#greatmarta
Black men start caring for and supporting Black women challenge.
Sadly, the most primitive need of every human is to put down other humans to make oneself feel better by comparison. It’s like we need to know somebody’s life sucks more than ours to feel remotely good. So many times I’ve read about African and Muslim men in Europe importing wives from their home countries, just to have a bride who doesn’t know the local language and is completely reliant on her husband. A great many women also jump at the chance to put other women down (probably because there aren’t that many men who “rank” lower than women). Anyway, this is sad.
So many times I’ve read about African and Muslim men in Europe importing wives from their home countries, just to have a bride who doesn’t know the local language and is completely reliant on her husband.
Woah, are you for real?! Because that is just saddening and heartbreaking. Do you have any articles where you found this that are proof of that?
We really need to start praying for the well-being of all Black girls and women. Seriously.
I can recall two books – both autobiographical – that addressed this phenomenon (albeit briefly). I do not have them at hand (won’t be back at my apartment until weekend), so I can’t double-check if what I remember is true (it has been almost a decade). I will edit my post if it turns out my memory had failed me.
First – “Infidel” by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, 2007 (a lot of information is on her Wikipedia page, so I’ll be brief here). At one point in her life (after moving between various African countries) she had gone to Germany to visit relatives and subsequently fled to the Netherlands to escape an arranged marriage. Eventually, she became an advocate for asylum seekers. To me, her story is mostly about learning to critically view your own religion and culture, though sexism is very much a strong theme.
Second – “Tränen im Sand” (“Tears in the sand”) by Nura Abdi, 2005. This one does not appear to have an official English translation, although extracts have been translated and quoted in scientific papers on female genital mutilation. Basically, Somali girl immigrates to Germany. Marries another immigrant. Has children. Husband takes second wife.The author, at some point, decides to become independent. She opens own bank account and takes over the government aid her husband had been receiving for their children. Husband is mad. Tries to abduct children, but fails. Woman makes life for herself. I honestly don’t remember this one very well, as it didn’t impress me quite as much as the previous one.CORRECTION: The second book I had had in mind was “Mutilée“ (“Mutilated”) by Khady (also known as Khady Koita). Apparently, the English language version is called “Blood Stains. A Child of Africa Reclaims her Human Rights”. She was born in Senegal, underwent genital mutilation at 7 and was forced to move to France as a teenager to stay with a cousin, whom she was forced to marry. She has a Wikipedia page, which you can look up. Other points I had mentioned were correct. I apologize for my original mistake.
Besides those books, I have heard bits and snippets here and there, but those were subjective opinions of people in my surroundings (Poland).
@thisismisogynoir I had made a mistake. I had looked through my library and it turned out the second of the books I had named in my post was not the one I had actually read. I have since edited my post to include the correct information. The good news is, the book I had actually read has been translated into English, which means it should be easier to access (the English title is “Blood Stains. A Child of Africa Reclaims her Human Rights” and the author’s name is Khady Koita). I apologize for the original mistake. Have a good day ^_^.
Awesome! Thank you for correcting the mistake. You have a good day, too!
