Only the African woman

I salute all my African sisters,For all achievements, great and small.

From a young age, dressed to look pretty in pink

With bows in her short black kinks

In such pretty things, she still drops to her knees

Paying respect to elders she sees

Only the African Woman

Working harder than the boys in school

To prove that whatever the boys can do, girls can do better

In the home, she cooks and cleans and all manners of chores

The life of a girl is tough, she thinks

Only the African Woman

We never knew our parents were preparing us for life

Where the woman must be the best juggler in town

Pretty & delicate on the outside it seems

Yet on the inside, super tough with strengths of steel

Only the African Woman

Six-inch wedges crammed on her feet, tight cornrows beneath her sixteen-inch wig

Head up, shoulders back; the show of life surely must go on

She grimaces and smiles, asking herself why

Until at night, when both are put aside

Only the African Woman

I am an African wife, mother, lover and friend

With beauty that radiates beyond my ebony hide

To depths where love flows through my every vein

And my passion confused as emotions or rage

Only the African Woman

We pause to pay homage to our ancestral mothers

Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Miriam Makeba & Yaa Asantewaa

Not forgetting Wangari Maathai & Margaret Ekpo, to name but a few

With tears in their eyes, the glass ceiling they’ve cracked

Only the African Woman

Your lives have motivated generations

Birthing African women who press forward, making a difference

From Entrepreneurship to High Tech, Politics to the Arts

Women at the top of the charts

Only the African Woman

I salute all my African sisters

For all achievements, great and small

Together, we are nation builders

Together, we press for progress and take our continent forward

WE ARE PROUD TO BE AFRICAN WOMEN

Written by Yemi Lawal

www.purpleboxday.com