THE OPPRESSION OF THE AFRICAN FEMALE There is no question in our minds that African people globally are still not free. In order to gain true freedom we must reclaim our identity as African people, our land, Africa and its abundance of resources and use them to develop a better world for our people. In order to achieve this objective we must organize all of our productive forces- our people, our knowledge and our tools- to reach their fullest potential to destroy the vicious system of capitalism, the economic system that is at the root of our oppression. This is our challenge: to heighten the awareness level and skills of our people to enable us to become victorious in our quest. There are 3 major ways in which capitalism has oppressed us. First, there is the class oppression in which those who control the resources exploit the labor of the majority of humanity in order for a few to profit. Secondly, it has used ignorance of history to create false ideas of African people and Africa's contributions to the world. This system of ideas, we call "national oppression - racism. Finally, there is gender oppression. It is when males fall for the notion that they are superior to females. It is in fact practiced by all men including Africans and even those males engaged in the revolutionary struggle. Most revolutionary parties, even though they established units of some form to struggle with the "Woman's Question" have been guilty of displaying oppressive behavior towards women. This includes our party, the Pan African Revolutionary Socialist Party, from the youngest to the oldest male militant. Capitalism socializes males to believe that they are the superior part of the human species. Therefore, we find African males displaying behavior towards African women that violate our principles, historically rooted in the emergence of the struggle of a great people to survive. Humanism-treating each as one wants to be treated Collectivism- recognizing the need for the contribution of all Egalitarianism- allowing each to develop to their fullest potential The violation of our principles by African men in their relationships with African women is described by Maulana Karenga as an outgrowth of our being a part of the capitalist system. He calls these violations "the connections" of which there are four. The first is the "cash" connection. The world of the capitalists centers on the perceived power of cash. In our relationships, males invest their money in females socially and then expect the female to share her body with him in exchange. Women are taught by their mothers to place greater value on the economic strength of the man. In other words, relationships are made with cash. The second connection is "flesh." The enslavement of African people was based on human flesh and not the wholeness of the human. In this aspect of relations, men often focus on the quest of the woman's body for sexual gratification as opposed to developing relationships that are based on the wholeness of the woman's mind and body. All types of bizarre behaviors are used as ways of satisfying sexual urges. The female partner is seen as an object as males fantasize over body parts like breasts and butts. Often men become brutal in the treatment of the female with some using the woman as a sexual product to be sold to others. The third connection is "force". Through force the capitalists have amassed their wealth. In relationships, men have used their strength to subdue women when words failed. The combination of "flesh" and "force" often merges into the act of rape, a major abuse experienced by women today. The final connection is that of "dependency". Historically, the master taught the slave that they were subservient to the master. After a woman has been converted into an object and abused, the logical outcome is for her to be seen by man and herself as subordinate and dependent on him. A review of history reveals violations of each of the connections in the man in general and within revolutionary structures. In essence, our mothers, sisters and daughters are being denied their rights to develop to their fullest by their human species partners - man Sekou Toure, former president of Guinea and a leading voice in the pan-African struggle, noted that to continue the oppression of our mothers, daughters and sisters is to stifle the development of more than 50 % of the African nation. We can never be free as long as the African female is denied her humanity. What do we do? There is this massive disease, capitalism, that devours principled behavior and destroys the possibility of harmony between woman and man. Our male youths are growing more disrespectful and antagonistic toward their female counterparts. The answer lies in building organizations that confront this evil directly. African women must organize themselves as must African men. The question might be asked "why separate organizations"? There is a tendency for females and males, even those who claim revolution, to have greater dialogue among only their own gender. This flows from the tendency of the female to feel reluctant to speak freely among the very ones who hurt her. Like wise, males often seek posture to be seen as being "correct" in a mixed gender setting. They will constantly deny, deny, and deny that this is them. (It's like the slave challenging the master for being abusive and the master citing how good he has been to his slaves.) Therefore, African women must come together and dialogue and organize themselves based on their reality and needs. They must keep in mind that the primary task is to liberate women so they can struggle to their fullest to destroy capitalism. Consequently, through forthright criticism of the many forms of gender oppression she experiences she will also aid her comrades, husbands, fathers and brothers to become more conscious. Simultaneously, the African male must become more conscious of the need to crush the backwardness of his ways. Then and only then can he participate in the full destruction of the capitalist system and create an environment that allows for the full practice of our principles by both women and men and build richer social relationships and a more wholesome society. Collectively, we must study the history of gender oppression with the same intensity used to study the histories of class and national (racism) oppression Then we must put our theory into practice in our efforts to build revolutionary organizations to wage war against the principal source from which class, national and gender oppression emerge - capitalism. ________________________________ --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Sending your posting to [email protected] Unsubscribe by sending an email to [email protected] You can also visit http://groups.google.com/group/payco Visit our website at www.mayihlome.wordpress.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
