Will u be able to hold my hand as we walk through the sand and enjoying the beautiful land?
And will you talk to me for hours, about politics and powers,oh never mind the flowers!
Will you share my vision, consult me on every decision and mentor me with precision?
With your strong arms will you hold, standing behind me straight and bold until we go old?
Will you listen to the musical note, read every rhyme I wrote and sail with me in life's boat,
Will you bless me with a child, so tender and mild ...but still keep me wild.
Will I always pursue, caresses from you and love genuine and true,
Will you withstand all the moods, the cravings of foods and still deliver the goods?
Will you calm me with your voice, and leave me with no choice but to simply rejoice,
From me u never ran, so whenever u can,will you just be a man!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
The Joy of Womanhood!
In every aspect of life I believe there is a lesson to be learnt and I have learnt one over the years that I feel I need to share. Many call me a feminist, some an activist, but I am neither. I simply celebrate womanhood, which for me is a very central aspect to my identity, my success and my self-esteem. Womanhood is an aspect to be enjoyed. Now I only speak of womanhood so much because I have experienced the love and care of strong, powerful women at various stages of my life and it is to them that I pay tribute to today. For me to be able to keep this smile on my face I owe it to the “IRON LADIES” (I hope you watched the Liberian movie) of my life. I want to see my sisters excel. I want to see them rise up beyond patriarchy, beyond stereotypes, beyond stigma and discrimination, beyond inferiority complex, beyond all this, and just simply enjoy womanhood. The joy of giving birth, the joy of caring, the joy of laughing, the joy of having best friends, the joy of sharing pain and all the other joys that womanhood has to offer. As women we often focus on prejudices in our lives that prevent us from seeing the bigger picture. India Arie says “let’s shake free (of) this gravity of resentment and fly high on the wings of forgiveness”. Let us forgive those that look down upon women, that abuse physically and emotionally, that don’t honour womanhood for its beauty and grace.
Women have worries and insecurities that can cause one to do harmful things to them. I say NO! We need metanoia- a change of mind that will eventually change our actions. Winnie Mandela says, “If your man is a wizard, then you must become a witch”. Let us go side by side with our counterparts. Sometimes it requires depths of oppression to create heights of character and I believe that this is where the glory of women is going to manifest itself from. We are truly responsible for what we experience. Overlook the faults of others and overcome your own and let us forward on.
Women have worries and insecurities that can cause one to do harmful things to them. I say NO! We need metanoia- a change of mind that will eventually change our actions. Winnie Mandela says, “If your man is a wizard, then you must become a witch”. Let us go side by side with our counterparts. Sometimes it requires depths of oppression to create heights of character and I believe that this is where the glory of women is going to manifest itself from. We are truly responsible for what we experience. Overlook the faults of others and overcome your own and let us forward on.
Come and take a walk with me...
Come and take a walk with me
Walk with me through the avenues of my mind
let's walk hand in hand to keep our energies intertwined
Let's walk through the roughest of paths and even those refined
Let's see what is vague and even what's underlined
Come and take a walk with me
So we can explore the crazy thoughts in my head
So you can make sense of how I am feeling or what I've said
So you can understand why I smile when I lay my head
And the gushes of blood in my veins when I'm in bed,
Come take a walk with me
Through the dark alleys and crevices of that place,
That clutter in my head,there is no room there is no space,
To even pour my thoughts out till I cannot look at my face,
Yet with all those ills I maintain a remnant of grace.
Come take a walk with me
Through the mind that records all things
Where a melody is formed and a sorrowful voice sings
About dreams and thoughts of me wishing I had wings,
To fly so high,but I fall hard when reality rings.
Come and take a walk with me
Take me away from all this filth around
Take me so far so that I no longer feel so bound
Walk with me through your mind so I can hear a different sound
And with you always by my side I know your love will surround.
Just come and take a walk with me!
Walk with me through the avenues of my mind
let's walk hand in hand to keep our energies intertwined
Let's walk through the roughest of paths and even those refined
Let's see what is vague and even what's underlined
Come and take a walk with me
So we can explore the crazy thoughts in my head
So you can make sense of how I am feeling or what I've said
So you can understand why I smile when I lay my head
And the gushes of blood in my veins when I'm in bed,
Come take a walk with me
Through the dark alleys and crevices of that place,
That clutter in my head,there is no room there is no space,
To even pour my thoughts out till I cannot look at my face,
Yet with all those ills I maintain a remnant of grace.
Come take a walk with me
Through the mind that records all things
Where a melody is formed and a sorrowful voice sings
About dreams and thoughts of me wishing I had wings,
To fly so high,but I fall hard when reality rings.
Come and take a walk with me
Take me away from all this filth around
Take me so far so that I no longer feel so bound
Walk with me through your mind so I can hear a different sound
And with you always by my side I know your love will surround.
Just come and take a walk with me!
Friday, September 9, 2011
"Get your money up"
I really sympathize with men these days with all this women empowerment going on. I was listening to Keisha Cole and Keri Hilson’s song “Get your money up” which is simply saying, look, I have my money so you have to be bigger than that to even come close to impressing me. Keri sings“ I aint your average girl, I been all around the world, if you wanna wow me then get your money up”. Talk about pressure. And there is all this talk about empowerment that has gripped everyone, which is really a great thing I suppose, but what is it really doing for power dynamics in relationships. Had a conversation with a friend the other day who was simply saying he would rather date older women because they know what they want and can act upon it. “Really?” said Tari. “Yes”, said Tari’s friend, “they can just book a hotel room when they want to have sex, or just take me for lunch when they want to talk” said Tari’s Friend.
So is it really that older women know what they want, or they are just more economically empowered to be able to make decisions that suit them? “So if I am 19 years old (he he he) and I have lots of money, and can book a hotel room and take you out for lunch when I want, would you consider me?” Tari said. To which Tari’s friend reacted…bwai bwai ( blink blink)
Financial security is something that women need and I think that is universal. In my opinion, financial security is not about having a fat bank account and “getting your money up”, but just knowing that there is a fall back plan when I cannot hold my own. So what happens when there is no fall back plan? Or if the fall back plan is not enough to sustain what is required? Has our society become so money oriented that we have even forgotten the core of what relationships are all about? But we also have to be honest and agree with Marshall Munhumumwe when he sang “ane mari ndiye mukuru” ( whoever has money is the bigger person). My former boss always said to me money makes things happen; so always make sure that you have it. If you want to travel you cannot go ahead without money, if you want to eat you have to have money. To survive you have to have money. So economic empowerment is necessary for one to be in a decision making position. So then the problem comes when the women are able to make decisions that they wouldn’t have ordinarily made if they didn’t have money. Which also explains why many men get away with so many ills in marriages because they are the breadwinners, and how do you bite the hand that feeds you? However this sometimes leaves us in compromising situations because you are left with no options but to settle for your pathetic situation because you have nothing better to turn to.
I am definitely for economic empowerment, especially for women so that they can make informed decisions for the right reasons. I am also for economic empowerment for men, because sometimes we assume that they are economically empowered or know how to empower themselves, yet some really don’t, and that compromises their roles as fathers and “breadwinners” (in quotes because I feel that these days breadwinning is gender neutral).
So hey… GET YOUR MONEY UP!
So is it really that older women know what they want, or they are just more economically empowered to be able to make decisions that suit them? “So if I am 19 years old (he he he) and I have lots of money, and can book a hotel room and take you out for lunch when I want, would you consider me?” Tari said. To which Tari’s friend reacted…bwai bwai ( blink blink)
Financial security is something that women need and I think that is universal. In my opinion, financial security is not about having a fat bank account and “getting your money up”, but just knowing that there is a fall back plan when I cannot hold my own. So what happens when there is no fall back plan? Or if the fall back plan is not enough to sustain what is required? Has our society become so money oriented that we have even forgotten the core of what relationships are all about? But we also have to be honest and agree with Marshall Munhumumwe when he sang “ane mari ndiye mukuru” ( whoever has money is the bigger person). My former boss always said to me money makes things happen; so always make sure that you have it. If you want to travel you cannot go ahead without money, if you want to eat you have to have money. To survive you have to have money. So economic empowerment is necessary for one to be in a decision making position. So then the problem comes when the women are able to make decisions that they wouldn’t have ordinarily made if they didn’t have money. Which also explains why many men get away with so many ills in marriages because they are the breadwinners, and how do you bite the hand that feeds you? However this sometimes leaves us in compromising situations because you are left with no options but to settle for your pathetic situation because you have nothing better to turn to.
I am definitely for economic empowerment, especially for women so that they can make informed decisions for the right reasons. I am also for economic empowerment for men, because sometimes we assume that they are economically empowered or know how to empower themselves, yet some really don’t, and that compromises their roles as fathers and “breadwinners” (in quotes because I feel that these days breadwinning is gender neutral).
So hey… GET YOUR MONEY UP!
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
They are human too!
I was watching my favourite station over the weekend (ZTV) and saw snippets of a live performance at one gala by Sulumani Chimbetu. During his performance, Webster Shamu and a bunch of other ministers got on stage and joined in the routine that Sulu and his dancers were doing. It was quite hilarious, but very entertaining and I thought to myself, wow, they are having fun, just like any other normal human being would, in the same situation. It then reminded me of a clip I watched of Obama swimming with his daughters, or the show that used to be on ZTV a long time ago where they would go to the president’s house and show the first lady cooking sadza! ( WHAT? Yes, they did). And most recently, the sad loss of Retired General Mujuru showed a side of our Vice president that never crossed my mind. For the first time I actually just looked at her as an ordinary woman who lost her husband. I mean even shots of her in her home with pictures on the walls, posing with her daughters and husband, and you know what…that’s quite normal.
So where am I going with this? Ok, oftentimes we forget that the people that we look up to are human. That means that what they do is exactly what I am capable of doing and that can be two pronged. First, not to justify any wrongs, but people can make mistakes and just because they are in the limelight they seem exacerbated. Its like when we see celebrities divorcing it becomes such a big deal yet there are thousands of other divorce cases happening hourly and even more precarious situations. And then secondly, acknowledging the human nature of some of the people that I look up to just reminded me that I too could easily be that person. If Oprah came from humble beginnings and is what she is today, what more me, who I must say, had all that I wished for while I was growing up. I mean the only thing that can stop me from achieving what she did is merely the limits of my imagination. If the president eats sadza ( well so they claim) and I eat it too, then what separates us then is just passion, determination and hard work right?
So where am I going with this? Ok, oftentimes we forget that the people that we look up to are human. That means that what they do is exactly what I am capable of doing and that can be two pronged. First, not to justify any wrongs, but people can make mistakes and just because they are in the limelight they seem exacerbated. Its like when we see celebrities divorcing it becomes such a big deal yet there are thousands of other divorce cases happening hourly and even more precarious situations. And then secondly, acknowledging the human nature of some of the people that I look up to just reminded me that I too could easily be that person. If Oprah came from humble beginnings and is what she is today, what more me, who I must say, had all that I wished for while I was growing up. I mean the only thing that can stop me from achieving what she did is merely the limits of my imagination. If the president eats sadza ( well so they claim) and I eat it too, then what separates us then is just passion, determination and hard work right?
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