The world is on fire. Empire is crumbling everywhere. Empire is responding as it knows best – silencing, oppressive, leveraging all the isms, and the mighty patriarchy, to remind us how mighty empire is – and how it can crush us all with its boots, like the ants we are.
A long time ago, I read a story about the Elephant and the Ant – with a lesson about never underestimating others or yourself, especially when faced with a bully. Convening in Barbados, hosted by the Black Feminist Fund, in community with 300+ Black feminists from around the world – I was reminded of how powerful and true this lesson is. In an age of empire, Black feminist movements are like ants.
In the face of a bully, we are resourcing, resisting, nourishing, together, always together.
This was even more palpable as we showed up in Barbados to dream and build black feminist worlds. Some of us bring theory, others bring art, some bring fire, some bring grounding, some bring music, some bring language and poetry, some plant and sow seeds, nourishing our earth. We all bring something – big and small – in service of our movements. We cry together, mourn together, get angry together, laugh together, dance together, love together – in service of our collective joy, liberation and freedoms. Empire seeks to break us – telling us that these bites of magic are insufficient to crush it.
Empire, we are here, we are together, we are powerful, beautiful, magical and we will keep resisting your oppressions. We will build Black feminist worlds – drawing energy from each other, loving each other even as you rain down bombs and try to crush us with your boots.
Black Feminist Movements, I love you. You are beautiful, you are magical. Here’s to joy, liberation, I love you. You are beautiful, you are magical. Here’s to joy, liberation, and all our freedoms.
Nadia Ahidjo is a Pan-African feminist storyteller and development professional. She is currently the Director of Partnerships and Philanthropy at the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF). She is a Senior Advisor for the Black Feminist Fund’s network of Black Feminists in Philanthropy (BFiP). In her free time, Nadia loves writing feminist reflections, short-story fiction, and children’s stories. Her children’s books are distributed by the African Books Collective, and her stories are available at www.nadiahidjo.com