{"id":1960,"date":"2016-01-25T06:00:22","date_gmt":"2016-01-25T11:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/?p=1960"},"modified":"2016-01-22T14:59:50","modified_gmt":"2016-01-22T19:59:50","slug":"democratic-womanism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thequeenofmyself\/2016\/01\/democratic-womanism.html","title":{"rendered":"Democratic Womanism"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we gather our information, facts, feelings, knowings, hearts, minds, energies, dreams, visions, intentions, actions\u00a0and vibrations for the direction of the elections that are upon us, please review this poem by one of the US’s prominent contemporary poets.\u00a0 She echoes the Mother, Queen, GrandMother, Goddess, Ingenue, Amazon, AnimalPackMother, StarWoman\u00a0and Crone in all of us.\u00a0 Mahalo nui loa, Alice, and EveryWoman.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

This is an excerpt<\/a> of Alice Walker’s poem as she was interviewed by Amy Goodman on Democracy NOW! on September 28th, 2012:<\/p>\n

“Democratic Womanism”: Poet and Activist Alice Walker on Women Rising, Obama and the 2012 Election<\/strong><\/p>\n

…
\nALICE WALKER:<\/strong> Yes, I\u2019d like to. It\u2019s dedicated to Wangari Maathai, who remembered the beautiful bountifulness of her land before the colonial invaders laid waste to it, and she resolved to bring it back to health by planting trees. And as you know, she died last year. Rest in Well Done; beloved sister of our clan.<\/p>\n

“Democratic Womanism”<\/strong><\/p>\n

You ask me why I smile
\n<\/em>when you tell me you intend
\n<\/em>in the coming national elections
\n<\/em>to hold your nose
\n<\/em>and vote for the lesser of two evils.
\n<\/em>There are more than two evils out there,
\n<\/em>is one reason I smile.
\n<\/em>Another is that our old buddy Nostradamus
\n<\/em>comes to mind, with his fearful
\n<\/em>400 year old prophecy: that our world
\n<\/em>and theirs too
\n<\/em>(our “enemies” \u2013 lots of kids included there)
\n<\/em>will end (by nuclear nakba or holocaust)
\n<\/em>in our lifetime. Which makes the idea of elections
\n<\/em>and the billions of dollars wasted on them
\n<\/em>somewhat fatuous.
\n<\/em>A Southerner of Color,
\n<\/em>my people held the vote
\n<\/em>very dear
\n<\/em>while others, for centuries,
\n<\/em>merely appeared to play
\n<\/em>with it.
\n<\/em>One thing I can assure
\n<\/em>you of is this:
\n<\/em>I will never betray such pure hearts
\n<\/em>by voting for evil
\n<\/em>even if it were microscopic
\n<\/em>which, as you can see in any newscast
\n<\/em>no matter the slant,
\n<\/em>it is not.
\n<\/em>I want something else;
\n<\/em>a different system
\n<\/em>entirely.
\n<\/em>One not seen
\n<\/em>on this earth
\n<\/em>for thousands of years. If ever.
\n<\/em>Democratic Womanism.<\/em><\/p>\n

Notice how this word has “man” right in the middle of it?
\n<\/em>That\u2019s one reason I like it. He is right there, front and center. But he is surrounded.<\/em><\/p>\n

I want to vote and work for a way of life
\n<\/em>that honors the feminine;
\n<\/em>a way that acknowledges
\n<\/em>the theft of the wisdom
\n<\/em>female and dark Mother leadership
\n<\/em>might have provided our spaceship
\n<\/em>all along.
\n<\/em>I am not thinking
\n<\/em>of a talking head
\n<\/em>kind of gal:
\n<\/em>happy to be mixing
\n<\/em>it up
\n<\/em>with the baddest
\n<\/em>bad boys
\n<\/em>on the planet
\n<\/em>her eyes a slit
\n<\/em>her mouth a zipper.
\n<\/em>No, I am speaking of true
\n<\/em>regime change.
\n<\/em>Where women rise
\n<\/em>to take their place
\n<\/em>en masse
\n<\/em>at the helm
\n<\/em>of earth\u2019s frail and failing ship;
\n<\/em>where each thousand years
\n<\/em>of our silence
\n<\/em>is examined
\n<\/em>with regret,
\n<\/em>and the cruel manner in which our values
\n<\/em>of compassion and kindness
\n<\/em>have been ridiculed
\n<\/em>and suppressed
\n<\/em>brought to bear on the disaster
\n<\/em>of the present time.
\n<\/em>The past must be examined closely, I believe, before we can leave
\n<\/em>it there.
\n<\/em>I am thinking of Democratic, and, perhaps
\n<\/em>Socialist, Womanism.
\n<\/em>For who else knows so deeply
\n<\/em>how to share but Mothers
\n<\/em>and Grandmothers? Big sisters
\n<\/em>and Aunts?
\n<\/em>To love
\n<\/em>and adore
\n<\/em>both female and male?
\n<\/em>Not to mention those in between.
\n<\/em>To work at keeping
\n<\/em>the entire community
\n<\/em>fed, educated
\n<\/em>and safe?
\n<\/em>Democratic womanism,
\n<\/em>Democratic Socialist
\n<\/em>Womanism,
\n<\/em>would have as its icons
\n<\/em>such fierce warriors
\n<\/em>for good as
\n<\/em>Vandana Shiva
\n<\/em>Aung San Suu Kyi,
\n<\/em>Wangari Maathai
\n<\/em>Harriet Tubman
\n<\/em>Yoko Ono
\n<\/em>Frida Kahlo
\n<\/em>Angela Davis
\n<\/em>& Barbara Lee:
\n<\/em>With new ones always rising, wherever you look.<\/em><\/p>\n

You are also on this list, but it is so long (Isis would appear midway) that I must stop or be unable to finish the poem! So just know I\u2019ve stood you in a circle that includes Marian Wright Edelman, Amy Goodman, Sojourner Truth, Gloria Steinem and Mary McLeod Bethune. John Brown, Frederick Douglass, John Lennon and Howard Zinn are there. Happy to be surrounded!<\/p>\n

There is no system
\n<\/em>There is no system
\n<\/em>now in place
\n<\/em>that can change
\n<\/em>the disastrous course
\n<\/em>the Earth is on.
\n<\/em>Who can doubt this?
\n<\/em>The male leaders
\n<\/em>of Earth
\n<\/em>appear to have abandoned
\n<\/em>their very senses
\n<\/em>though most appear
\n<\/em>to live now
\n<\/em>entirely
\n<\/em>in their heads.
\n<\/em>They murder humans and other
\n<\/em>animals
\n<\/em>forests and rivers and mountains
\n<\/em>every day
\n<\/em>they are in office
\n<\/em>and never seem
\n<\/em>to notice it.
\n<\/em>They eat and drink devastation.
\n<\/em>Women of the world,
\n<\/em>Women of the world,
\n<\/em>Is this devastation Us?
\n<\/em>Would we kill whole continents for oil
\n<\/em>(or anything else)
\n<\/em>rather than limit
\n<\/em>the number of consumer offspring we produce
\n<\/em>and learn how to make our own fire?
\n<\/em>Democratic Womanism.
\n<\/em>Democratic Socialist Womanism.
\n<\/em>A system of governance
\n<\/em>we can dream and imagine and build together. One that recognizes
\n<\/em>at least six thousand years
\n<\/em>of brutally enforced complicity
\n<\/em>in the assassination
\n<\/em>of Mother Earth, but foresees six thousand years
\n<\/em>ahead of us when we will not submit.
\n<\/em>What will we need? A hundred years
\n<\/em>at least to plan: (five hundred will be handed us
\n<\/em>gladly
\n<\/em>when the planet is scared enough)
\n<\/em>in which circles of women meet,
\n<\/em>organize ourselves, and,
\n<\/em>allied with men
\n<\/em>brave enough to stand with women,
\n<\/em>men brave enough to stand with women,
\n<\/em>nurture our planet to a degree of health.
\n<\/em>And without apology \u2014-
\n<\/em>(impossible to make
\n<\/em>a bigger mess than has been made already) -\u2014
\n<\/em>devote ourselves, heedless of opposition,
\n<\/em>to tirelessly serving and resuscitating Our Mother ship
\n<\/em>and with gratitude
\n<\/em>for Her care of us
\n<\/em>worshipfully commit
\n<\/em>to
\n<\/em>rehabilitating it.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

* ***
\nDonna Henes is the author of The Queen of My Self: Stepping into Sovereignty in Midlife<\/em>.<\/a> She offers counseling and upbeat, practical and ceremonial guidance for individual women and groups who want to enjoy the fruits of an enriching, influential, purposeful, passionate, and powerful maturity. Consult the MIDLIFE MIDWIFE\u2122<\/a><\/p>\n

The Queen welcomes questions concerning all issues of interest to women in their mature years. Send your inquiries to thequeenofmyself@aol.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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