African Imperialism
Throughout our African imperialism unit I have learned so much about Africa before and after colonization. I learned about the Aba Women's Riots about the single story of Africa and so much more. I also developed my writing skills be creating a Op-Ed about Aba Women's Riots. Lastly I used my creativity to produce a art project that I am proud of.
The Women's War
During a time of darkness and fear in Nigeria the Aba Women's Revolt restored hope and power to Nigerian citizens. The women's war was the first major revolt in Nigeria. It inspired many futur movements. The planning of the women's riot first began when colonial leaders came to Nigeria and established an indirect rule.
In November 1929 the first action began, 25,000 women gathered throughout Nigeria and protested the market woman's tax and warrant chiefs. They chanted and danced through the streets, released prisoners, destroyed colonial government property, and forced warrant chiefs to resign from their colonial government positions. This went on for two months before the colonial government could fully suppress and put a stop to the movement. Colonial government sent colonial troops and police in, they shot into crowds “killing more than 50 women and wounding over 50 others”(Mariss Evans).
In the end the efforts of the protesting women paid off because it was successful at restoring some power to Nigerian citizens and at preventing the enforcement of the market women tax. The aba women's revolt restored power to Nigerian citizens and showed colonial leaders that they were a a force to reckon with.
When the protest first began women were being oppressed by warrant chiefs. The Aba Women's Riots article from black past explains that “Within a few years the appointed warrant chiefs became increasingly oppressive. They seized property, imposed draconian local regulations, and began imprisoning anyone who openly criticized them.”(Marrias Evans). This quote explains several ways that warrant chiefs became oppressive. By releasing these wrongfully imprisoned native african men and women, women showed warrant chiefs and colonial officials that they were a force to be reckoned with. Furthermore warrant chiefs were accused of restricting the role of women in government. When protestors forced warrant chiefs to resign from their positions they took back power and put a stop to some of the oppression targeted towards women.
Although warrant chiefs were a large problem, most native Nigerian people knew that colonization was the source of their problems. To revolt against colonization they used a traditional form of protesting called sitting on men. Sitting on men is when women publicly shamed a man by dancing and chanting in the streets. This form of protesting revolted against colonization by using traditional Igbo culture. Through this act women showed colonial administrators that they would not be colonized without a fight and that their culture was what made them strong.
“The women also attacked european owned stores”(Marissa Evans), women would break windows and even burn down colonial owned businesses. This protest form just further showed colonial leaders that native africans, more specifically native african women were strong and powerful.
As the gale review states “The loud, intimidating demonstrations, the destruction of property and the use of ceremonial ‘weapons’ – sticks wrapped in ferns” along with “the fact that the women did not kill anybody.”(Gale review). This demonstrates to colonial administrators that Africans were not only strong powerful people but also civilized and peaceful.
The Aba Women's War was the first major revolt in Nigeria and truly started the end of colonization for Nigerian citizens. The women's war was an act of true power that started to pave the path to freedom from colonization. In the article The Aba Women’s war, Mike Harman explains that “The “Women’s War” is seen as the first major challenge to British authority in Nigeria and West Africa during the colonial period, and took months for the government to suppress”(MIke Harman). This proves that the women's war was the beginning of the long journey to freedom from colonization in Nigeria. It showed colonizers that native african women were a force to be reckoned with.
Overall these acts of protest were successful. As the author of Aba Women’s Riots Marissa Evans says “The Aba Women’s war prompted colonial authorities to drop their plans to impose a tax on the market women, and to curb the power of the warrant chiefs. Not only did the protestors stop the enforcement of the maket women tax but they also took away much of the warrant chief's power. By forcing warrant chiefs to resign their power was restored to NIgerian citizens. This also showed colonial administrators that they were up for a fight and a tough one aginsts strong powerful women.
The Aba Women's Riots restored power to Nigerian citizens, showed power among native africans, and started the fight towards freedom from colonization. Today this movement should be remembered and used as inspiration. It shows us that we have the power to change what happens and the power to help ourselves.
Work Cited
Tom Handerson. “‘Sporadic Riots’ and ‘False Reports’ – British Reporting of the 1929 Igbo Women’s War.” The Gale Review (Website) , Gale International , 12 Mar. 2018, ‘Sporadic riots’ and ‘false reports’ – British Reporting of the 1929 Igbo Women’s War. https://review.gale.com/2018/03/12/sporadic-riots-and-false-reports-british-reporting-of-the-1929-igbo-womens-war/ Date accessed september 12, 2020
Evans, Marissa. “Aba Women's Riots (November-December 1929).” Blackpast (Online Website), 31 May2020, www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/aba-womens-riots-november-december-1929/. Date accessed september 9, 2020.
Harman , Mike. “The Aba Women's War.” Libcom.org, Libcom.org , 8 Mar. 2017, 4:00 pm , libcom.org/library/aba-womens-war. Date accessed september 11, 2020.
“Riot or Rebellion? The Women's Market Rebellion of 1929: AHA.” Riot or Rebellion? The Women's Market Rebellion of 1929 | AHA, American Historical Association , www.historians.org/teaching-and-learning/teaching-resources-for-historians/teaching-and-learning-in-the-digital-age/through-the-lens-of-history-biafra-nigeria-the-west-and-the-world/the-colonial-and-pre-colonial-eras-in-nigeria/the-womens-market-rebellion-of-1929. Date accessed september 8, 2020.
Reflection
In this project I was most proud of my op ed, specifically my thesis. I am most proud of my thesis because it is part of the project that really allowed my opinion to be heard. My thesis “The aba women's revolt restored power to Nigerian citizens, showed colonial leaders that they were a a force to reckon with and start the journey to freedom from colonization.” clearly stated my opinion that the women's revolt was an act of power that began the journey to equality between races.
Throughout this project I faced the most difficulty when creating my creative art piece. This was difficult not because I did not know what to make but how to make it. I had trouble turning my ideas into a reality. One specific example of this was me trying to show oppression in a creative way. I ended up using a boot stepping on native woman to represent the oppression they were dealing with, I got the inspiration for this idea from my peers. To avoid this difficulty I could have talked to my peers sooner.
Overall this unit I can confidently say that the most important thing I learned is everything. I can say that I now know more than a single story of Africa. I learned that Africa had a history before colonization and that today Africa is not the undeveloped rural jungle I thought it was and so much more. These are all the most important things I learned because with the knowledge of only a single story we really know nothing else and base our whole understanding on that single story. I am happy to say I now know so many stories about Africa and have a much better understanding of what Africa was like in the past and how it is now.
Throughout this process I have grown as a writer in my ability to write descriptively. Typically in my writing I am concise, opinion less, and straight to the point. In this project I was challenged with making my writing contain an opinion and reach the needed word count by being descriptive. Here I used descriptive language to lengthen and strengthen my writing “During a time of darkness and fear in Nigeria the Aba Women's Revolt restored hope and power to Nigerian citizens.”. Another point in witch I used descriptive language is when I stated “The Aba women's revolt restored power to Nigerian citizens and showed colonial leaders that they were a a force to reckon with.”.
I believe that I deserve a 10. From the beginning of the school year I have always come to class prepared and ready to learn, I am always trying my best, and looking for a deeper understanding in what we are learning. A specific time I strived for a deeper education was when researching for my op, I looked at additional sources to help me develop a deeper understanding of the Aba Women's Riots. In the future I will continue to my best and strive for excellence in this class by diving even deeper into our studies and gaining a deeper understanding of history and writing.
Throughout this project I faced the most difficulty when creating my creative art piece. This was difficult not because I did not know what to make but how to make it. I had trouble turning my ideas into a reality. One specific example of this was me trying to show oppression in a creative way. I ended up using a boot stepping on native woman to represent the oppression they were dealing with, I got the inspiration for this idea from my peers. To avoid this difficulty I could have talked to my peers sooner.
Overall this unit I can confidently say that the most important thing I learned is everything. I can say that I now know more than a single story of Africa. I learned that Africa had a history before colonization and that today Africa is not the undeveloped rural jungle I thought it was and so much more. These are all the most important things I learned because with the knowledge of only a single story we really know nothing else and base our whole understanding on that single story. I am happy to say I now know so many stories about Africa and have a much better understanding of what Africa was like in the past and how it is now.
Throughout this process I have grown as a writer in my ability to write descriptively. Typically in my writing I am concise, opinion less, and straight to the point. In this project I was challenged with making my writing contain an opinion and reach the needed word count by being descriptive. Here I used descriptive language to lengthen and strengthen my writing “During a time of darkness and fear in Nigeria the Aba Women's Revolt restored hope and power to Nigerian citizens.”. Another point in witch I used descriptive language is when I stated “The Aba women's revolt restored power to Nigerian citizens and showed colonial leaders that they were a a force to reckon with.”.
I believe that I deserve a 10. From the beginning of the school year I have always come to class prepared and ready to learn, I am always trying my best, and looking for a deeper understanding in what we are learning. A specific time I strived for a deeper education was when researching for my op, I looked at additional sources to help me develop a deeper understanding of the Aba Women's Riots. In the future I will continue to my best and strive for excellence in this class by diving even deeper into our studies and gaining a deeper understanding of history and writing.
Satire Project
I am proud to say that throughout the satire project I have learned and mastered the use of satirical devices and the art of creating satire. I learned about satirical devices and how to use them. I showed my knowledge by applying them to both my rube gold berg machine and my humanities satire piece. I also learned what satire is and why it is used. Satire can come in many forms and is used used to mock or point out flaws in something, for example in a modest proposal is a written article that mocks the rich. Although I started this unit without any prior knowledge I can now say I have mastered satire and even enjoy it.
Humanities Satire
Rube Gold-Berg Machine
Reflection
We were tasked to create a satire that addresses a problem and uses satirical devices to make fun, the problem I chose was covid 19. My humanities satire piece adresse the problem of not wearing face masks when necessary. The target is those who don't wear masks. My satire piece uses many different satirical devices but the three most prominent are juxtaposition, sarcasm, and understatement. Juxtaposition or the comparison of two things to show contrast can be seen in the pile of bodies in the background of my art piece, the living people are being contrasted with the pile of dead and dying people. The second most prominent satirical device is sarcasm, the character sarcastically states “It’s not like people are dying because they don't wear masks''. Finally the last prominent satirical device, understatement. The character uses understatement when saying “It’s not like people are dying because they don’t wear face masks”, because behind her there are people dying because they did not wear a face mask when they should have. I hope these three satirical devices make my satire audience see how truly important it is to wear a mask because if they dont it could lead to them in a body bag.
The most important thing I have learned during the course of this project is how to understand and use satire. At the beginning of this unit I didn’t know what satire was, how to understand it, much less use it. The first time in class I was shown satire I thought it was serious, this satire was “A Modest Proposal”. I believed the author of “A Modest Proposal” was completely serious and thought eating children was a good idea. It wasn't until we examined the article as a class that I understood it was satire targeted at the rich, then I started to see satirical devices and understand. Since then I have not only been able to understand and identify satire but also create it. I proved this by creating my final humanities satire that mocks people who don't wear masks to protect against covid 19, using satire in my rube Goldberg machine, and my satire test. My new knowledge of and about satire was crucially to my ability to complete and will help me identify satire in the future
The role of satire in society today is to point out flaws in either our actions or thoughts to hopefully begin change. All the satire we observed made fun of something, someone, or someone's opinion/thoughts. My favorite example that we discussed was “A Modern Proposal”, this was my favorite because it seemed effective. What makes satire effective is using lots of different satirical devices, like “A Modern Proposal” did and my satire did. My satire also fits this description of something meant to invoke change by mocking. My satire is supposed to make people realize that they should be wearing face masks by showing how stupid it is not to. Satire is a great tool that should be used more often.
Based on the rubric I rate myself a 9.5 on my performance this year. I give myself this score because I am constantly trying my best, trying to find interest and a deeper meaning in what we do, always participating, always prepared with materials and assignments, listening to my peers and teacher, almost always use my class time efficiently, and almost immediately start working and learning when class begins. An example of when I effectively listened to my peers is during online breakout rooms, I try to keep the conversation alive and moving while still allowing my peers to speak. A time I strived to find a deeper meaning and interest in what we were learning is during the us capitol seigh unit, I continued to follow the story after we stopped as a class. To improve my performance in the future I will start working as soon as class begins and try to use my time more efficiently.