By some accounts, legendary Somali queen Ebla Awad, better known as Arraweelo, was a man-hating, ball-busting, devourer mother. In others, she was a visionary leader who took matters into her own hands and did the necessary to secure a better future for her people. Her story is the classic case of men usurping power from a powerful woman, found among many traditional African communities and in Indigenous communities around the world.
In this week’s episode, we read and talk about two versions of her legend, explore similar legends from Ethiopia and Nigeria, and reflect briefly on what it might all mean for the future. Simply put: things do not have to be static, people - women - always have agency to change their circumstances.
References
The Somali Queen: Queen Arraweelo by Farah Mohamed.
British Somaliland by Ralph E Drake-Brockman (pages 169 - 171).
A Tree for poverty : Somali Poetry and Prose by Margaret Lawrence (pages 126 - 131)
How Men Stole the Secrets of the Women’s Society from Woman's Mysteries of a Primitive People: The Ibibios of Southern Nigeria by D. Amaury Talbot (pages 196 - 199)
Meanwhile…
Have you heard? “The Watkins Book of African Folklore” or the “Mythological Africans Book”, is now available for preorder! Click image for preordering options!
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