FEMINIST AFRICAFEMINIST 19 A publication of the Websites Issue 19 | 2014 African Gender Institute www.agi.ac.za/journals University of Cape Town www.agi.ac.za PAN-AFRICANISM AND FEMINISM Harry Oppenheimer Institute Building Engineering Mall University of Cape Town Private Bag, Rondebosch 7701 South Africa Tel: +27 21 650 2970 Fax: +27 21 650 4840 E-mail: [email protected] Pan-Africanism and Feminism Cover photograph: Women Demanding the Release of Angela Feminist Africa is a continental gender studies journal Davis from Prison in Somali capital Xamar (Mogadishu), 1972. produced by the community of feminist scholars. Photographer unknown. It provides a platform for intellectual and activist Source: http://sinbarras.org/2013/03/12/88/ research, dialogue and strategy. Feminist Africa attends to the complex and diverse dynamics of creativity and resistance that have emerged in postcolonial Africa, and the manner in which these are shaped by the shifting global geopolitical configurations of power. It is currently based at the African Gender Institute in Cape Town. A full text version of this journal is available on the Feminist Africa website: http://www.feministafrica.org This publication has been printed on Cocoon Offset, which is a 100% recycled product and is one of the most environmentally friendly papers available. Feminist Africa 19 Pan-Africanism and Feminism Issue 19: September 2014 First published in 2014 by the African Gender Institute All Africa House University of Cape Town Private Bag Rondebosch 7701 © in published edition: African Gender Institute, University of Cape Town, South Africa, 2013 ISSN: 1726-4596 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording and/or otherwise without permission in writing from the publisher. Published with the support of the African Women’s Development Fund. Typesetting, printing and cover design: COMPRESS.dsl | www.compress.dsl.com Cover photograph: Women Demanding the Release of Angela Davis from Prison in Somali capital Xamar (Mogadishu), 1972. Photographer unknown. Source: http://sinbarras.org/2013/03/12/88/ Distribution: AGI staff Feminist Africa is a scholarly journal accredited by the South African Department of Education. ii | Feminist Africa 19 Editorial policy Editor Feminist Africa is guided by a profound Amina Mama commitment to transforming gender hierarchies in Africa, and seeks to redress injustice and Issue 19 editors inequality in its content and design, and by Amina Mama its open-access and continentally-targeted Hakima Abbas distribution strategy. Feminist Africa targets gender researchers, students, educators, Reviews editor women’s organisations and feminist activists Simidele Dosekun throughout Africa. It works to develop a feminist intellectual community by promoting Copy editors and enhancing African women’s intellectual Anne V. Adams work. To overcome the access and distribution Danai Mupotsa challenges facing conventional academic Simidele Dosekun publications, Feminist Africa deploys a dual dissemination strategy, using the Internet Editorial team as a key tool for knowledge-sharing and Jane Bennett communication, while making hard copies Selina Mudavanhu available to those based at African institutions. Kylie Thomas Two issues are produced per annum, in accordance with themes specified in the calls Editorial advisory group for contributions. The editorial advisory group of Feminist The editorial team can be contacted at Africa consists of scholars and researchers, [email protected] located in different fields in the social sciences and humanities, who offer their expertise Acknowledgements to the development and dissemination of The Feminist Africa team acknowledges Feminist Africa as an innovative African- the intellectual input of the community of focused journal. African feminist scholars and the Editorial Advisory group members are: Advisory Board. Akosua Adamako-Ampofo, Bibi Bakare- We thank the African Women’s Yusuf, Teresa Barnes, Kum-Kum Bhavnani, Development Fund for their financial support Hope Chigudu, Tsitsi Dangaremba, Carole towards production and publication. Boyce Davies, Simidele Dosekun, Amanda Gouws, Pregs Govender, Pumla Dineo Disclaimer Gqola, Shireen Hassim, Desiree Lewis, Zine The views expressed by contributors to Magubane, Takyiwaa Manuh, Helen Moffett, Feminist Africa are not necessarily those Chandra Mohanty, Patricia Mohammed, of the Editors, Editorial Advisory Board, the Patricia McFadden, Ruth Ochieng, Margo African Gender Institute, or our partners. 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All contributions must tel: 27 31 261 2320 register the centrality of feminist politics and fax: 27 31 261 6053 critical gender analysis to past, present and email: [email protected] ongoing processes of social, political and cultural change in Africa. We regret that we Clarke’s Bookshop cannot respond to all unsolicited submissions. 211 Long Street Please submit contributions electronically Cape Town 8001 to [email protected]. We regret that South Africa we do not currently have the capacity to tel: 27 21 423 5739 consider contributions in languages other than fax: 27 21 423 6441 English. email: [email protected] All submissions to Feminist Africa must web: www.clarkesbooks.co.za use the FA style sheet, and should not include graphics. International subscriptions Feature articles should not exceed 6 500 EBSCO Subscription Services words. Other contributions should not exceed P O Box 749 2 000 words. Cresta 2118 South Africa Editorial procedure tel: 27 11 678 4416 Contributions submitted to Feminist Africa fax: 27 11 678 4464 are considered by the editorial team. Feature email: [email protected] articles are peer-reviewed by readers with web: www.ebsco.com/home/southafrica expertise in relevant areas. Editorial discretion in relation to submitted work resides with the editorial team. Copyright and reproduction The authors and artists hold individual copyright. Overall copyright is held by the African Gender Institute. Material, artwork extracts and articles from Feminist Africa may not be reproduced in any form of print or electronic publication without the permission of the Editors, who can be contacted at [email protected]. Requests for permission to reproduce material will not be granted until one calendar year after first online publication in Feminist Africa has lapsed. Feminist Africa 19 | v Contents Editorial: Feminism and pan-Africanism – by Hakima Abbas and Amina Mama 1 Features African feminism in the 21st Century: A reflection on Uganda’s victories, battles and reversals – by Josephine Ahikire 7 Promise and betrayal: Women fighters and national liberation in Guinea Bissau – by Aliou Ly 24 Reflections on the Sudanese women’s movement – by Amira Osman 43 The first Mrs Garvey and others: Pan-Africanism and feminism in the early 20th Century British colonial Caribbean – by Rhoda Reddock 58 Pan-Africanism, transnational black feminism and the limits of culturalist analyses in African gender discourses – by Carole Boyce Davies 78 Standpoints Being pan-African: A continental research agenda – by Dzodzi Tsikata 94 Unnatural and Un-African: Contesting queer-phobia by Africa’s political leadership – by Kenne Mwikya 98 vi | Feminist Africa 19 Reviews Sojourning for freedom: Black Women, American Communism, and the Making of Black Left Feminism – by Maxine Craig 106 Women, Sexuality and the Political Power of Pleasure – by Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah 109 Queer African Reader – by Danai S. Mupotsa 113 Daughters of the Niger Delta – by Simidele Dosekun 121 Contributors 125 Editorial | 1 Editorial: Feminism and pan-Africanism Hakima Abbas and Amina Mama In May 2013, the African Union (AU) officially celebrated its 50th anniversary, adopting ‘Pan-Africanism and Renaissance’ as their theme. Marked with a lavish gala, the summit brought dignitaries from all over the world, the occasion saw Africa’s Heads of State congratulating themselves on rising Gross Domestic Products (GDPs), visibly excited at the prospects of increased foreign investment. Their enthusiasm contrasts starkly with more sobering realities that belie pan-Africanist visions. Instead of the liberation pursued by generations of Africans, the continent has entered the 21st century with increasing inequalities and social abjection facing the majority of Africa’s peoples, crudely indexed by poor performances on the Millennium Development Goals (2005-2015). Africa’s lack of progress on what might be better referred to as the “Minimal Development Goals,” reveals the unpalatable scenario