Women of our Time, Here and Now

Women of our Time Here and Now

By Juliane Okot Bitek.

Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we are in the presence of greatness, but this is not a new story – we’ve been bathing in starlight for a long, long time. And these are our stars; these are the women of our time, right here and right now.

Ladies and gentlemen, tonight, clichés cannot hold the rays of these women.

Whether we know it or not;

Whether we think we’re lucky or not;

Whether we believe it or not;

Whether we remember, or whether we forgot;

Whether we even understand what it means – we’re in the presence of these women, right here and right now

Barbara Howard, Eleanor Collins, Eve Smith, Marcella King, Thelma Gibson and Jeni LeGon

We, the progeny and descendants of strong women

We, the daughters of frail women who lean in the wind

We, the sons of women who never took no for an answer; we of power, we of nothing

We, the beloved, or not

We, the stung, the heavy ones, and the ones with dancer’s feet and pianist fingers

We’re here; we’re all here, in the presence of these women, here and now

We’re laughing, hugging, crying in some disbelief –we’re here, still, we’re here

We’re holding on, we’re poised, we’re still, still

And we’re silent and in awe

Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we have stars among us, stars! We walk as we should but we’re not mesmerized, because we’re emboldened by points of light, we’re crowned, glorious, royal

Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we stand in the presence of these women, here and now, whether we know it or not, whether we believe it or not. Whether or not we’ve learned that our blessings flow and can’t be counted on our fingers – we’re here today among these women

Ladies and gentlemen, we stand in glow of brilliance – she’s ours, she’s ours, she’s ours, they all are. We shine, we, the daughters of brilliance are humbled and proud, humbled and proud.

Full Stories in next month issue