men in America as any man would be easily accused of sexual violence or misconduct. When he was asked about the women in America, he said that women were doing great. Having a president who is as ignorant and misguided as Trump adds fuel to the battle women have been fighting their entire lives. He is a disrespectful and disgraceful man to human kind itself. We victimize those who deserve innocence while giving innocence to those who should be victimized. I can only wonder how Shange would revise or add on to Latent Rapists’ to reflect the increased intensity in the rape culture and sexual misconduct in our society.

Nappy Edges: Beauty standards around the world

by Aissata Ba 1 Comment

the daughters believed they were ugly dumb & dark

like hades/ like mud/ like beetles/ & filth…

a daughter convinced her beauty an aberration

her love a fungus/ her womb a fantasy/

left the asylum of her home on a hunch

she wd find someone who cd survive tenderness

she wd feed someone who waz in need of her fruits

she wd gather herself an eldorado of her own making

a space/ empty of envy/ of hate

she a daughter refused to answer her mother’s calls

she refused to believe in the enmity of her sister

The second line was the most important to me. The line alone refers to two determinants of the definition of beauty. Shange emphasizes that the daughter is the individual who convinced herself that her beauty is unwelcome, unusual and far from normal. However, at the same time, we have to think about what or who defines the normal, the usual and the welcomed and who these definition are meant for. In that one single line, we witness the importance of self and social definitions of what and who is beautiful. When consistently looking and seeing beauty be manifested by people who do not look like you, then you come to accept or view yourself as not beautiful.

What I also find interesting is Shange’s continuous refusal to follow the rules of the English grammar. Shange’s style remains just as integral a part of her poetry as the content. In keeping with her focus on the importance of cultivating a personal writerly voice, she uses grammar, spelling, language, and tone to emphasize her themes. As she does in most of her poetry, Shange uses slashes to separate clauses, rather than line breaks. She also chooses not to use standard punctuation like apostrophes, capitalizations, and removes the letters from certain words, for example writing “wd” instead of “would” or “cuz” instead of “because”. This is all part of her mission to express herself the way that she chooses to, not the way that she is expected to by both the confines of standard English and by those who associate poetry with a specific way of expressing oneself.

Though I find this video very fascinating, I am hesitant on the use of the word “unusual.”  Unusual to whom? Why is it unusual? I realize that this video was meant for a certain audiences who are unfamiliar with these cultures, but also Americans have the tendency to “other” anything that is not theirs. Being that this is a topic about beauty around the world, I would have advised against the usage of the word “unusual.”

Updated: A Fulani Lullaby

by Aissata Ba 1 Comment

 

Yum-maa yehii jaabe

Lullaby

(Fula)

Oo baynaa! Oo bay!

Oo baynaa! Oo bay!

Dey yu, dey yu, dey yu

Dey yu, dey yu, dey yu

Yum-maa yehii jaabe,

O addii jaabel gootel,

Muccii e hakkunde laawol

Ferlii e hakkunde maayo

Ferlii e hakkunde maayo

Oo baynaa! Oo bay!

Oo baynaa! Oo bay!

Dey yu, dey yu, dey yu

Dey yu, dey yu, dey yu

Yum-maa yehii jaabe

Yum-maa yehii jaabe

O addii jaabel gootel,

O addii jaabel gootel,

Image result for jujube mauritania

Your Mom Went to Look for Jujube Fruit

(English)

Oo baynaa! Oo bay!

Oo baynaa! Oo bay!

O-oh, bayna! Oh, bay!

O-oh, bayna! Oh, bay!

Hush, hush, hush!

Hush, hush, hush!

Your mom went to look for jujube fruit

She found only one,

She ate it on the way back

She threw the pit in the river

She threw the pit in the river

O-oh, bayna! Oh, bay!

O-oh, bayna! Oh, bay!

Hush, hush, hush!

Hush, hush, hush!

Your mom went to look for jujube fruit

Your mom went to look for jujube fruit

She found only one

She found only one

O-oh, bayna! Oh, bay!

O-oh, bayna! Oh, bay!

I grew up in a Senegalese Fulani/ Pulaar household where pulaar was the dominant language spoken at home. The above lullaby is one of the many lullaby my mother sang to me while I was growing up. It is lullaby I sing to my cousin when she refuses to stop crying. It’s a lullaby that transcends generations. Shange mentioned “mama’s little baby likes shortnin shortnin/ mama’s little baby likes shortnin bread” in her book For Colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow wasn’t enuf which reminded me of that Fulani lullaby.

Both poems are very gendered especially the Fulani one, which doesn’t gender the child but only the absent mother is mentioned. In the Fulani lullaby, the relationship between the child and his or her mother is well established. The crying baby is only missing or crying for his/her mother, who has the unshakable image as the child’s only care taker. The “shortin bread” poem also has the same effect. Rather intentional or not, both poems, in many ways, enforce gender roles and a father’s un-involvement in his child’s raising. Shortnin bread and the fulani lullaby are forms of history that continue to live through the kids of the present. 

The Colonized Intellectual

by Aissata Ba 1 Comment

“National culture is the collective thought

process of a people to describe,

justify,

and extol the actions

whereby they have joined forces

and remained strong…

National culture in the under­developed countries,

therefore,

must lie at the very heart of the liberation struggle

these countries are waging.” (National Culture, Fanon)

This quote was quite interesting to me because it could easily be applied to modern day music and Shange. Awhile back, I had a small discussion with my friends about Nigerian music being called African music or Jamaican music being simply referred to as Caribbean music. Interestingly, the conversation shifted into talking about race, music, locality, etc. This quote also brought up two questions for me: what power does the collective have that an individual would not? To what extent or in what situations is the collective force necessary or needed? Shange And Fanon have two completely different writing styles. Though Shange’s writing might be a bit of an easier read, both writers and thinkers are intellectual and revolutionary thinkers.

Going back to the entire reading by Fanon, Fanon details three stages in what he called the “colonized intellectual”. Fanon explained that in the first stage, the intellectual mimics the colonist and conforms to colonial tastes. This is a stage where the colonized tries to be like the Europeans, extolling and admiring European culture. In the second stage, Fanon explains,  the colonized reacts against this assimilation and desire. This is the Négritude phase in which, in reaction to the European casting of African culture as inferior, the intellectual extols each and every thing about African culture as superior. In the third stage, this love for culture finally moves to a fight for liberation. The intellectual begins to write “combat literature, revolutionary literature” that hopes to galvanize and motivate the people into fighting the colonists. In this stage, Fanon explains is the hope that developing a new culture will begin to shape a new nation.

Our twin’s History

by Aissata Ba 1 Comment

Bocas: A Daughter’s Geography

“I have a daughter/ mozambique

I have a son/ angola

Our twins

Salvador & johannesburg/ cannot speak

The same language/ but we fight the same old men/ in the new world…

There is no edges/ no end to the new world/ cuz i have a daughter/ trinidad

I have a son/ san juan/ Our twins

Capetown & palestine/ cannot speak the same language/ but we fight the same old men”

While reading the above quotes, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking and questioning: what are the deeper meanings in Shange naming these countries and cities? What are its purposes or contributions to poem? Why did Shange select these places in particular? Who is this “same old man” she repeated mention throughout the poem? One of the main themes of this poem is that of togetherness or unity beyond the obvious difference. These countries and cities she refers to are located in different parts of the world, however, there are traces of people of color or people of African descent among its population. These countries represent the wide diaspora of the “dislocated” African body and how these shifted African bodies have grown apart to the point where they cannot communicate. They do not share a culture or language anymore, even places as close to one another as Mozambique and Angola. However, in saying “ but we fight the same old men,” Shange is referring to the white men who caused this separation and dislocation of the African bodies. “The same old men” could also be referring to the modern society, reality and pressure on the African body and its diaspora. The battle that needs to be fought by these countries Shange mentions against the “same old men,” could be the battle against racism that people of color have to alway face and continuously have to be fearful of. Shange’s use of these countries and “the same old men” is very effective as it allows you, the reader, to think through who Shange is referring to and to what issue is she alluding to.