Nationalist and independence movements throughout Africa have been predominantly led by men; however, women also held important roles. These roles included organizing at the local and national levels, tending to the wounded, and even being on the front lines of war.[1] Women's roles in African independence movements were diverse and varied by each country. Many women believed that their liberation was directly linked to the liberation of their countries.[1]

Algeria

This section is an excerpt from Lalla Fatma N'Soumer.[edit]
"Femme kebaïle" by Henri Félix Emmanuel Philippoteaux, often used to illustrate N'Soumer
Lalla Fatma N'Soumer (c. 1830 – 1863) (Kabyle: Lalla Faḍma n Sumer; Arabic: لالة فاطمة نسومر) was an Algerian anti-colonial leader[2] during 1849–1857 of the French conquest of Algeria and subsequent Pacification of Algeria. She led several battles against the French forces, until her capture in July 1857. She was imprisoned until her death six years later. She is an Algerian national hero.

While there is some dispute over who exactly designed flag,[3] Émilie Busquant, wife of the Algerian nationalist leader Messali Hadj, is generally credited as having sewed the first version of the Algerian flag in 1934.[4]

Algerian War

This section is an excerpt from Algerian War § Role of women.[edit]
FLN female bombers

Women participated in a variety of roles during the Algerian War. The majority of Muslim women who became active participants did so on the side of the National Liberation Front (FLN). The French included some women, both Muslim and French, in their war effort, but they were not as fully integrated, nor were they charged with the same breadth of tasks as the women on the Algerian side. The total number of women involved in the conflict, as determined by post-war veteran registration, is numbered at 11,000, but it is possible that this number was significantly higher due to underreporting.[5]

Urban and rural women's experiences in the revolution differed greatly. Urban women, who constituted about twenty percent of the overall force, had received some kind of education and usually chose to enter on the side of the FLN of their own accord.[6] Largely illiterate rural women, on the other hand, the remaining eighty percent, due to their geographic location in respect to the operations of FLN often became involved in the conflict as a result of proximity paired with force.[6]

Women operated in a number of different areas during the course of the rebellion. "Women participated actively as combatants, spies, fundraisers, as well as nurses, launderers, and cooks",[7] "women assisted the male fighting forces in areas like transportation, communication and administration"[5]: 223  the range of involvement by a woman could include both combatant and non-combatant roles. While most women's tasks were non-combatant, their less frequent, violent acts were more noticed. The reality was that "rural women in maquis rural areas support networks"[8] contained the overwhelming majority of those who participated; female combatants were in the minority.

Perhaps the most famous incident involving Algerian women revolutionaries was the Milk Bar Café bombing of 1956, when Zohra Drif and Yacef Saâdi planted three bombs: one in the Air France office in the Mauritania building in Algiers,[9] which did not explode, one in a cafeteria on the Rue Michelet, and another at the Milk Bar Café, which killed 3 young women and injured multiple adults and children.[10] Algerian Communist Party-member Raymonde Peschard was initially accused of being an accomplice to the bombing and was forced to flee from the colonial authorities.[11] In September 1957, though, Drif and Saâdi were arrested and sentenced to twenty years hard labor in the Barbarossa prison.[12] Drif was pardoned by Charles de Gaulle on the anniversary of Algerian independence in 1962.[13]

Ghana

This section is an excerpt from Yaa Asantewaa § Social roles of Asante women.[edit]

Nana Yaa Asantewaa understood the ramifications of British colonial rule. She is seen by Ghanaians today as a queen mother who exercised her political and social clout to help defend her kingdom. The role she played in influencing the Ashanti men to battle the British appears to be a function of her matriarchal status.[14]The Ashanti people are organized in a matrilineage, women descended from a common female ancestor. The ashanti believe a person's blood comes from the mother and spirit comes from the father. The queen mother was often the sister of the chief and was the head of kinship relations. Yaa Asantewaa status and warrior spirit lead the Ashanti people during an uncertain time. Nana Yaa Asantewaa's call upon the women of the Asante Empire is based on the political obligations of Akan women and their respective roles in legislative and judicial processes. The hierarchy of male stools among the Akan people was complemented by female counterparts. Within the village, elders who were heads of the matrilineages (mpanyimfo), constituted the village council known as the ôdekuro. The women, known as the mpanyinfo, and referred to as aberewa or ôbaa panyin, were responsible for looking after women's affairs. For every ôdekuro, an ôbaa panyin acted as the responsible party for the affairs of the women of the village and served as a member of the village council.[15]

The head of a division, the ôhene, and the head of the autonomous political community, the Amanhene, had their female counterparts known as the ôhemaa: a female ruler who sat on their councils. The ôhemaa and ôhene were all of the same mogya, blood or localized matrilineage. The occupant of the female stool in Kumasi state, the Asantehemaa, the united Asante, since her male counterpart was ex-officio of the Asanthene, was a member of the Kôtôkô Council, the executive committee or Cabinet of the Asanteman Nhyiamu, General Assembly of Asante rulers. Female stool occupants participated not only in the judicial and legislative processes, but also in the making and unmaking of war, and the distribution of land.[16]

Nigeria

Nigeria was granted independence from the British Empire on 1 October 1960. Before this, various forms and demonstrations against colonial rule took place. Women in Nigeria played a significant role during the movement for national independence. Before independence, women organized through movements like the Abeokuta Women's Revolt and the Women's War.

Margaret Ekpo

Margaret Ekpo was one of the most important female independence leaders in Nigeria. She worked toward more equitable civil rights and Nigerian independence.

Margaret Ekpo was a chief, a politician, and a nationalist independence leader. In 1945, Ekpo became involved in politics after her husband, Dr. John Udo Ekpo, became dissatisfied with the colonial administration's treatment of indigenous Nigerian doctors.[17] In British-ruled Nigeria, colonial rulers had concentrated the power on male chiefs. After the Women's War, she and other women were appointed to replace warrant chiefs. Ekpo was later appointed to the Eastern House of Chiefs in 1954. As a chief, she rallied women of different ethnic identities to demand women's rights and independence. She was arrested multiple times for instigating these rallies against British colonization. As a warrant chief, Ekpo passed a law that required police to employ more women in Enugu and Lagos.

Before WWII, Ekpo led the Aba Market Women Association in mobilizing women against colonial rule and patriarchal oppression. Following WWII, Ekpo and the Aba Market Women Association continued to mobilize using tactics such as buying up large quantities of scarce commodities and selling them only to registered members of the association who attended meetings regularly. She used this as an opportunity to educate women on the importance of independence and decolonisation.[18]

I would tell the women, do you know that your daughter can be the matron of that hospital? Do you know that your husband can be a District Officer (D.O.) or Resident? Do you know that if you join hands with us in the current political activities, your children could one day live in European quarters? I used to tell them these things every time and so they became interested...[19]

After being granted independence in 1960, Ekpo participated in the Constitutional Conferences in Lagos and London. Ekpo would also serve as a member of parliament in Nigeria from 1960 to 1966.[18] Ekpo's work also transcended national politics. She travelled out of Nigeria to represent Nigerian women at several international conferences such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union Conference (1964) and the World Women's International Domestic Federation Conference (1963).[18]

Along with her work in advocating civil and political rights, Ekpo left a legacy that notably lacked ethnic bias in a country where many forms of ethnicism and nepotism existed in politics.[20]

Tanzania

Late in 1961, the predecessor state of Tanganyika was established through the Tanganyika Independence Act of 1961. This act ended British rule and established self-government.[21] A new republican constitution was adopted one year later, in December 1962. This abolished the remaining role of the British monarchy in Tanganyika. A union with the neighbouring state of Zanzibar in 1964 led to the formation of the Republic of Tanzania.[22]

Bibi Titi Mohamed

Bibi Titi Mohamed was a prominent figure in African women's politics and the independence movement in Tanganyika, mobilizing women to join the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) political party.[21]

Born in Dar es Salaam, Bibi Titi rose to prominence unexpectedly. Having only four years of primary school education before her political career, she was a housewife and lead singer in a “Bamba'' group.[23] However, as the struggle for freedom amplified, Bibi Titi found a more active role in politics. She joined the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) in 1954.[21] Doing so, Bibi Titi became TANU's first female member.[23] She advocated for political freedom as well as the autonomy of women. By the end of the 1950s, Bibi Titi had become a prominent and powerful voice in politics, campaigning on behalf of freedom and development.[21] After gaining popularity, her voice became a powerful source of African feminist and anti-colonial sentiment.

After the establishment of the Republic of Tanzania in 1964, she represented the constituency of Rufiji in Parliament. She also served as a member of TANU's Central Committee and executive committee.[21] There, she continued to advocate for greater freedom and women's rights.

Bibi Titi left a legacy that calls on women to have greater self-respect and encourages women to strive for more education and equal treatment.[23] In a speech, Bibi Titi implored women to take advantage of their latent political influence saying:

I told you [women] that we want independence. And we can’t get independence if you don’t want to join the party. We have given birth to all these men. Women are the power in this world. We are the ones who give birth to the world…[23]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Makana, Selina (2019). "Women in Nationalist Movements". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.655. ISBN 978-0-19-027773-4.
  2. ↑ Akyeampong, Emmanuel Kwaku; Jr, Professor Henry Louis Gates (2012-02-02). Dictionary of African Biography. Oxford University Press. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-19-538207-5.
  3. ↑ Houda, B. (20 August 1997). "Le vert, le blanc, l'étoile et le croissant: Qui a conçu le drapeau algérien ?" [Green, white, star and crescent: Who designed the Algerian flag?] (in French). El Watan. Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  4. ↑ Kessous, Mustapha (23 January 2015). "Emilie Busquant, la plus algérienne des Françaises" [Emilie Busquant, the most Algerian of French women]. Le Monde (in French).
  5. 1 2 De Groot, Gerard; Peniston-Bird, Corinna (2000). A Soldier and a Woman: Sexual Integration in the Military. Longman. p. 247. ISBN 9780582414396.
  6. 1 2 Lazreg, Marnia. The Eloquence of Silence. London: Routledge, 1994 p. 120
  7. ↑ Turshen, Meredith. "Algerian Women in the Liberation Struggle and the Civil War: From Active Participants to Passive Victims". Social Research Vol. 69 No. 3 (Fall 2002) p. 889-911, p.890
  8. ↑ Vince, Natalya "Transgressing Boundaries: Gender, Race, Religion and 'Fracaises Musulmannes during Algerian War of Independence." French Historical Studies. Vol. 33 No. 3 (Summer 2010) pp. 445–474, p.445
  9. ↑ Vlazna, Vacy (November 9, 2017). "Inside the Battle of Algiers: Memoir of a Woman Freedom Fighter – Book Review". Palestine Chronicle. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  10. ↑ Drif, Zohra (2017). Inside the Battle of Algiers: Memoir of a Woman Freedom Fighter. Just World Books. ISBN 978-1682570753.
  11. ↑ Drew, Allison (2014-11-01). We Are No Longer in France: Communists in Colonial Algeria. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9781847799203.
  12. ↑ Whaley Eager, Paige (2016). From Freedom Fighters to Terrorists: Women and Political Violence. Routledge. p. 109. ISBN 978-1317132288.
  13. ↑ Rohlof, Caroline (2012). "Reality and Representation of Algerian Women: The Complex Dynamic of Heroines and Repressed Women". Illinois Wesleyan University.
  14. ↑ Karen, McGee (2015). "The Impact of Matriarchal Traditions on the Advancement of Ashanti Women in Ghana".
  15. ↑ Arhin, Kwame (2001). Transformations in Traditional Rule in Ghana: 1951–1996. Sedco. ISBN 978-9964-72-173-2.
  16. ↑ Arhin, Kwame, "The Political and Military Roles of Akan Women", in Christine Oppong (ed.), Female and Male in West Africa, London: Allen and Unwin, 1983.
  17. ↑ "Margaret Ekpo – Illustrated Women in History". 25 February 2016. Retrieved 2022-05-10.
  18. 1 2 3 Ukpokolo, Chinyere (2020). "Ekpo, Margaret". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.476. ISBN 978-0-19-027773-4.
  19. ↑ Effah-Attoe and Jaja, Margaret Ekpo: Lioness in Nigerian Politics, 21.
  20. ↑ Omonijo, B. Nigeria: Tribute—Margaret Ekpo - And the Woman Died, Vanguard Newspapers, (Lagos), October 2, 2006.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 Chachage, Chambi; Mgumia, Jacqueline (2020). "Bibi Titi Mohamed". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.473. ISBN 978-0-19-027773-4.
  22. ↑ The Union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar Act, 1964 (Act No. 22 of 1964) – via WIPO IP Portal.
  23. 1 2 3 4 Geiger, Susan (1987). "Women in Nationalist Struggle: Tanu Activists in Dar es Salaam". The International Journal of African Historical Studies. 20 (1): 1–26. doi:10.2307/219275. JSTOR 219275.
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