[By Olimata Kah]

I’ll take you to back into antiquity. To a time when, whole dynasties and empires were ruled and governed by WOMEN! Yes. You read that right-W.O.M.E.N!

One cannot speak about African empires without first mentioning Ancient Egypt. There were many great queens and empresses across the continent. The likes of the Egyptian pharaohs Hatshepsut, and Neferneferuaten Nefertiti, (also believed by most to be Smenkhare, her royal name few years after taking the throne after the death of her husband, the pharaoh, Akhnaten), Sobekneferu, Queen Sheba, the Hausa warrior queen, Aminatu, etc.

There were many a woman that were great rulers and leaders of their time. And so, if that was the case—if women had the freedom to reach such high heights, why then do the African men of present day, seek to oppress women and not allow them to achieve such greatness as their aforementioned female ancestors?

One word: PATRIARCHY.

Now, some will want to argue that not all the sovereign empires and kingdoms that existed on the African continent were phylogeny.  This is indeed true. However, before the Hellenistic period, I would argue that it wasn’t as widespread and change was on its way.

The History

When the white people came to Africa, they found our ancestors in their traditional wears, varying from tribe to tribe, and kingdom to kingdom. But they chose to “civilize” our race with their own clothing which were designed to hide and shame the female body, covering it from head to toe.

Obviously, our ancestors didn’t deem a woman a harlot by the mere fact that her body was showing par the custom. These clothes weren’t sexualized but the white man succeeded in sexualized it and they made us see it as such in a negative way.

It might seem unnecessary talking about this but you have to understand that this is a socially taught behavior. African men—Black men didn’t just wake up one day and decide to be the way they are.

This socially taught behavior started from the white man who is the creator of the PTSD—Post Traumatic SLAVE Disorder and in my very personal opinionated opinion, ASSIMILATION is a big part of it.

He is also taught that a woman’s body must at all times belong to a man—any man—the very reason why men say lines such as:

“There is no way you are single; as beautiful as you are?                        

All of this possessive nature and objectification of the female body is what creates the cognitive dissonance necessary for said men to rape young girls and women and feel nothing because women are not seen as humans but rather, breasts and secret pleasures.

Have you ever wondered why so many women have qualms with showing off their curves?

I’ll tell you.

The female body has been successfully shamed for being magic, for being the bringer of life, the giver of unknown pleasures and the “birther” of nations.

If after reading all of this you think to yourself, “she is Western”, then you are a part of the problem!