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It took me a long time to get over the electoral loss of Hillary Clinton in 2016. When there are candidates or electoral races I am interested in, I can be an election junkie. In November 2008, I was so invested in Barack Obama’s election that I hosted an election night vigil with some friends at my house in Accra where I was still based at the time. When the election was declared for Barak, our screams could be heard in the whole neighbourhood. For Barack Obama’s reelection, I was invited by the US Embassy in Nigeria, to be part of an election night vigil on November 5th 2012 they organized in Lagos.  It was a long night of speeches, (I was asked to talk about the role of women in politics and elections) and election monitoring, interspersed with entertainment.

I wrote an essay called, ‘Thank You Hillary’ shortly after the November 2016 election and it is in my book Loud Whispers. I reflected on her loss as follows, ‘In my own opinion, Hillary Clinton lost the election due to several factors – the resurgence of white nationalists, the disaffection of blue collar voters, sexism, the backlash against the Washington political elite, the millennials who underperformed, the reduced African-American vote, the FBI back and forth over her emails, the endless WikiLeaks, and complacency on the part of Democrats/the Clinton Campaign, who felt that they had some States firmly locked up and so did not need to campaign there. Perhaps one of the most painful factors that led to Hillary’s loss, was that 53% of white women who voted, cast their lot with Donald Trump. So after all the years of advocating for women to lead,  of fighting for the empowerment of women, when they had the opportunity, white women in the US decided to use the power of their numbers to send a man with a controversial record with women to the White House. That hurts’.  In subsequent years, information emerged about possible sabotage of the elections by the Russians. With or without their interference, the factors above were more than enough to cost Hillary the election. In the months that followed Hillary’s loss, the Democratic Party almost imploded. Then sometime in early 2017, I read an article about one woman who might be able to pull off a Democratic nomination and unify the party in 2020. It was Senator Kamala Harris. I was very excited when she joined the Presidential race in 2019, but she pulled out due to a lack of funding and traction. I thought to myself, her time will come.

Fast forward. On August 11th 2020, Senator Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee announced his choice of a running mate. As of February 2020, Senator Bernie Saunders, representing the left of the Democratic Party with a message of revolution that resonates with the younger members and more leftist Democrats, who were mostly opposed to Hillary in 2016 and did not show up for her the way they would have had the nominee been Bernie, was coasting towards clinching the Democratic nomination. Other Democratic contenders such as Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, Tulsi Gabbard and the billionaire maverick Michael Bloomberg were not serious threats to Bernie Saunders. By this time Joe Biden was limping and it seemed as if his campaign was in its dying throes.

Then on Saturday February 28th, the South Carolina Democratic primaries took place. Joe Biden won with a landslide and his campaign was resurrected from the dead. By ‘Super Tuesday’ on March 4th, Joe Biden had secured a significant lead and was unstoppable after that. Joe Biden won South Carolina with the votes of African-Americans, the most reliable voting bloc of the Democratic Party. Joe Biden knew that the forces at play within his own party, with a record number of female Presidential candidates, as well as tensions around the country on the topic of inclusion and exclusion in America of today, meant that he no longer had the luxury of business as usual.  A ticket of two white men was not going to be an attractive draw for the increasingly diverse Democratic base. He therefore pledged, straight up, that he would take on a female running mate. Initially, it was assumed that someone like Elizabeth Warren, who appealed to a large segment of the Democratic left, and would be an acceptable consolation for the Bernie followers, would neatly fit this role to form a solid ticket against President Trump in November. Then George Lloyd was killed by policemen on May 25th, sparking outrage and massive riots within and outside the US. The Black Lives Matter movement was re-energized, and this time it got sympathy from mainstream audiences. Images of black mothers, sisters and Aunts mourning their dead sons over and over, from one senseless killing to the other kept playing on national television. The issue of Race was now front and center. Joe Biden came under pressure to pick an African-American woman as a running mate. Just as it is here in Nigeria, women are the backbone of the Democratic Party, and African-American women have more than paid their dues.

On August 11th 2020, Joe Biden announced Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate. Senator Harris comes with outstanding credentials and experience. The fact that she put herself out there to run for the Presidential nomination of her party was a plus in her favour, it means she is ready for the job. She also has a reputation for fearlessness, and is not intimidated by white male authority figures. She embarrassed Joe Biden at one of their debates by showing him the implications of one of his policies, she made Justice Brett Kavanaugh look like a school boy at his Senate hearing for clearance as a Supreme Court Judge and she grilled Attorney-General William Barr at a Senate Judiciary hearing into the Mueller Report till he squirmed figuratively. Kamala Harris ticks an impressive number of boxes, something that is absolutely necessary in today’s complex America. She is African-American and South-Asian American at the same time, born to a Jamaican father and an Indian mother. She grew up knowing what it meant to have ‘other’ identities in the US. She is also married to a white man, which takes care of a major constituency. She is a good orator, has great presence and is quite attractive with a megawatt smile, all important to the many critical voting blocs she will have to appeal to.

Already, the vultures have started to gather to pick at her. From within her own party, there are rumblings from those who believe she is too centrist to stand for much of anything and would therefore not appeal to the leftist hardliners. There are also questions about ‘how truly black she is’. On the other side, characterizations of her as a ‘Nasty’ and ‘Mad’ woman, led by President Trump himself, are being put out there. All this is no surprise, it is politics. Yesterday, I listened to Anderson Cooper interviewing Valerie Jarret on CNN. Valerie was one of Barrack Obama’s ‘Political Godmothers’, (yes, they have those in the US!), she also served as his Special Adviser throughout his two terms in office. Valerie said something to the effect that black women in the United States have been waiting for this moment. They know the knives will be out for Kamala Harris, and the political bullies will stop at nothing to bring her down. Valerie then proceeded to put everyone on notice. Black women leaders who have Kamala’s back will push back. For every take down of Kamala five will respond. It is hoped that the solidarity of white women can be counted on this time, it was taken for granted last time with disastrous results. The November election is for the Democrats to lose. They need to close ranks and stop the squabbling and whining. A lot is riding on the candidacy of Biden/Harris. Aside from hoping for a victory in November 2020, should Biden decide not to contest again in 2024, Kamala Harris has a direct shot at the White House with the strongest credentials possible. Can you imagine? A woman in the White House at last? And a black woman for that matter? Go Kamala, Go!!!!

 

Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi is a Gender Specialist, Social Entrepreneur and Writer. She is the Founder of Abovewhispers.com, an online community for women. She is the First Lady of Ekiti State, and she can be reached at BAF@abovewhispers.com

 

 

I was in Uganda a few years ago for one of the programs we used to run at the African Women’s Leadership Institute. One day, there was a report about something that had happened in one of the local markets. One of the women in the market went into labour unexpectedly. It seemed there was no time to get her to a nearby hospital or clinic, so the women around went into action. Some of them ran around to look for basins, hot water, towels, and razors. A few held her hand and encouraged her to push. Majority of the women around took out their wrappers and held them up, creating a protective ring around the woman, shielding her from prying eyes. Every now and then, this scenario plays itself in other markets around the continent, and the response is mostly the same – women bring out their wrappers to protect one of their own.

Sadly, this is no longer the case these days. Instead of wrappers coming out, it would be cell phones to record every graphic detail. Sure, help might still come, but not before the person concerned has all their pain and agony out there for all the world to see. Recently, there was the case of a young woman in Ajah, Lagos, who was found wandering the streets. Reports on how she got there vary, but she was stark naked, extremely emaciated and incoherent. Instead of immediately rushing to help, covering her up and getting her medical attention, onlookers laughed at her, threw things at her and recorded her on their cell phones. Without any idea of who she was or how she got there, judgements were made on the spot about her being the victim of ritualists which she must have brought on herself in her quest to make quick money. A good Samaritan, Keira Hewatch, stepped in and took her to the hospital. Even though many onlookers where not prepared to help the poor woman on the road, they tried to stop Keira from helping her, saying she too might be bewitched. Essentially, they refused to bring out their wrappers to protect and save someone and tried to stop someone else who was willing to bring out hers.

What do these wrappers signify? To me they mean protection, solidarity, sisterhood, empathy, kindness, compassion, duty, all those things and more that make us human beings. In the market places where the scene I described in Uganda happens, there is an unspoken protocol amongst the women – a responsibility to take care of one of their own who needs them. She is in pain. Afraid. But she has sisters around her, rooting for her and helping her. So, I ask us my dear sisters, where is your wrapper? Where is your wrapper to shield and protect other women and girls who need you? Where was your wrapper for the little girl who was molested by someone in your household and you said ‘Shhhhh’ and looked the other way? Where was your wrapper when someone you know said she was raped by someone she trusted? Did you ask her what she was wearing? Or if she seduced him? Where was your wrapper when your friend needed succour from an abusive husband? Did you gossip behind her back that it served her right, she is too arrogant? Where was your wrapper when your sister or daughter told you that her lecturers were harassing her in the University? Did you tell them that they must have done something to encourage them? Where was your wrapper when a young woman who could have been your own sister, daughter or niece was found on the streets naked? Where you one of the women who stood by and recorded her misery and threw things at her? Where you one of the men who tried to stop brave Keira from helping? What was in it for you to have a very sick woman die untended in broad daylight, with human beings baying for her blood like animals? Even animals care more for their own.

Our wrappers might all look different, with varying sizes, shapes and colours, but each and every one of us has a wrapper. Bring that wrapper out to shield another woman, or a man. Use it to help get her a contract, help with her rent, pay her children’s fees, help her with capital for a business or simply a discreet shoulder to cry on. Never let a day go by without bringing out that wrapper. The way God works is that the more wrappers you bring out for others, the more will come out for you. We don’t only need wrappers when we celebrate and buy Aso Ebi. We need the wrappers for our trials and tribulations and we all have them.

The women in the market place might never see the woman they helped again. She might never be able to say thank you. Yet she will never forget that other women stood by her and gave her dignity and covered her nakedness. Are we prepared to cover the nakedness of others, or do we want to be part of the mob that strips them naked? These days there seems to be a war against women. Not only is sexual violence at an all time high, these crimes are now committed in full view of the public. A young woman is accused of stealing and stripped naked, hands all over her and objects being stuck into her. When this happens, what do we do, will we look the other way? When a woman is being harassed online, do we join in the abuse? The more wrappers we bring out, the safer we will all be. There is another conversation to be had with the men, with our male leaders, with those who have the powers and privileges that weaken our agency and make us forget that we have wrappers in the first place. Today, we are talking to and about ourselves.

Let us all agree to bring out our beautiful, strong, diverse wrappers. Our wrappers of respect, love, dignity, support and endless hope. Thank you for bringing out your wrapper Keira. God bless us all.

This is an expanded version of a brief speech that was given at the ARISE Women’s Conference in Lagos, October 26th, 2019.

 

Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi is a Gender Specialist, Social Entrepreneur and Writer. She is the Founder of Abovewhispers.com, an online community for women. She is currently the 1st Lady of Ekiti State. She can be reached at BAF@abovewhispers.com