Skeletal remains were found in 1974 in Ethiopia from a female hominid of the Australopithecus afarensis species, who has been called Lucy and who is said to be one of our earliest potential ancestors.
The remains date back some three million years. While some religions only date the world to be a few thousand years old, scientists estimate that Earth is over four billion years old. Whether one chooses to believe religion or science, or a little of both, Lucy is a testament to the indomitable nature of women. Lucy reminds us that we have been here since the dawn of human history and have survived. We have endured difficulties and threats to our survival and have thrived even in the most difficult of circumstances. We continue to evolve in our thoughts, constantly challenging the status quo and proving time and time again that there is noth
ing that can silence or destroy us. We are to be celebrated.
While it is excellent and necessary that a special day has been set aside to celebrate and honour women, I do believe that every day of our lives we should be celebrated. This year, the theme for International Women’s Day, which was observed on March 8th, was ‘Be Bold for Change.’ For me, ‘Be Bold for Change’ means being unafraid to confront the powers that be for what is just and progressive; not only when it comes to how some members of our societies still view women, but general issues that affect us as a whole. It means standing firm to challenge ideas that have written a tale that says that women are still somehow less than. It means being unafraid to confront the fears we may have in our lives. It means taking up the torch and saying I am resilient, I am important and I deserve to be recognized. It means I do not fear change and I will create change by taking a stand. It means I can achieve anything I put my mind to; I could be a Lucy where when only fragments of my physical being exist, my essence would leave an everlasting mark on the world, saying that she was here and she was somebody and that she did not only drift through life, but she lived.
I spent time musing on March 8th. Not only was I thinking about current situations in my life, but I tried to recall some significant events in my life as a Guyanese woman. My first memory is of me around age one or two. I remember my mother’s laughing face calling me on an afternoon in the street and me run-walking to her.
The next thing I remember was my first day of nursery school. Three-years-old and unaccustomed to being away from my mother, I screamed and cried as she walked away, leaving me in the hands of the teacher who happened to be my Godmother. Next thing I know is that I was rolling on the ground being whipped because I would not stop crying for my mother. I figure the trauma of that experience made it one of the clearest memories of early childhood.
Primary school years were great for me in terms of academics because I was always at the top of my class. I also developed lasting friendships with my peers. But it was also during that time that I suffered one of the greatest losses in my life with the death of my father.
What I did not want to remember were the days of bullying during secondary school. It was a time in my life where I existed as a shadow of the potential that was in me; where my self-esteem was crippled because I accepted the lie that told me I was less than because of the way I looked.
But then there was liberation. There was coming into knowledge and finding myself. Finding my voice. Knowing that I was worthy and important. Knowing that I was beautiful on the inside and out and my talent could shine and make a difference in the world.
Summarizing the life events mentioned tells that my life has been a mixture of happiness, sadness and some trauma. But it is what many other Guyanese women experience.
In early childhood, we are oblivious to the challenges that await us. We are innocent and life is like a cool afternoon running into the arms of a smiling mother. But then we might suffer loss or we might be beaten for missing our mother, thus introducing us into the cycle of violence that is a fixture of our society.
On Wednesday, I attended the International Women’s Day programme hosted by the University of Guyana in collaboration with UNICEF at the Theatre Guild and the discussions centered on domestic violence. Research that was presented spoke to how little success there is in prosecuting perpetrators of domestic violence because sufferers are often too traumatized to continue with the cases, are intimidated and ultimately live in fear. It made me think about how much our childhood experiences influence the women we become. It also made me question the effects of the early introduction to violence that many of us experience, as well as how differently we deal with our experiences. While fear and desperation would trap some women in lives of abuse, others never tolerate it. While some of us will settle for a partner who we depend on to exist, there are others who will stand on their own. While many of us experience our liberation because of knowledge and education, and meet wonderful partners who would never hurt us and with whom we are equal, many of us never escape the trap of male dominance. Many of us never tap into our potential.
In the early afternoon on March 8th, I watched an elderly woman moving slowly along Main Street, bent over and appearing like she was carrying the weight of the world on her rounded back. It made me sad for I thought about how life creeps up on us–youth escapes us and before long we are either expired, or old and waiting to expire.
But like Lucy the memories of us do not have to die. While we embrace our boldness, and start revolutions, the spirit of Lucy lives in us. We must battle through time and changes and continue to show that we are survivors; that despite it all we will leave our mark on the world.
