By: Rev. John Jackson
As Women’s History Month comes to an end, I would like to close out the month by acknowledging and celebrating the Black women who have vouchsafed to us a legacy of resistance that can redound to our present moment.
I start with the Hebrew midwives Shiphrah and Puah in Exodus chapter 1, who defied the King’s order to kill all the boy babies. They were Black women who dared resist an unjust and immoral order because Black women have been on the front lines of protecting the very young in our community. And if it were not for them, there would be no Moses.
I next lift the names of the sisters known as the Daughters of Zelophehad, whose story is tucked away in Numbers 27. Their father Zelophehad died, but because of the patriarchal customs of the Hebrew people his land would then be turned over to males in the community. Therefore, sisters Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah forced their presence into traditional male space and positioned themselves between the “tent of meeting” in the wilderness where the ark of the covenant was kept and the people. This is extremely important because only Moses stood next to the tent of meeting. These Black women then demanded their share of their deceased father’s land. Moses takes the demand of the sisters to God, and God agrees with the sisters and instructs Moses to give them their father’s land. These Black women’s direct actions and protests changed the way land was supposed to be handed down so that women would be included as recipients of their father’s inheritance.
Black women have been at the forefront of demanding equity from oppressive institutions since our people were stolen and brought to this land.
I now move from the biblical stage into the inner areas of the African continent to raise up the name of Queen Mother Yaa Asante Waa, who was born in 1840 and died in 1921. When the British colonizers invaded the Ashanti region and forcefully took the king of the Ashanti people into custody, the men of Ashanti were at first hesitant to fight back. That was until Queen Mother Yaa Asante Waa stepped before them, grabbed a gun and fired a shot in front of the men, and then spoke these words:
“How can a proud and brave people like the Asante sit back and look while white men took away their king and chiefs, and humiliated them with a demand for the Golden Stool…Now I see that some of you fear to go forward to fight for our king…in the brave days of Osei Tutu, Okomfo Anokye, and Opoku Ware, chiefs would not sit down to see their king to be taken away without firing a shot. No European could have dared speak to chiefs of Asante in the way the governor spoke to you this morning. Is it true that the bravery of Asante is no more? I cannot believe it. It cannot be! I must say this: if you, the men of Asante, will not go forward, then we will. We, the women, will. I shall call upon my fellow women. We will fight! We will fight till the last of us falls in the battlefields.”
Black women have always been ready to defend our people in whatever manner the situation demanded.
I do not have the space or time to tell you about Callie House born 1861-1928 who organized the National Ex Slave Mutual Relief, Bounty and Pension Organization to fight for reparations. I do not have the time or the space to tell you about Henrietta Wood 1818 – 1912 who sued and won the largest U.S. verdict specifically for reparations in 1870. I do not have time to tell you about Ella Jo Baker 1903-1986 perhaps the greatest organizer and strategist the civil rights movement had ever seen. Ella Baker was given the Swahili name “Fundi,” by members of SNCC, and the name means “a person who teaches a craft to the next generation.” It was Fundi who told Dr. King and the rest of the male leaders of SCLC that “strong people don’t need strong leaders.” It was Fundi who made the statement that was put to music by Sweet Honey in The Rock, “Until the killing of Black men, Black mother’s sons is as important as the killing of White men, White mother’s sons then we who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes.”
If it wasn’t for the women! Black women are the crown of creation and I celebrate you because each of you have the spirit of these warrior women who now occupy that great cloud of witnesses with Grandma, Muh Dear, Big Mama and so many other Black women who protected, provided and pushed us forward.
Be well, Be authentic, and Stay Woke! Uhuru Sassa!
Rev. Dr. John E. Jackson, Sr. is the Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ-Gary, 1276 W. 20th Ave. in Gary. “We are not just another church but we are a culturally conscious, Christ-centered church, committed to the community; we are unashamedly Black and unapologetically Christian.” Contact the church by email at [email protected] or by phone at 219-944-0500.