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What was the reaction of men in Mali, not only fellow musi- cians, but also family – fathers, brothers, uncles and husbands?
“Well, there are no beginners in the band,” answers Pamela Badjogo, a mini-fireball of mirth and mischief. “All the women already have a musical career and already work with male musicians. They already know that we’re women who are militant and aware. Each one of us has already spoken out about society’s problems. So the arrival of Les Amazones was very well received.”
According to Badjogo, even the sight of a female drummer was welcome in Mali. “It’s like something exotic for them.” She goes on to assure me that Malian men are generally very supportive of the project and that attitudes are generally changing. “Even the politi- cians in Mali want there to be less violence towards women and more equality.” But statistics (damned statistics) tells us that as in the rest of Africa, women in Mali bear the burden of the continent’s ‘negatives’ – poverty, poor health, malnutrition, infant mortality and illiteracy. Only fourteen percent of Malian women finish secondary education. Illiteracy is a serious drag on female entrepreneurial energy in Mali. Most of Mali’s food is produced by women. And they continue to suffer the indignities of female genital mutilation, polygamy and forced marriage. Their main burden however, accord- ing to Mariam Koné, has a universal ring to it: “The biggest chal- lenge is to combine work in the family and work outside the home, without the recognition this deserves.” There can’t be many women on this earth who have trouble relating to that.
The civil war and jihadist occupation that brought the north- ern two-thirds of Mali to its knees in 2012 and whose embers con- tinue to burn, placed a special burden on women. After all, the core of any puritanical creed, whether Muslim or Christian, gener- ally focuses on women and the need to curtail their freedoms and instincts. During the occupation of the north, the jihadists set up a special prison for women in Timbuktu. Music, beauty and human warmth were outlawed.
“When they arrived with all that stuff, the women came out banging their pans and shouting ’We don’t want all that!’”, says Pamela Badjogo. “We want to put on our tresses, and our beautiful dresses. None of that here!’ And in the south, in any case, it worked.”
Despite popular belief the world over, this puritanical Salafist
creed wasn’t new to Mali. In 2011, when the Malian parliament tried to amend the nation’s Family Code in order to give much greater rights to women in the areas of marriage, inheritance and household decision-making, the High Islamic Council of Mali mobilised a reactionary backlash that forced the politicians to water down their intentions.
he women of Mali also rose up against the dictator Moussa Traoré in 1991 and 1992, giving the tentative movement for democracy and political rights the fire it needed to bring about political revolution and a renais- sance of culture and free-speech. The women of Mali are like that: strong, vociferous, spirited and defiant. It was those qualities that first inspired Valerie Malot to float her idea of an all female band. The women of Mali, of Africa and, as Pamela Badjogo reminds me, the entire world need defending, but they also deserve reverence and praise.
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Women like Sogolon Kondé, the mother of Sundjata Keita, who founded the Mali Empire in the 13th Century. She’s a major role model for Les Amazones, alongside other historical inspirations like the Amazones de Dahomey, a regiment of elite troops, all female, who fought the armies of colonial France in the late 19th Century. Or more recent figures like Mariam Makeba and the women behind the declaration of Nyéléni. In 2007, rural people from over 80 countries gathered in the Malian village of Nyéléni to sign a declaration call- ing for food sovereignty and self-sufficiency for the world’s rural poor. Their emphasis was on self-reliance, sustainability and health through collective effort and traditional methods.
“Sogolon was often ill, but she had power,” Pamela tells me. “She was a fighter and history also tell us that she was as ugly as a buffalo ha ha!” “No a hyena,” Mariam Koné interjects, before both women crumble into raucous laughter. Pamela managed to rally and pull an approximately straight face before adding “But she was still an empress.”
www.3dfamily.org/index.php/les-amazones-afrique F
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