When she was just a nineteen ear old student in Kabul Meena founded an organization called RAWA in 1977, which stands for The Revolutionary Association of the Woman of Afghanistan. RAWA is an organization that strives to “give voice to the deprived and silenced women of Afghanistan.” In 1981 she launched a bilingual feminist magazine called Payam-e-Zan (which means Women’s Message in English). This magazine, which was produced through RAWA exposed the criminal activities of fundamentalist groups that were damaging to basic human rights.
In addition to being a powerful and passionate advocate for Women’s Rights Meena was also a talented writer. I’d like to share one of the poems she wrote that I found particularly inspiring as a feminist:
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I’ll Never Return
I’m the woman who has awoken
I’ve arisen and become a tempest among the ashes of my burnt children
I’ve arisen from the rivulets of my brother’s blood
My nation’s wrath has empowered me
My ruined and burnt villages fill me with hatred against the enemy.
I’m the woman who has awoken,
I’ve found my path and will never return.
I’ve opened closed doors of ignorance
I’ve said farewell to all golden bracelets
Oh Compatriot, I’m not what I was
I’m the woman who has awoken
I’ve found my path and will never return.
I’ve seen barefoot, wandering and homeless children
I’ve seen henna-handed brides with mourning clothes
Ive seen giant walls of the prisons swallow freedom in their ravenous stomach.
I’ve been reborn amidst epics of resistance and courage
I’ve learned the song of freedom in the last breaths, in the waves of blood and in victory
Oh Compatriot, Oh brother, no longer regard me as weak and incapable
With all my strength I’m with you on the path of my land’s liberation.
My voice has mingled with thousands of arisen women
My fists are clenched with the fists of thousands of compatriots
Along with you I’ve stepped up to the path of my nation,
To break all these sufferings all these fetters of slavery,
Oh compatriot , Oh brother, I’m not what I was
I’m the woman who has awoken
I’ve found my path and will never return.
Radical Radiance: Meena Keshwar Kamal | Imagine Today
I’ll Never Return
ReplyDeleteI’m the woman who has awoken
I’ve arisen and become a tempest among the ashes of my burnt children
I’ve arisen from the rivulets of my brother’s blood
My nation’s wrath has empowered me
My ruined and burnt villages fill me with hatred against the enemy.
I’m the woman who has awoken,
I’ve found my path and will never return.
I’ve opened closed doors of ignorance
I’ve said farewell to all golden bracelets
Oh Compatriot, I’m not what I was
I’m the woman who has awoken
I’ve found my path and will never return.
I’ve seen barefoot, wandering and homeless children
I’ve seen henna-handed brides with mourning clothes
Ive seen giant walls of the prisons swallow freedom in their ravenous stomach.
I’ve been reborn amidst epics of resistance and courage
I’ve learned the song of freedom in the last breaths, in the waves of blood and in victory
Oh Compatriot, Oh brother, no longer regard me as weak and incapable
With all my strength I’m with you on the path of my land’s liberation.
My voice has mingled with thousands of arisen women
My fists are clenched with the fists of thousands of compatriots
Along with you I’ve stepped up to the path of my nation,
To break all these sufferings all these fetters of slavery,
Oh compatriot , Oh brother, I’m not what I was
I’m the woman who has awoken
I’ve found my path and will never return.