i
stand
on the sacrifices
of a million women before me
thinking
what can i do
to make this mountain taller
so the women after me
can see farther
- legacy
- the sun and her flowers, rupi kaur
Ethiopia just announced its first female president on 25 October 2018. Sahle-Work Zewde is the only serving female president in Africa at this time, which is pretty damn monumental. And while last month marked a great moment for African women, it continued on from a victorious year for women in African education.
Occasions like these are always cause for a throwback, and it doesn't even need to be Thursday. South Africa's memorable matriarch moments in April 2018, which marked graduation season for South African graduates, brought numbers in achievement. April is long gone but the celebratory photos remain stored between the Instagram algorithms and Facebook posts. I'm not an algorithm, so I'm not going to find them for you, but let's just throw it back to April; a time when South African social media was overwhelmed with women empowerment. While Instagram and Twitter boosted the celebrations, #AWholeGraduate hashtag movement emerged, as women dominated graduation numbers in South Africa - and looked good doing it.
According to Rhodes University’s 2018 statistics, the university produced 2 492 graduates, of which 63% were women. This is a testament to female empowerment today. Although females make up the majority of Rhodes’ population for various reasons which we won't go into right now, it still proves that women are making waves in education today. Flashback 50, 15 years ago, even 5 years ago, and these statistics would pale in comparison. According to the UN, women make up 70 percent of the world’s poor, but still we are able to see higher numbers of graduates that are women in today's South Africa, which means we have more women studying who can then continue to break this poverty cycle. We’ve got feminist movements to thank for that, as women who came before us held their breaths waiting for education. And almost as breathtaking as today's women's achievements, were their outfits.
Students and guests came through for the glorious occasion with stories behind their outfits. 'Monument', the graduate building, beamed with an assortment of shweshwe prints, heels, glitter, black gowns and colourful sashes. Among the troops, were the Twalas, dressed in bright traditional Zulu print. Twala hails from a long line of black graduates in a time when South Africa made education inaccessible to so many black men and especially black women. Yet she hails from freedom fighters with degrees, and parents who educated themselves. Her mom, with a Masters degree from the UK, and her dad with a WITS university diploma. Her older sister also graduated with two degrees in the bag at the end of 2017, and this year, Twala jumped on board with her BSc degree.
"My outfit translates my pride. I want the way I look, to translate the way I feel," she explained. "By getting something made [which is something my family does for special occasions] it signifies something to be proud of. I thought it was 'respectable' for the occasion, but I didn't limit myself. I showed some skin [my shoulders and collar bones], because that's what I enjoy doing and my parents were still comfortable. with it It gave me a lot of confidence."
A role model of Twala's, who shares the same love affair with earrings as she, was this year announced as the vice chancellor of UCT. Twala revels in how women can now dress more freely in a formal environment as they take on higher professional and social roles and responsibilities - and with female women to look up to like Mamokgethi Phakeng, it only means women are shining brighter.
“There are so many poor, African people who have walked this journey so that this can be possible. I am honoured to continue this journey," Phakeng told The Mail & Guardian. “I wasn’t sure if UCT was ready for me. I’m a bit young, my earrings are too big - I’m too colourful,” she explained.
Appointments like this - a black, educated leader who is colourful and bold - is exactly what we need to encourage seeing more of, because the only thing colour can do is brighten up a space. Proving, once again, that today, women are doing incredible things and they're looking good while doing them.