The premise of the Q werd is simple, to know our (Afrikan) stories. The modern fate of queers of Afrikan descent is intricately linked to how little we re/member about the truth of queens of Afrika…..like……
Nyabinghi
According to most modern urban legend on Rastafari which distorts real discourse and analysis, the word ‘Nyabinghi’ has a somewhat complicated history. It was originally associated with an uprising against White European colonialism in southwestern Uganda during the mid to late nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth…
The movement was mainly led by a number of women, including a charismatic healer called Muhumusa, who was much feared. She was believed to be possessed by the spirit of a legendary Amazon Queen, Nyabinghi. Muhumusa not only inspired a vast popular following, but also organized military action against the German colonialists”
The tenuity of this over-simplified explanation that mixes facts and lies needs to be pointed out. The first is that there is no place in Africa called Amazon, and there was never in existence at any time any Amazon Queen of Africa. But there was always in existence, an African Queen of Queens whose memory still lingers in so many stories and legends right across Africa, like the Queen Sheba, and the Empress Kandake.
As the story goes, the spirit of this African Empress, this dread lioness Queen of Queens, Avenger of her father and son, subsists in Africa and the diaspora until this day, manifesting her presence and actions in this physical domain through spiritual possession, inspiration and mental transformation.
There are various names for this historical African Queen of Queens but at a time she was known in the cradle of the Egyptian and Kushitic civilization, in the upper Nile areas, toward the borders of modern Southern Sudan, and Uganda, as Queen Nyabinghi.
The name Nyabinghi was a synonym for Sekhmet. Though the true details of her life has been subsumed in legends, Queen Nyabinghi was the archetypical Priestess-Queen of a province of Upper Kush (Ethiopia-Egypt), who rebelled against the oppressive life-denying evil regime which disrupted order and stability in the motherland through the instrumentality of foreign occupation, external manipulation and local collaboration.
Descent of the authentic lineage of the ancient Kushitic Kings of Kings, this dread locked little African princess fled from the corrupting influence of the evil forces of oppression into the inner reaches of the great forests.
Nyabinghi took refugee in forests spanning modern Congo, Sudan and Uganda. There in an act of daring and defiance she established a mass guerrilla army of dread rebels (known as the children of Nyabinghi or Binghis for short) which fought against the collusive cabal of pale forces oppressing the ancient motherland until oppression fled from the motherland.
Nyabinghi’s self -sacrificing and daring action took the foreign over-lords by surprise and aided by the spiritual power of Sekhmet, Nyabinghi and her warriors soon crushed the oppressive regime and chased it away from the land.
Justice, peace and stability then reigned again.
Codes of Nyabinghi
The natural ebullinece of Nyabinghi, her intelligence and her charisma soon made her an a focus of fanatical devotion for her followers. Her male and female dread lock devotees sought leadership and spiritual guidance from her insight. She left a code of living for her followers. This code was necessary in maintaining their natural connection with their maternal origin the earth.
“First and foremost, Nyabinghi is the true defender of the peace, justice and order in the motherland. To Nyabinghi, there is nothing more precious than the humble soil of Africa on which the Binghis are born, where they grow and into whose embrace they shall sleep continuously.”
“Nyabinghi loves all humanity without compromise. Queen Nyabinghi adulates the works of her father, and her son. So should all the Binghis.”
“Binghis are the guardian of the land and the brothers and sisters to all that live right in creation. Love them, respect them and show them compassion always.”
“Binghi deals only with righteousness. Righteous action, thoughts and words. A follower of Nyabinghi does no wrong. Wrong weakens the strong.”
Binghis will always share water with the thirsty, food with the hungry, clothe with the naked and a boat for whomever would cross the river.”
“Nyabinghi shows loyalty and sincerity to the just, but the unjust were to be cleansed with fire.”
As postcripts, some versions of the story hold that Nyabinghi lost her life in the struggle, others say she lost her eye, others talk about the loss of limbs or children. The point is that the struggle launched by Nyabinghi came at a great personal cost to her. But it brought untold and everlasting gains to the land of the Kushites. What a royal soul!
The selflessness, fortitude and steadfastness of Nyabinghi increased the commitment of her devotees. Even after she had physically departed earth which in itself was controversial as many believed that she had simply vanished rather than died, mediums, prophets and sages still reported of communication and contact with this ever-loving patroness of righteous Africa.
Soon words came that Nyabinghi would be born again…that Nyabinghi would rise again somewhere, somehow amongst the children of Africa, at home and in the Diaspora, whenever and whereever the need calls.
For millenia, her worship has persisted in Africa. Her mediums, devotees and followers, and prophets are easily identifiable by their dreadlocks and their lion and lioness totem and almost overbearing commitment to the welfare of Africa and Africans always pervaded the continent.
The early colonist and subsequent slavers from Europe unwittingly reported of a secretive but co-ordinated continent wide resistance against colonial depredations. There were reports of subversive and insurgent activities by certain faceless cults operating throughout Africa against colonial incursion.
Simultaneous accounts from Nigeria, Serria Leone, Gambia, Senegal, Sudan, Congo and Uganda detailed vigours resistance movements against the thrust of the European powers. Although armed with better weapons, the British soldiers were always in dread of encounters with one of those groups. They were courageous, fearless and formidable in action. In death they went with a royal dignity. It was as if they met their deaths willingly.
This resistance was alive also in the Maroon communities of the penal slave Islands of the Carribeans, and in South America. In the United States where the power of travesty was projected with pompous arrogance, resistance took the form of secret actions like random poisoning of the slave keepers, their animals and the destruction of their livelihood through arson and other acts of vandalism on the slave plantation.
Nyabinghi Muhumusa
In the land of the first Pharaohs, in Northern Uganda near the borders with Sudan, the colonialist and slave masters encountered one of the incarnate forms of Sekhmet the dread lioness, by way of a resistance movement fighting their depredations on the African soil.
The savage European slavers encountered the Ugandan section of the Nyabinghi resistance when they sought the expansion of their slave trading activities into northern Uganda in the late 19th century. This movement was led exclusively by women and they fiercely resisted the incursion of the European savages. The tit for tat engage between Nyabinghi movement and the European savages lasted for well more than 50 years.
In the early 20th century one of the most feared Nyabingi leaders was Muhumusa a dreadlock guerrilla fighter with the Nyabinghi movement, a person described by the illegal and illegitimate colonial governments established by the European savages as ‘an extraordinary character’.
Her followers believed she was possessed by the spirit of the legendary Kushitic Queen, Nyabinghi. Calling for a revival of right living through reliance on the principles of the forest code of the ancestral Nyabinghi, Muhumusa not only inspired a vast popular following of dreadlocked-lion (and lioness) worshipping, hemp smoking auxillary fighters, but also organised military action against the German colonialists.
The Nyabinghi movement was subsequently condemned by the British as ‘witchcraft’. and Muhumusa was captured in 1913. The Ugandan movement was relentlessly hounded by the government of the European savages.
British effort to destroy the Nyabinghi movement was implicated its criminalization as witchcraft through Witchcraft Ordinance of 1912, which promoted Christianity and encouraged other indigenous anti-Nyabinghi cults. The British used the witch burning procedure of 1500 to 1600 that were central in the transition from pre-capitalist to capitalist relations in Europe.
Even after the capure of Nyabinghi Muhumusa, the uprisings continued nevertheless, led by other women and occasionally men who had become similarly possessed by the power and presence of She who must be obeyed, the dreadlock lioness Goddess of Africa, the Queen of Queens and the Majestic Lady of Power, Sekhmet-Nyabinghi the daughter and mother of the great God.
Again, such brave resistance could not be so easily forgotten. It has lived on in many ways amongst the children of Africa at home and in the diaspora, having much influence on the Rastafari tradition, in which so-called Nyabinghi codes of livity, and chants are very popular and usually form the basis of the annual Groundation celebrations. In Jamaican parlance, the name Nyabinghi has come to mean ‘Death to Black and White oppressors’.
From the late 19th century to the 1920s in the Caribbean Islands and especially in Jamaica, once again…the chant of Nyabinghi was heard. She was there, her name, her presence, her forest code, her forest chants and drummings, her holy chalice the cannabis hemp, her totemic animals the lions and the lionesses, and her ever present dreadlocks followers, all were there too.
Again, one encounters Nyabinghi in the West Indies, chanting word, sound and power in Jamaica, in the United States, in Canada, Africa, rising, fighting against savage oppression, chanting death and destruction unto black and white oppressors wherever they may be!
These days one observes the binghis and the binghis’ children stepping forth to take the secpter, the royal staff of power, to restore stability all over world. Given her antecedents, Sekhmet-Nyabinghi and her Binghi children will win this one once again.
She who must be obeyed, the All Conquering Queen of Ethiopia
In indigenous afrikan cosmology, Sekhmet (also spelt Sachmet, Sakhet, and Sakhmet; Greek name: Sacmis), was the primodial war goddess.
Her name suited her function, and means “the Conquering Lady” or (one who is) powerful, and she was also given titles such as (One) Before Whom Evil Trembles, and Lady of Slaughter. Sekhmet was also known as the Scarlet Lady, (a reference to blood) and the Avenger of Wrongs.
As the one who destroyed the evil relentlessly whilst protecting goodness she was hailed as Nyabinghi, in the upper sections of the Nile, near the borders of Southern Sudan and Uganda, ancient Ethiopia Kush the land of the first Pharaohs.
Sekhmet was She who protected the nation and the Pharaoh in peace and in war. In wars the protection and strength of the Conquering Queen Mother of Ethiopia were the hopes of the Pharaohs, and in peace She was believed to stalk the land, destroying the enemies of the Pharaoh with arrows of fire. Indeed it was said that death and destruction of the wicked and the oppressors were balsam for her heart, and hot desert winds were believed to be her breath.
The protection of the Pharaohs was such a crucial function in those time as the instutition was the source of all the tradition and stability of Kush and Khem.
The Pharaoh – the Great Black House – was the government of Egypt, the very soul and center of all the Black-Brown people of Africa. It comprised of the King of Kush and Egypt and the college of priestly scientists, administrators, legislators and justices that guided and directed Black Africa. This establishment governed Egypt for more than 3,000 years of its recorded existence and it was the key to its stability and longevity.
The Pharaoh was the source of justice, morality and righteousness. The office of the King and Queen in the Pharaoh (the great Black House) was seen as the embodiment of the energy of the Sun…Ras.
The king of Egypt was verily the living son of the great God amongst men. As such it was crucial that the crucible of order and meaning be protected at all times. And this was the key function of Sekhmet the Conquering Queen Mother of Ethiopia. She was the mother and the protector of God!
The devotion of motherhood was also an aspect attributed to the Conquering Mother of Ethiopia, Sekhmet. She was viewed as a form of Hathor the primeval mother of humanity and the gods. As Hathor, she was seen as Atum’s mother. Since Atum was but another name or aspect of the Kushitic/Khemitic God Amen, Sekhmet was also conceptualized as the mother of God.
In particular, she was seen as the mother of Nefertum, the youthful form of Atum, and so was said to have been Ptah’s lover. Ptah was the archetypal God and Nefertum’s father. Sekhmet, Ptah and Nefertum were thus the original triad of Gods, worshipped especially in the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis.
Sekhmet was the incarnation of the fearless lioness. She was the essence of the majesty, royalty, and power of the fierce lioness. In art, she was depicted as such, or as a shoulder length dread locks African woman with the head of a lioness, dressed in red, the colour of blood. Given that lions were her totemic animals, tame lions were kept in temples dedicated to Sekhmet like the ones in the ancient Egyptian city of Leontopolis.
The cult of Sekhmet the Powerful Dread Lady of the south was and remains widespread in Africa and in the diaspora. Sekhmet was known by different names at different time in different areas in Africa. But her core role, function and attributes remained resiliently unaltered inspite of several local embellishments. Sometimes, her identity was composited in the identity of a great ancestral female matriarch, and it was rationalized that Sekhmet had incarnated amongst humanity as that female matriarch.
In the animal kingdom Sekhmet ruled as the all powerful dread lock lioness and in the human kingdom she ruled as the Queen of Queens of Kush and Khem. She was said to manifest in the physical world cyclically either as the lioness, her favourite totem or as the incarnation of an all powerful African Empress. It is usually in the human form as an African Queen that Sekhmet prefers to leave her marks on humanity.
In parts of Africa where there one finds strong strains of ancient Ethiopian-Egyptian culture one finds Sekhmet composited with various localized strong women such as the Queen of Sheba and Queen Judith in ancient Ethiopia, Queen Amina in Zaira, Nigeria, Queen Kahina, the Black African Jewish Queen of the Berbers, Queen Moremi in the ancient Oyo Empire in Nigeria, Queen Idia in the ancient Benin Empire in Nigeria, Queen Ojedi among the Onitsha Igbos of Nigeria, Queen Nzinga in Angola, and Queen Nyabinghi Muhumusa of Uganda.
Origin Of Sekhmet
The Egyptian mythology teaches that in the golden age of the world that Ra (also Ras) himself the king and the father of the gods ruled Egypt himself. This was the greatest age that Egypt had ever known and until the very end it was described as the age of perfection.
Ra ruled for so long in that time that men forgot the number of years he had been on the throne. Eventually, even Ra got old, “for it was decreed that no man should rule forever and he had made himself man to live on earth and rule over Ethiopian and Egypt. In his oldage, “his bones were like silver, his flesh like gold and his hair like lapis lazuli.”
Due to the onset of senility Ras was no more an effective fighter against Apophis the Dragon of Evil, who had subsequently grown bolder in his malfeasance and “sought ever to devour all that was good and bright and kissed by the sun.”
Presently the evil of Apophis entered into the soul of the ancient Africans and many of them rebelled against Ras and did evil in his sight and disrespected his works.
So Ras gathered the high Gods in high council, and he sent for the four living creatures that stand before his throne, Shu and Tefnut, Geb and Nut, and finally he sent for Nun the essence of the waters.
Before this high and mighty council Ras made his interdiction against men, and he sought to pronounce a malediction against them for their evil, dirty, unrighteous and disrespectful ways.
But Nun, speaking on behalf of the other Gods urged restraint. Because the unconstrained wrath of Rastafari could burn up the earth in totality, consuming the deserving with the undeserving.
So Nun speaking for the Gods called forth and surely, for the appointment of one enthusiastic and steadfast, one burning with sincere love and devotion for the majesty of the dynasty of Ras, one commited to the regency and hegemony of the righteous Empire, to arise and defend the integrity, and the solemnity, and the sanctity and the honour of the law and the works of Ra.
For as Nun argued, “if you send forth the burning glance of your eye to slay mankind, it will turn the land of Ithiopia and the entire world with it into a desert. Therefore make a power that will smite men and women only; send out that which will burn the evil but not harm the good. Send out Nyabinghi!”
Then Ras consented with the urging of the Gods. “I will not send my burning glance upon the Africa, instead I will send my mother, my protector, the love of my heart to protect my holy works. I will send Nyabinghi.”
Even as he spoke, Sekhmet the dread lioness, the mighty lady of Africa, “She” who must be obeyed, sprang into being. Nyabinghi, away she sped into Africa, tearing through Egypt, Ethiopia, Punt, Asmara, Mocambique, even unto Azania in the South. She slaughtered and devoured mankind until the Nile and the Niger ran red with blood and the earth besides it became desolate.
Before long the most wicked among men had been slain by the Sekhmet, the dread lioness mother of Ras, Queen of Queens of Africa, and the rest prayed to Ras for mercy. And Ra spared them.
Ra spared them because he wished to spare this ungrateful humanity and grant them any indulgences for which he finds an excuse. Also it is said some in places, that “Ras wished to spare them (humanity) for he hath no desire to slay all of mankind, and leave himself the ruler of a desolate and barren earth, with no human to sing and play with him.
Since then until this moment, even unto tomorrow, the name and the essence of the lion goddess has lived with us, and will live with us, without any depletion of her sheer leonine potency. Sekhmet, the Majestic Lady of power, She who must be obeyed, the dread lioness goddess of ancient and modern Africa, still lives dishing out judgement and fire, through word, sound and powerful action, to those who hate righteousness, to those who hate Jah, regardless of the colour of their skin.
It’s been a hot minute since I shared my ‘personal’ thoughts, all contradictory en straight up as they’re evolving….the reasons ain’t too deep, I’ve been distracted with searching….I’ve been looking, en I mean REALLY looking for a really good job; the kind with benefits en at least a 6 months contract, that’s the dream, en as new as it is, it’s true to my surroundings
the other reality is that I’ve been hitting the streets, offering myself for ‘service to others’ through any pimp running a restaurant, so at least I could start getting cold hard cash at the end of each shift put in, the kinda dollars that will get my debt/s repaid, travel fare, en school fees saved up again…those dreams that are so close, yet so (seemingly) far away….
(but) I have a feeling, this week is gonna be IT…..the pundits have declared that we’re climbing out of the recession (though many more are still unemployed), the birds en bears have officially christened the ‘spring’ (though I prefer the transition of seasons in East Afrika), en even this reality doesn’t come close to capturing the hope that has seen me through surviving en the rewards that have sustained my growth, en are instigating (my) thriving….as simple as one project, one documentary, started out of necessity, en growing in scope en tenacity…as comforting as conversations with God/dess en communion with the earth en holy werd..
I’d been digging myself into deep holes with resistance en worry, making mountains out of road blocks, when all I needed to do was, simple, change….myself, before I even tried to think about how I could do better for others.
I did, change….I have had no choice but to…..one of those beauties of the universe. Everything that happens really is jus’ so, for a reason, en now that I’m happy again… I know that this is where I’m supposed to be (it’s not new)…. where every day gets better, en we get a lil’ closer to our visions.
The truth about (our) stories is that they’re we all we have, en they’ve changed over centuries, but the fairy tale script remains embedded in our realities.
In the beginning, there was……en then there was a spark, fast forward to boy/girl meets cute. Linger in the chase & drama that ensues, mandatory finding one/self/ metamorphosis, en ….they live/d happily ever after. The end.
That’s one version. Another is where the years stretch with experiments, en settling in foreign cities. Where girl questions hir gender identity and rebels the only was s/he knows how, by any means necessary.
Re/inscribes language on hir body, en grows into the woman she had never imagined, dramatic segue to where woman meets wo/man. Linger in the ‘cycling’ en metamorphosis that ensues, en they go on to marry several more queens en a king, en….live/d happily after. The end.
En an even older story goes that Oba en Oya vied for one man, Chango, who like Osun, loved many wo/men…en had a couple of loves of his life, en their descendants are scattered all over the world. En this is not the end, or anywhere near the beginning….
The beauty about stories is that we can have our heart’s desire in them, en with just the right amount of faith, magical dust, prayer en work, they come true. En if it’s true…..chant with me now J
So, for the next couple of moons, this blog is dedicated to dadas in solidarity. Stories of researching afrikan hirstory. Documenting the evolution of our film project, The Q werd. We’re collecting stories of queer/trans wo/men of afrikan descent, en going way back in time to re/cover what has almost been forgotten, all the betta to move forward (with)…..ever!
starting from the beginning, with indigenous afrikan creashun stories…from gulu en ngai to olodumare….hadithi! hadithi?!!!!!!!
Nilienda eldoret, isiolo, kaimosi, kiambu, kimililili, kisumu, kitale, lamu, malindi, nakuru, ngomeni, osogbo, thika, wajir, webuye……nipe mji, nitakupatia hadithi……leo ni ya mashairi kama makmende, en memes bigger than Wikipedia 😉
Recommended listening for this post (songs of stories in the brewing pot called The Q werd)
I remember this time last year, en the year before that, en think about where I yam now, en still wish there was a book or a cohesive, nurturing space where I could learn how to fulfill my dreams of love, life partnerships, pikney, en all the good tings’ that we’re looking for, all in one volume. (a case of wishes & horses)
I know its simple; that love is the answer. That it starts with me, myself en I, en is hinged on sharing with others. I know that giving is priceless, but it’s the concreteness of today, the promises of yesterday for tomorrow, en years from now that I’m struggling to realise.
I give thanx that I have been blessed with gifts from so many, en that somehow, as betwixt as I yam between distant queer/trans communities, my chosen en true (true) homes, and between the disjunction of visionary ideals en under achieved realities…. there is the hope in how far we’ve come, en how many there are of us in this world, dreaming en working for similar bigger pictures (a case of communities of resistance all ova the world)
So I hold on to the faith that the answers really are all within us, that we are ‘not’ “the strange ones”. We are divine creatures and God/dess speaks through us. (Mayibuye!) So, I may not know much about where we’re going, but when it comes to down it, I really don’t need that book at all, I got the realities of many positive people to draw from, en on this here space, I got you, dear reader(s), who could share with me your thoughts on good living.
If there were to be 10 commandments on queer/trans relationships what would they be?
1. “The Lord” doesn’t have to be your god. You can serve Great Goddess instead J
(as an Afrikan womyn who was raised in predominantly Christian environments, en converted to a few other Abrahamic religions before going ‘indigenous’, I hold strong to the belief that you have to be true to yourself, en why would I subscribe to ideologies that cast my ‘nature’ en choices as wrong en sinful? To each their own of course, but in my opinion, this may be one of the many gifts that queer/trans communities have for ‘others’…if we weren’t meant to be, then we wouldn’t be, but we’re here, we’re not even necessarily queer….chant with me now J )
2. You can choose en have many god/desse/s en idols.
(Again, from an indigenous perspective, how could we ignore that monotheism, as all humanity, has its roots in Afrika? And from a pan-Afrikan perspective, there are countless manifestations of the Creator. When we dig deeper, what is reaffirmed is the multiplicity of relationships that we have to guide our re/building communities. In other words, in my opinion, it only makes sense that if you were blessed to have some cake, that you should eat it. Whether it’s monogamy, polyandry, polygamy or whatever form of non-monogamous relationship that you en your lover/s are trying to craft. The basics don’t change right? The most important thing in life IS to learn how to give en receive love…the rest is a matter of choice & consent)
3. You shall not misuse LGBTTIQQ identities
This is a tricky one to negotiate, but it may be at the crux of many missed connections. What’s the rule of thumb of who/not to date? Can a dyke really have a life partnership with a ‘straight’ woman? Are bisexuals really the ones you gotta be worried about, or are they most of the ones on the down lo? Is it ethical for a ‘lesbian’ to go out with a pre-op trans man en outwardly acknowledge their gender identity, but still hold on to a preference for the biological woman?
(en this is where I’ve got to state that I no longer identify as any one of those LGBTTIQQ identities, en I will continue to take up my right to speak about LGBTTIQQ experiences, because the truth is that is what I yam…but those names are not from MY culture….technically, as many afrikan conservatives tend to assert, lesbians/homosexuals don’t, haven’t & shouldn’t exist in Afrikan cultures……we’ve got many more of our own terms to draw from, most of which have been purposefully lost, but as long as we live, their memory is within us. So I’m going through conversion therapy, I used to be a lesbian but now I have been freed from my constraints ;)…..but if you ask me what my sexual orientation or gender identity is….I gotta tell you for now, I’m going to have to take a hot minute with that one, I’ll get back to you J….I’mma Afrikan womyn, that’s where I start.)
4. Remember Pride!
If there is a universal this might be it, everyone should have at least a day of rest en divine communion, once a week. it’s called healthy living.
5. Honour your parents en your community
Many a queer en tranny can tell you sad stories about abuse & exile from their biological families because of who they ‘loved, en how they ‘looked’, en many more will tell you about the ways they have survived with chosen families en safe/r spaces. so, a good tip, as many grounded lesbians could tell you, given our penchant for processing en ‘cycling’ together, you shouldn’t just honour en respect the ‘relationship’ you’re in,(with yourself or your lovers) but the bigger point is family en friends that are in your life, that’s what will see you through rough en jood times.
6. You shall not murder
En if the relationship you’re in makes you feel like screaming blue murder, or like you could be eaten alive en disappear….then get out, en get help.
7. Re/define adultery
A good rule of thumb, if you didn’t agree to it, it’s cheating en karma’s a bitch.
2010 may just be the year of groundbreaking sci-fi films by talented black womyn. 🙂
As a former geek who was never really ‘into’ sci-fi’, till I found the likes of Nalo Hopkinson, Octavia Butler & Samuel Delany, then ‘discovered’ my true true love…..watching this trailer for Pumzi the first time, en ALSO finding out that Brown Girl in The Ring is being shopped around for a feature length film, well that made me practically cream my pants today 😉
Pumzi is officially the first Kenyan ‘sci-fi’ film, although that might just be a matter of perspective en semantics…all depends on your understanding of science AND fiction…but still, the fact that it was directed by Wanuri Kahiu, an East Afrikan womyn, well that’s more precious than the pioneer status that Kathryn Bigelow got with the Hurt Locker, although even that, in the end, is all jus’ relative, depending on one’s investment in hollywood & using the arts for social change.
Nyabinghi
Molisa wa NyaKale 