Obama Visit Challenges 'African Woman' Stereotype
Two weeks ago, on an official trip to Africa, Michelle Obama gave a speech encouraging 76 young sub-Saharan African women participating in the Young African Women Leaders Forum in South Africa. They gathered at the Regina Mundi Church in the black township of Soweto, where 35 years ago, in June 1976, South African youth nonviolently protested Apartheid laws affecting their education. Many of those students lost their lives in the ensuing government-issued police open shooting. Today, Regina Mundi is a memorial to those who refused to sit idly by as their country and people continued to suffer under Apartheid.
It was here that Michelle Obama had the opportunity to share words with 76 young women. Washington Post reporter Krissah Thompson, who traveled with the First Lady, writes that she challenged them to ensure that women are no longer "second-class citizens," fight the "stigma" of HIV/AIDS, and "stand up and say violence against women" is a "human-rights violation." It has been refreshing to have young African women highlighted not as refugees of war, victims of violent rape and female genital mutilation, contagions of HIV/AIDS, or recipients of monthly dollar pledges. For one day a couple of weeks ago, the world was offered a glimpse of another African female population: dedicated, persevering, brilliant women committed to using their gifts to highlight awareness, nurture justice, and improve the conditions of their respective countries.
As a person of faith, I think often about the power that our cultural imaginations have to draw us either closer or further away from a God-centered imagination. No one can deny that the way we visualize, imagine, and depict people in any culture has repercussions for how we engage one another. Westerners are predominantly exposed to stories or images of African women as victims in desperate political, health, or socioeconomic situations. This influences how we imagine we are called to be in relationship with our sisters spread throughout the 53 countries in Africa. While it is important for the West to acknowledge the legitimate needs of Africans caught in political and socioeconomic strife, an unbalanced portrayal of African women risks the danger of fostering an "us / them" mentality that underwrites the notion that we Christians are called to go and help the "helpless non-Western other" (quotes mine). For many in the West, this plays out in a gentile condescending relationship that entails reaching out to "those less fortunate than ourselves," and imagining African women mostly as potential benefactors of Western compassion and generosity.
The Seminary Gender Gap
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Comments
Kami Rice
Thanks for this good post, Enuma. There are so many good stories from Africa and other places that we never hear. Instead, we keep hearing the same narrative of poverty and need over and over again, a narrative that's only partly true when not balanced by stories of people like the ones you noted.
Doreen Ashley
I really liked this. More often than not, it truly is an "us/them" thought process and mode of operation. When we should be working hand in hand - Two are better than one,because they have a good return for their labor.
Gabriela
Thanks, Enuma, for the encouragement to get our cultural imagination in tune with a "God-centered imagination." To think of all the rich blessings, friendships, leaders, mentors, and heroes that we miss out on if we don't learn to imagine with God's heart.
Innocent Justice
Enuma, I believe African women were marginalized for many centuries while they are pillars of every single family. Raising this awareness will have a positive impact on many lives. Keep it up!
Daniel Camacho
Great post. Many Christians, unconsciously, harbor very unhealthy, cultural imaginations that need to be challenged. Not only are they inaccurate, but they undermine our ability to truly be catholic, and to see the Spirit's work beyond people exactly like us. These are the type of stories we need to hear.
Margoy
Preach.
Suzy
It is great to see and hear positive images of African women. Africa is a large and diverse continent, and most of us here in the U.S. know very little about life there. What we do know is often in the context of the bad things that are happening there. Thanks for shedding a little light on the "dark" continent!
JANE HINRICHS
I too love this post! It has such truth,truth we in the church need to consider when interacting with anyone different than ourselves. I find that this we/them mentality is prevalent throughout the church whenever we go to help some other people group. It is a natural tendency that we must fight against. It's not just in the church though. It's in the world too when people help others. The ones who give often are the ones who learn the most and who benefit the most from interactions between different cultures and people groups (if their hearts are open and humble). Sometimes I think if we just go, go to learn, go to listen, go to really know the people we don't know, we will see God. I met my husband in Africa several years ago now. I love that area of the world. Oh, I so long to go back. And I must say, whether good or bad, it isn't so much I want to "help" those who live there, but I want to be around their joy, their simple lives, their huge smiles and laughter (and even as I write that I guess I am characterizing people a certain way but this bland white girl so wants to praise Jesus with my African brothers and sisters in Christ). Thank you, thank you for this post! And God bless Mrs. Obama for taking this journey.
Caitlin
I love this post! I've recently become involved with a foundation that provides scholarships to outstanding African students and it has made me realize how little I know about Africa and how many assumptions I have about the continent. So far, the first two recipients of the scholarship in the organization are men, and I would love to see the next one to be a woman. I am beginning to realize how much we are missing by not hearing more from the many wonderful and brilliant people of Africa. Thank you for introducing a handful of inspiring African women. I plan to follow the links you provided to learn more about them. I've been meaning to read When Helping Hurts for a while now. I suspect that it will provide insight into some similar issues. I would love to know what voices and sources I should be looking for to understand more of what is going on in Africa. Thank you for bringing this more to light.
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