Jara Jackson
Biography on Ama Ata Aidoo:
- Ama Ata Aido or Christina Ama Aido was born on March 23, 1942, in Abeadzi Kyiakor, near Saltpond, Gold Coast, she is a Ghanaian writer whose work, written in English, emphasized the true meaning of being the modern African woman. In 1982, she served as Ghana's minister of education.
- Ama began to write seriously while an honors student at the University of Ghana. She gained early recognition with a problem play, "The Dilemma of a ghost."
- Aidoo herself won a fellowship to Stanford University in California, she returned to teach at Cape Coast, Ghana (1970–82), accepted various visiting professorships in the United States and Kenya
- Many of her poems and short stories talk about concerns with Western influences on the role of women and on the individual in a communal society.
- Aido also emphasized the oral element of storytelling, she wrote tales that are meant to be read aloud.
Poems by Ama Ata Aidoo
Honestly, Sisters,
there is some elation here
.....and some bitterness too.
But if you want to find out
how equal
even
the more equal of us are
come see us at any
Public library
After a normal 9-5 working day,
We are there
in our numbers:
multi-racial
multi-national
multi-ethnic.
- Women are the same but if you want to see us come together, follow us somewhere positive after a long day. All different shapes, sizes, and races come together and make a difference.
- I believe Ama wanted to get across to the audience was a different view on women, especially "black women". I feel like we tend to b held in a certain box, often stereotypical. That we are loud, ghetto, unintelligent, but Ama shows how we can come together in a positive light.
- "Come see us at any Public library", That gives a positive affect on women, how we are intelligent. "After a normal 9-5 working day", this definitely shows how busy women are and we still find time to come together. "Multi-racial, multi-national, multi-ethnic", this shows a unity affect on how women from all over the world come together. "But if you want to find out how equal", this is real showing that women have the same minds as men and shouldn't have to be put in a bubble.
- There isn't any rhyme scheme in this poem. The poem I feel like is just divided into sections.
- I feel the tone of the poem is very authentic and supportive. I say authentic because the topic of the poem is very real and pure in today's society. I also say supportive because it supports how powerful women really are.
- The theme of the poem is women empowerment, increasing the strength of a women socially, economically, and emotionally.
I definitely agree with this because women are put down a lot, and men think were weak but we are NOT! Women don't really get a lot of respect, people think we aren't in capable of doing anything. But when women come together to work together and fight together it shows how powerful we can be. Their are so many women out here who work so hard trying to take care of their kids especially the single ones, trying to change the world, trying to be the president, were trying to do everything. Women can do anything.
ReplyDeleteI love that you (and the poem) mentioned black women! But I do think that she mentioned color as a way to show that even though our color may be different, we are all similar in our pursuit for equality. I think that the poem was to show that all women have a similar goal and that the differences in ethnicity or race don't matter and shouldn't create division. She says, "if you want to find out how equal... come see us at any public library..." In a way she is going against the assumption that black women are less educated by saying that they are equal to white women and share similarities as well as mentioning the library. Maybe using those similarities as proof of their equality. That's just my take on it.
ReplyDelete(Emma Weinfurt's comment. . .) I love how short and clear this poem is, along with its message. Just like you said, the 9-5 working day being included in the poem shows how women work just as much and for just as long as men do. I also agree that the tone is authentic because you can tell that the author is not messing around, and the topic relates to issues that society has had for decades. This is a very strong poem with an attitude of, "if you don't believe us than come see for yourselves," when it says, "if you want to find out how equal even the more equal of us are come see us at any Public library." The overall message could be about the unity of women of all different kinds.
ReplyDeleteI love how you kinda turned this poem into something of your own!!!!!! I like the fact that the poem is short and it get straight to the point. I like how the poem focuses on not just “one” kind of women but all different women like you said multi-racial and different sizes and shapes. I agree with you women she be put on the same pedestal as men because just because were smaller and sometimes not stronger than doesn’t mean we’re not “good enough” to do what men do. Women are so much more powerful but I feel like we don’t give our self any credit for it
ReplyDelete