by Bakang Tshepo Moetse
On trend with all things in 2020, this year’s Womxn’s Month did not arrive in its usual sass and celebratory splendour. Instead, August came, and we were found desperately wanting for that breathtakingly bright and beautiful, lumo pink bow this month used to come wrapped in. That memorable creation we loved, fashioned out of the finest satin, and subtly scented with Dolce & Gabanna’s Light Blue. Contrastingly this year, a short stroll on the social media streets starkly reveals that despite even the best of attempts by Big Brands, the gees is hardly anywhere to be found. Not especially if you are a Black womxn living in South Africa.
Why is this the case?
Well for starters, though South Africa, and the whole world is grappling with the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we as womxn find ourselves disproportionately affected. According to Un Women, despite the fact that womxn are leading the on the frontlines, and in providing care in homes, we “are at increased risk of infection and loss of livelihood, and existing trends point to less access to sexual and reproductive health and rise in domestic violence during crisis”. To this end, UN Women has even launched a campaign now referred to as the Shadow Campaign. This campaign intended to draw attention to the spike in the abuse and murder of womxn at the hands of men, during lockdown across the globe. In this moment, we as Black womxn, find ourselves forcibly reminded of how intersectionality tragically plays out in the story of our lives. As such, in light of these disheartening realities, and the vivid memories of our South African sisters who were killed during lockdown, it is not surprising that we are not in the mood to pop champagne, this Womxn’s Month.
Is it all doom and gloom?
Whilst the situation is undeniably heartbreaking and exhausting for us, it can be argued that this may be the best position we have found ourselves in in many years. This is because whilst the pandemic has undisputedly exacerbated and highlighted the inequity of Black womxn’s lived experiences, the space to call out these inequities has now availed itself. In the current COVID-19 climate, and the wake of #BlackLivesMatter, the space has opened up for all of our truths to be told, and to be heard. Truths about the seemingly insignificant but consistently damaging injustices we face daily, in our workplaces and homes. Truths about the egregious ways in which our bodies continue to be brutalized. Truths about how womxn’s voices and histories have been erased from mainstream narratives about the evolution of the South African society.
So what is my one wish for Womxn’s Month in 2020?
My wish this Womxn’s Month is that we as Black Womxn, would call to mind the courage, bravery and resilience of the great womxn upon whose shoulders we stand today, and speak up. Who are these great womxn? They are they womxn from the iconic March in 1956, they are those in the Bloemfontein Antipass Campaign in 1913, and so many others who came before and after them. Because they spoke up, and they acted, we can be here today, occupying rooms and spaces that they were locked out of.
Whilst it may seem terrifying, or inconsequential, every time we speak up for ourselves, we honour these womxn. When we speak up, in both big and small ways, it is a revolutionary act that demonstrates that we are worthy of being fought for. My hope is that for as long as there is Work to be done in achieving true equality for womxn, that we would not grow weary of speaking up and calling for justice. And not just during Womxn’s month, but every month, and every day. As Fatima Meer, one of the founders of the Federation of South African Women so aptly puts it, “Regardless of how many years we have spent in this life, we must get up and shout.”
