Women of colour

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critic and physician Morton Schulman com- mented on the testing of the Pill in India on the nightly CBC news saying “‘ there’s enough of them over there. We won’t miss a few so why should we test it on our wives and sisters.’” Depo-provera is the newest in the line of dangerous contraceptives. It is the most fre- quently prescribed birth control method among black women in Nambia and South Africa, who are not given a choice in the decision. Use of this injectable contraceptive sometimes results in sterilisation, a result much desired by the white supremacist government in South Africa. Although there has been a recent trend to-

ward acceptance of black and Third World women’s literature, one gets the feeling that it is only because we are ‘different’ that the writ- ing is read. It is unnerving that people would accept absolutely anything written by a woman of colour simply to show acceptance.

Indian lesbian writer Suniti Namjoshi who now lives in toronto says: ‘‘I’m wary of the statement that cropped up recently, ‘Black wom- en’s literature has become the flavour of the month, and has been taken up by white femi- nists’ because it doesn’t take into account all the prejudice that has worked against the Black woman being published in the first place. So as a black woman you are made to feel that you are only being read because you are black, that you haven’t written anything good. To make some- one into a token like that is insidious, deadly.’’ For women in the Third World, problems also

A Taste of Power

New book explores black activists life

Taste of A Power is the

autobiogra- phy of a very ex- traordinary black woman named Elaine ‘Brown. Elaine Brown began life ina poor black-neigh- bourhood, but spent her childhood devel- oping a repertoire of “* white’’ things. Elaine’s desire to be the same as her friends in the private school she attended overpowered her \ “*blackness’’; that is,

until she hit college. ir

- She lived through terror and pain that would have killed lesser people, but not Elaine Brown. Instead, she became the leader of the Black Panther Party. She took control of the money, the “weapons and the people and led them well.

a This book is well rd j written,and enjoy-

able in its own

a q tails the struggles of growing up in a black neighbour-

After a succession of white lovers gone awry, she en- countered a group of black men and women who were proud of their black herit- age. This pride was eventu- ally passed on to Elaine and she felt compelled to join the Black Panther Party, a militant black action group.

In her time with the party Elaine witnessed and expe- rienced many things that made her a strong woman. She saw death, lived pov- erty and experienced war .

"This book is well written and enjoyable in its own strange way."

strange way. It de- hood, but perhaps romanti- cizes a bit too much. The book makes one think- if I} as a woman, were given that kind of power, how would I deal with it? WouldI be able to lead as well as other women have? Should I try fora place of power? These questions all lead to one good thing, women in leadership, something that we as a soci- ety desperately need. CA SCHNEIDER

14/X-Press/November 4, 1993

arise from the position of men within the femi- nist movement. For women of colour it is often more important that men be included within some of the deliberations that are ongoing. The men are, after all, also an oppressed group.

However, this inclusion of men often stops at the point of oppression on the grounds of race. Most “‘women of colour’’ agree that it is they who should decide the direction and out- come of their actions.

The inclusion of men is of importance in the Third World, especially in those countries just celebrating independence. For women in Mo- zambique and Zimbabwe, admittedly inequal- ity still exists. Yet prior to independence all citizens were forced to defend against the commoncolonialenemy. Women fought along- side men; although many were not command- ers they were acknowledged as a vital force.

AC PROBLE/\ WITT WOMEN IN Trt INDIA bb.

there arent enough of us. Write for the X-Press.