African Women Speak Out
by Michelle Odhiambo
"What’s your name and where do you come from?"
"I'm Annie and I'm from Tanzania."
"Do you use contraceptives?"
"Yes I do"
This is just one of many inquiries I asked a group of women from a vast range of countries across Africa. As I sat there -- with a video camera, lights, and my list of questions -- I couldn’t help but contemplate how far African women have come in the world. They have moved from being wives, mothers and slaves to become students, professionals, activists, and shapers of their own future. During the course of the interviews I was assured that many African women have taken control of their lives both in the private and public sphere and aren’t letting it go.
With the help of Blue Planet United and Webster University Leiden, I made documentary films with these wonderful, inspiring, courageous and uplifting African women. It was a windy and cold day in Leiden, the Netherlands, and it seemed like we couldn't have been farther from our homelands. But the women were happy to answer all my questions forthrightly and thoughtfully, and to have their voices heard. Issues about marriage, family planning and contraceptives were important to all of them. These women knew when and how many children they wanted, which was amazing knowing that men had a final say on these issues just a decade ago. Subjects that used to be taboo such as sex before marriage were also talked about in detail.
Educated African women have taken control not only in the private sphere but also the public sphere. These women knew exactly what they wanted to do after their studies and where their careers were headed. They had plans, goals, dreams and aspirations which they were working towards. They were not just attending university or careers to make money, they were all instilled with a purpose to make a difference in the world. On the one hand the progress African women are making may seem unsurprising to many people in Western countries because in the west women have had some level of empowerment for some time. On the other hand, these women are completely counter to the images of Africans that the Western media usually presents.
Far from being primitive, tribal and submissive, these women are intelligent, independent, sophisticated, urban and worldly. It's true that poverty and oppression is still far too prevalent in much of Africa, and for any African woman to step from these shadows is a huge milestone that they are proud of. But the trend towards ubanization that we see in the West is also happening in Africa, and the women I spoke to represent the new African woman who lives in the city, attends university, has a career, marries later in life, has fewer children, and is in control of her own life. She is aiming for senior positions in politics and business, and she is getting there.
I see myself as part of this new class. I am from Nairobi, Kenya. I worked in the television industry there before moving to the Netherlands to get my bachelor's degree in Media Communications at Webster University. When I finish my degree I plan to go back to Kenya to be a television and film director. When talking to the other women about their dreams and aspirations, I could understand and identify with them. Although they were incredibly diverse, representing the countries of Kenya, Mozambique, Ghana, Tunisia, and Tanzania, and comprising complexions from very dark to very light skin (yes, there are white Africans!), we all shared things in common, both as women and as Africans. The collection of short films I made called "African Women Speak Out" is a selection of our conversations about the issues we care about.
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