African Women's Creativity

Edmonia Lewis was the first African American sculptor to achieve national recognition.

Born in New York State, Edmonia Lewis was the child of an African American father and a Chippewa Indian mother. Even her birth date is in dispute, but she was probably born in 1843 or 1845.

She studied at Oberlin College in Ohio and later in Italy, where she developed her neoclassical style.

While at Oberlin, she was accused by two white girls of trying to poison them. She was brutally beaten by vigilantes and subjected to ongoing verbal abuse. She was later acquitted, but it is said that Oberlin subsequently refused to allow her admission, and she left without graduating.

Her work demonstrated her objections to slavery and support for abolition, and included a sculpture of abolitionist John Browne and tje sculpture "Forever Free", which depicted an enslaved African man breaking his chains.

We will soon be publishing interviews with Black authors in More Black Success. For more info and to order your free copy, visit: More Black Success.

See also: Books for Truth-Seekers.

The Images of Black Women Film Festival is an international event which celebrates and promotes women of African descent in cinema, whether on screen or behind the camera.

These are just a few of the films shown at the festival in 2009. This lens will also explore other aspects of African women's creativity.

Alma has worked hard to keep a roof over her head and that of her daughter, Rainbow.

Into their life comes Aunt Ruby, a singer and performer who has been living in Paris for ten years. Her arrival brings with it the winds of change.

Rainbow is at an age where she is coming into her sexuality. Alma has not noticed this, and Rainbow is at pains to ensure nobody notices it - neither her mother nor the boys she hangs out with while skipping school.

In Aunt Ruby, Rainbow sees the embodiment of her dreams and fantasies of becoming a performer.

Rainbow's burgeoning sexuality and creativity force Alma to confront her own buried longings.

Independent filmmaker Chenzira has a background in dance, theater, music, and still photography, as well as being a Professor of Women's Studies at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. Chenzira wrote, directed and produced the film.

She says that, at the time the film appeared, in the early 1980s, Hollywood was looking for inner-city urban dramas that pathologized African American family life. Boyz N the Hood set the standard of that time. Alma's Rainbow was very much against type.

Alma's Rainbow explores issues about Black women's self-love and self-esteem.
Chenzira considered it important to show Black women in our full range of expression and emotion, our seriousness as well as our silliness.
The distributor said Alma's Rainbow was "too beautiful" to be classified as a Black film.

African women often make the mistake of thinking we are the first, we are pioneering something that Black women have actually been doing for many years. Black women have been making films for a long time. However, there are fewer African women's films around today because it's so hard to get them distributed.

Based on the novel by Emmanuel Dongala, this film depicts the experiences of child soldiers in Liberia. Johnny Mad Dog shows war in all its chaos and brutality.

Johnny Mad Dog is a 15-year-old in command of children younger than him. Armed to the teeth, they have been brainwashed to believe they are "freedom fighters" whose mission is to protect the civilian population.

In reality, they terrorise everyone they meet, accusing them of being Government troops, spies or "Dogos" - the enemy tribe. This allows them to justify kilingl, raping and robbing civilians. Being children, they have no real understanding of the consequences of their actions or the conflict in which they find themselves key players.

Although almost all of the action takes place among men and boys, this film was chosen for the festival because of its depiction of women - something rarely seen in war movies.

A young girl, aged about 12, walks down the street pushing a wheelbarrow. All around her, government and rebel troops fire at each other. But she is very determined and focuses on where she is heading - a makeshift hospital. In the wheelbarrow lies her father, who has no legs and has been shot in the chest. The girl has lost her younger brother, whom she had hidden in an oil barrel for protection. She has already come face to face with Johnny Mad Dog, but unusually, he did not harm, threaten or kill her.

As she comes in sight of the hospital, medics rush out to help her and her father inside. They later reassure her "everything will be all right now".

The hospital is guarded by UN troops, but they are coming under increasing pressure from the child soldiers, who want to gain access for their wounded comrades. Early the next morning, we see the UN troops depart. This is similar to what we see depicted in Hotel Rwanda.

Also similar to "Hotel Rwanda" is the fact that the film uses actors who were actually involved in the conflict. The filmmakers used this as a form of therapy for the former child soldiers.

To see how Liberia is moving away from the chaos of war and towards peace, stability and prosperity, see To see how Liberia is moving away from the chaos of war and towards peace, stability and prosperity, see Liberia Is Open for Business.

Similarly to what happened in Liberia and Rwanda, the legacy of colonisation by Western powers resulted in bloody armed conflict.

For more about Nigeria, see: Naij: A Film History of Nigeria.

In 1965, the exquisitely coiffed ladies of Motown toured Britain for the first time. What happened when they arrived with their smooth moves and tight choreography?

To read more, see Celebrating the Legend That Is Motown.