Our Women Keep Our Skies from Falling

Books by Kalamu ya Salaam

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Our Women Keep our Skies From Falling

Six Essays in Support of The Struggle To Smash Sexism/Develop Women

Our Women Keep Our Skies From Falling Dedication

This book is dedicated to the man who

made the biggest difference in my life.

Pa Ferdinand

(on this man's foundation i build

my political support of feminism)

my father

is a solid steeper

amid a generation

of soft shoers

& scuffling shufflers

was young with

WWII, did not die

nor get discouraged

but rather fought

on both fronts

and unflinchingly brought

the fight back

home, after

korea

a country boy

who walked miles

for school & job

he married the minister's

daughter (who was

a school teacher)

but never went

out to lunch for

class or church,

could sing but usually

kept his baritone

at home

i remember him home

making us work

rising with the sun

and planting food

in the city

i remember him home

waxing floors

on his knees

and requiring his sons

to follow his lead learning

to cook and clean

but mostly

i remember him man

teaching me

consistency: the

importance of principle,

the necessity of

struggle and the

immense beauty

of interrelating

with a good woman

what more could

a son receive

from a father

than the realness

of life lived

like a conscious

African(american)

man!

sho-nuff simply doing

his duty, in his own

context, in his own

space and time.

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Our Women Keep Our

Skies From Falling

our women keep our

skies from falling

our days from dying

our nights from crying

carrying deep

within themselves

the sacred sun loaves

of African-american lives

embers which fire

black generations are

securely embedded betwix

broad baobabian hips

and gleam sparkling forth

from deep lakes of

blue/black brown

dark ebony eyes

their song is

healing song, and

calling song, and

culture song, and

though no one can

stop the rain

our women keep our

skies from falling

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Liberty For Our People means Women's Liberation As Well

Some comrades do their utmost to prevent women taking charge, even when there are women who have more ability to lead than they do. Unhappily some of our women comrades have not been able to maintain the respect and the necessary dignity to protest their position as persons of authority. They were not able to escape certain temptations, or at least to shoulder certain responsibilities without complexes. But the men comrades, some, do not want to understand that liberty for our people means women's liberation as well, sovereignty for our people means that women as well as must play a part, and that the strength of our party is worth more if women join in as well to lead with the men. Many folks say that Cabral has an obsession about giving women leadership positions as well. They say" "Let him do it, but we shall sabotage it afterwards." That comes from folk who have not yet understood anything. They can sabotage today, sabotage tomorrow, but one day it will catch up with them.

--Amilcar Cabral 1969

I Am for Keeping the Thing Going

There is a great stir about colored men getting their rights, but not a word about the coloured women; and if coloured men get their rights, and not coloured women theirs, you see the coloured men will be masters over the women, and it will be just as bad as it was before. So I am for keeping the thing going while things are stirring; because if we wait till it is still, it will take a great while to get it going again.

--Sojourner Truth 1867