Iziz!

Give thanks Erzuli for this discussion. HIM was the biggest feminist of all. He believed in suffrage for women and the downtrodden and perhaps it was his pursuit and commitment to these two issues that saw his demise in Ethiopia by the Dergues. The fact is that he made sure that the Empress was crowned the same day in the same manner as HIM. This had never been done before and he wasn't following a European mandate. His oldest daughter with Empress Menen was his confident and advisor more so than any of his sons who he chastised on many occasions for their lack of courage in the face of animonisity and opposition. He believed in training both fe/males for war as were the Nyabinghis and he welcomed all of their inputs. Coincidently, his granddaughter typed and translated his autobiography. Being a feminist means respect for the rights of women. It is a commitment that women and men are equal partners on earth and in this Iniverse. Read the lost books and the Apocrypha (sp?) There's plenty of documentation about strong powerful women and even in the bible too. These are works that were not included due to sexism on the part of those who mis-edited the bible. Read on to those other powerful and mind opening texts. Feminism does not mean the demise or end of black men. Black men are at risk and they are an endangered species on this planet. The fact is that they are disproportionately represented in jails and prisons and in the armies. Dark skin males in particular are at risks for being "the usual suspects". At the same time, black women are increasingly becoming endangered due to current global economies that force them to do business as black men do. This is socio historical and the feminization of poverty.
We can truly go on about this and I really appreciate the reference to Amy Garvey because there is a great scholar at UC Berkeley writing about her and how she was a great representation of community feminism of strong powerful enabling women who survived alongside dominant so-called Alpha males like Marcus Garvey. There have been so many and there continues to be more. Jada Pinkett is a strong mama who I respect because she continues to create on her own strenght. There are so many Rasta women who do the same too. There was a great interview with an older Rasta woman in the Roots magazine a couple of years ago. Check it out online it was a great read.

We can go on about this forIver and we need to in order to clarify the role of Rasta women within the trod. Maureen Rowe and others have tried to do this and I really appreciate their voices and writtings on the issue. We need more social science studies to give us a clearer picture of the situation as it is lived everyday.

Lastly, let our the Empress's own works speak for itself when she and other dawtas in her tribe spoke out against the war brought against Ethiopians by the Italians. It was wrong and they organized alongside the men to fight against it. Let's not forget TITU without who we would not have Addis Ababba! She deserved the throne and I want to see a blood test on Zawditu to verify her paternity as being Menelik II. Still, while I want further study on her struggles with HIM I appreciate her pain and personal accomplishment and I respect her.

Blessed love and guidance.