Celebrating the Lives of two great Afrikan women – Ama Ata Aidoo & Micere Githae Mugo

In the last few weeks, the Afrikan continent, and the world as a whole, has lost two of its great souls; Ama Ata Aidoo (23 March 1942 – 31 May 2023) and Micere Githae Mugo (12 December 1942 – 30 June 2023). They were long-time friends, colleagues, age mates and, indeed, sisters, and it is poetic that they both passed within 1 month of each other. We dedicate this post to their lives, their impact and their legacies.

Starting with Professor Ama Ata Aidoo, she was a writer of novels, plays and short stories with more than 15 published books to her name. As well as writing, she was also a strong activist, feminist and pan-Africanist, and she also held the post of Minister for Education for a short period in the early 1980s. Summarising all these aspects of her life’s work, she once famously said, “for us Africans, literature must serve a purpose: to expose, embarrass and fight corruption and authoritarianism. It is understandable why the African artist is utilitarian.”

Please read one or more of the beautiful obituaries written about Mama Ama – here in the Guardian, or here in the Conversation, or here in the Graphic. Another heartfelt tribute that you should not miss was published by the Guardian and is titled Our Feminist Ancestor, written by her friend and fellow writer, Nana Darka Sekyiamah.

Please also have a watch of a clip from an interview with Aidoo on BBC Hard Talk below:

Professor Micere Githae Mugo was also a renowned writer, political activist and academic. Among her work, she wrote, together with Ngugi wa Thiong’o, a celebrated play called “The Trial of Dedan Kimathi”, a response to negative propaganda about the Kenyan freedom struggle hero Dedan Kimathi, who was executed by the British colonial regime in 1957, aged only 36. Coincidentally, Kimathi’s widow, Mukami Kimathi also passed on recently and you can read more about her life here in the East African, as well as a fascinating analysis about the Scramble to own Mau Mau Memory here in the Elephant.

As a result of government harassment, Mugo was stripped of Kenyan citizenship by the Moi regime in the early 1980s, which she only regained in 2009. She was exiled in Zimbabawe and re-found her friend Ama Ata Aidoo there and, after about 10 years, they both moved to the USA but to different parts.

Please read some of the obituaries about Micere Mugo’s life: here in the Nation and here in Capital News and, finally, please take some time to watch a beautiful and revealing tribute to her by Ama Ata Aidoo below:

These two legends will be greatly missed across the continent and beyond; they will be remembered fondly by so many people, for their great writing, their unceasing and determined struggles for equality and social justice, and for their humanity and contributions to the development of the Afrikan continent. We leave you with a powerful quote from Ama Ata Aidoo below:

Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Bantu Stephen Biko

On September 12th 2022, the world marked the 45th Anniversary of the tragic passing of Steve Bantu Biko, who died at the young age of 30 as a result of extensive police beatings under apartheid South Africa. Remembered variously as a hero and legend of the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM), as one of the most significant contributors to the liberation of Azania / South Africa and with a continuous powerful legacy across the continent and beyond. Please read a summary of Steve Biko’s life story here

The Steve Biko Foundation has, since 2000, organised the Annual Steve Biko Memorial Lecture with a series of exceptional speakers from around the world. This year’s Lecture will be delivered by Jeanine Ntihirageza originally from Burundi and now Professor and Director of the Centre for Genocide and Human Rights Research in Africa and the Diaspora at North Eastern Illinois University in Chicago, USA and can be viewed below:

Many of the previous lectures can be found on Youtube here and we would like to highlight three of them directly below, namely Dr. Matshidiso Moeti in 2021, Prof. Angela Davis in 2016, and Hugh Masekela (in the 3rd Annual Europe Lecture given in October 2014):

And on the last video, if you are fan of Bra Hugh, please check at 15:40 for an exceptional 10 minute rendition of his classic song, The Coal Train. This marks the start of his unique lecture, so please don’t stop at the music! You may also want to read our earlier tribute here to Masakela soon after his passing in January 2018.

The Steve Biko Centre was officially opened in November 2012 and, in the words of the Steve Biko Foundation, it “translates global interest in the legacy of Bantu Stephen Biko into an intellectual, economic and developmental resource for the local and regional economy.” The Centre is located in Ginsburg Township, King William’s Town, Eastern Cape, South Africa, where Biko grew up, and includes a Museum, Archive and Library Resource Centre, Commemorative Garden honoring human rights activists, Training Rooms, Cultural Performance and Production Spaces and a Community Media Centre. To learn more about the centre, please check the link here.

Steve Biko Centre Museum, Ginsberg, Eastern Cape, South Africa

Considered the heir to the Black Consciousness Movement, AZAPO’s website has a wealth of videos and other information exploring Biko’s legacy; do read more about the life of Steve Biko here and AZAPO’s history here, both of which form part of the South African history online project.

Biko’s seminal book “I Write What I Like” is a summary of his writing and continues to be widely read and quoted, as we have done above. Please also take a look at Heike Becker’s article, I Write What I Like: Steve Biko’s Legacy of Black Consciousness and Anti-Capitalism Revised, as well as one by Nanjala Nyabola’s piece on Pan-Africanism more broadly, called Writing the Human: A Person is a Person through other People, both of which are published in The Elephant.

Xolela Mangcu, a childhood friend and colleague of Biko’s, wrote a critically acclaimed and comprehensive biography (published in 2013), called Biko: A Life. Please listen to Mangcu talking about Biko in an interview with WKNO here. Biko’s son, Hlumelo Biko also wrote Black Consciouness: A Love Story (published in 2021) that documents the love story of his mother, Mamphela Ramphele, and father, and how that intertwined with the development of the Black Consciousness Movement. Please read about and listen to a webinar featuring Hlumelo about the book here.

We should also give a mention to the musical eulogy and anthem to Biko, which was written and sung by Peter Gabriel (recorded in 1980). Please have a listen to the original song live at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert in 1988 here and the version recorded by Playing for Change in 2021 here.

Finally, we would like to refer you to a piece in the East African called Why is Steve Biko’s Legacy often Overlooked. Hopefully, with all these many efforts, that narrative is starting to change… we leave you with another of Biko’s powerful quotes below.

The Passing of Four Social Inclusion Giants

The last 6 weeks of 2021 have been tinged with sadness at the loss of four giants in the struggle for liberation, justice and social inclusion. We dedicate our last post of the year to these four people and encourage readers to take time to reflect on their lives, their work and their legacies.

Desmond Mpilo Tutu, 1931-2021

In the early hours of December 26th, 90 year old Desmond Mpilo Tutu passed on in Cape Town, South Africa. He was a remarkable man and indefatigable fighter for justice, who was known as the “moral compass” for several decades in the struggle against racism, sexism and apartheid. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 and also spoke up consistently against homophobia, Islamophobia, the oppression of Palestinians by the state of Israel, and many other forms of injustice and intolerance all over the world. Tutu was a living embodiment of his own exceptional quote:

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”

Numerous tributes have already been written about the Arch, as he was affectionately known by many, and we offer links to a few of them below (please click on the name of the article to access it), several of which also have an audio version embedded:

Archbishop Tutu: A Man of God who liked to laugh – by Thembisa Fakude published in the Mail & Guardian

Always Faith, always Justice: a tribute to Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu – by Niclas Kjellström-Matseke and Piyushi Kotecha, published in the Mail & Guardian

Desmond Tutu: South Africa’s moral compass – obituary in Al Jazeera

Tributes paid to anti-apartheid icon Desmond Tutu – quotes & video tributes in DW

Please also read up more about Desmond Tutu’s life here through wikipedia and have a look at some more of his many powerful quotes here.

A great believer in Ubuntu, Tutu summed it up by saying, “my humanity is bound up in yours for we can only be human together”. The Guardian has also put together a few clips of interviews with Tutu below:

Less than two weeks earlier on December 15th, the legendary African-American author, professor, feminist and social activist bell hooks passed on, aged 69. A prolific writer and thinker, her most famous and a seminal book was Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism, where she explored deeply the inter-section between race, gender and class, offering a more inclusive vision for feminism rooted at the heart of the struggles of Black women.

bell hooks, 1952-2021

Please read a tribute to bell hooks her in Something Curated here and an obituary in the Guardian here, as well as heartfelt and moving tributes from some of her contemporaries here. You can also read more about her from wikipedia here, which also includes a full list of her more than 40 books and other publications.

On December 5th, Alan Donovan, a passionate champion of African arts, culture and heritage, passed on at his home just outside Nairobi in Kenya aged 83. Donovan was a co-founder of African Heritage Estates along with former vice president Joseph Murumbi and his wife Sheila Murumbi, and he also published a book about Murumbi called A Path not Taken, which you can read about here.

Alan Donovan, 1938-2021

Please read Rupi Mangat’s tribute here called The Alan Donovan I knew, which was published in the East African. You can also read and see more of Donovan’s life in his own words and pictures here in the piece called “My Journey through African Art and Culture”. Please also watch a short video clip below of him being laid to rest

Finally, we would also like to pay tribute to Anwar Ditta, an exceptional anti-racist campaigner in UK, who passed on November 16th, and whose story is well captured by Al Jazeera in their piece, Anwar Ditta: The Mother who took on the UK Government and Won. You can read and/or listen to this piece here.

Anwar Ditta, 1953-2021

Please read this powerful tribute to Anwar Ditta written by Shahed Ezaydi in the Tribune here. There are also important documents about Ditta in the AIU Race Relations Resource Centre and Education Trust. Please read the piece Reflecting with Anwar Ditta which also has links to more of her archive here, extracts from her and several other oral history interviews here and you can download a short booklet about her struggle here.

It can be overwhelming to comprehend such enormous losses to humanity. It is our hope and prayer that their lives continue to inspire and give rise to a new generation of champions of justice. We close this piece with more important words from Desmond Tutu and wish you all a Happy New Year 2022.

Injustice in the time of the Corona Virus Pandemic

In addition to the misery, pain and fear that millions of people around the world are experiencing as a result of the COVID-19 virus, there has also been a dramatic and sickening rise in discrimination and injustice around the world.

• As countries “lock down” and close their borders, many are experiencing increased racism and xenophobia.  In China in recent weeks, we have seen a situation where Africans and Black people in general are being blamed for the spread of the virus, leading to many acts of discrimination against them, including being forcibly evicted from their homes, refused entry to shops, restaurants and public transport.  Read more about the situation in an article from DW here and in the East African here
• In the US, perceived “blame” for the corona virus pandemic has been directed towards not only Chinese but also other Asian people.  In a passionate article in Al Jazeera, Sahar Aziz argues that “anti-Asian racism must be stopped before it is normalised.”
• Existing health and economic inequalities have been exacerbated in many countries, including in UK where Black and Minority Ethnic people are extremely over-represented amongst those suffering from the virus, as documented by Al Jazeera in this article.
• Sexual and gender-based violence has also been on the rise in many parts of the world as illustrated in the following articles, two focusing on Kenya from the Daily Nation and the other one looking at the situation in Europe from BBC:

Sexual violence cases rise amid Virus Curfew

Domestic violence amid COVID-19

When home gets violent under lockdown in Europe

• For people with disabilities, the pandemic has brought on a new layer of fear and increased isolation, which is explored in an article from the World Economic Forum here:  COVID-19’s isolated world is the norm for people with disabilities

Please also watch a short video about “the effect of COVID-19 on PWDs in Kenya” as well as a clip from KTN in Kenya on “how people with PWDs are coping with the pandemic“

• Those living with HIV are also in great fear due to their vulnerability to the virus from their compromised immune systems.  In Tanzania, a number of people described this in an article for Al Jazeera as “we feel abandoned.“
• In India, the recent rise in anti-Muslim sentiment and violence has gained even further ground during the Pandemic, and in many places Muslims are being openly blamed for spreading the virus.  Read more about this in an article from the UK Guardian here
• We are also saddened by the use of excessive force by police in many countries during curfews and lock-downs, which has resulted in additional trauma, injuries, rapes and deaths.  An article from Reuters here focuses on this issues in several African countries. More is documented in another article from the UK’s Guardian called “Tear Gas, Beatings and Bleach.” 
• Other vulnerable communities are to be found among sexual minorities in many countries.  Please also read another article from the Guardian entitled “Ugandan police accused of abusing lockdown laws after LGBT arrests” and from NBC News called “Coronavirus pandemic a perfect storm for LGBTQ homeless youth.”
• We would also like to share with you the SIHA Quarterly NewsLetter April 2020 that outlines some of the challenges facing women in the Horn of Africa region, put together by SIHA (Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa).

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Despite all these horrific examples, we would like to end on a positive note with several calls to action.  The Gender & Development Network has put together a series of resources to promote “Feminist Responses to COVID-19“.

In Ethiopia, Meaza Ashenafi, first female president of the Supreme Court, has sanctioned courts to handle Gender-Based Violence cases as priority cases, which can be read here. 

In UK, a poignant poem has been developed called “You Clap for Me Now: the Coronavirus poem on Racism and Immigration in Britain“, highlighting the critical role that Black, Minority Ethnic and Immigrant people are playing in tackling the pandemic in providing health and other essential services.

In Barcelona, Spain, a group of Pakistani taxi drivers have come together to offer free rides to health workers, as well as organising food parcels for homeless people and others in need.  Please read the story from Al Jazeera here

There are many other heroes and heroines springing up in different places.  In Kenya, a group of students have designed a prototype ventilator that is waiting for the go-ahead for mass production, which you can read about here.  Two others are in USA: read about a doctor and senator who is tackling ventilator shortages here and a college student making masks specifically for those who are deaf and hard of hearing here

Finally, we invite you to be inspired and “meet 10 young people leading the COVID-19 response in their communities.”

Take care, keep safe and let us all keep on with the struggle for justice and equality. There has never been more need for concerted advocacy and action. We welcome you to keep sharing with us other videos and articles that touch on COVID 19 and inclusion!