These three women represent the multidimensional aspect of feeling anger as a Black woman. I came up with this idea in July 2024 following racialised riots in the United Kingdom. But also, much before then too. I was angry. I have been angry for a long time at the calculated British racism that we are too polite to comment on. In my frustration I turned to women of the diaspora who used their anger as a weapon to liberate themselves and others. My prints are not these women. I did not want to make exact illustrations of them but instead use what I had leant about them to inspire drawings of women I have never seen before but exist in the past, present and future. These are the women who inspired the Three Sisters.
Nanny of the Maroons and Obeah (Nanny)
The greatest victory of colonialism is that it has made us demonise our native spiritual practices, religions and ancestors. This is our greatest loss. They used the word “Witch” to explain practices such as Obeah, Vodun, Santeria, Candomble when “Witch” is too simple a word to contain the complexities of these practices.
Obeah is both spiritual and political as it was an act of resistance against the forced assimilation of colonial rule. Originally it was the colonial powers that spread this rhetoric that African and Afro Caribbean religions and spiritual beliefs were demonic. However, today, we find that across the diaspora we are policing ourselves and our beliefs and actively contributing to the spreading of misinformation of these practices.
It is not known for certain if Nanny of the Maroons was an Obeah woman but is said that she used magic to protect herself, catch bullets and fire them back. She was also described as a healer.
The Three Rebel Queens (Fireburn)
While doing my research for this triptych I had found out some interesting facts:
-1 in 10 slave voyages would end in revolt
-The more women that were on a slave ship the more likely there was to be a revolt (this has nothing to do with biology or anything inherently specific about being born a woman. This is about the underestimating of women by men)
-The previous finding was dismissed as coincidence
On 1st October 1878 a riot broke out in Frederiksted on the island of St. Croix. What would happen on this day would eventually be called The Fireburn Revolt. After police sent a man named Henry Trotman to the hospital a riot ensued. There were three women who participated in the rebellion known as Queen Mary, Queen Agnes and Queen Mathilda or The Three Queens. There is evidence that there may have been a fourth queen, Susanna Abramsen. About 50 plantations were destroyed by fire, 879 acres burned.
I don’t believe that women are born to be radicals, revolutionaries or rebels. In an ideal world none of these things would be necessary. Women’s power does not inherently come from their reproductive systems, sex organs or femininity. Because what about the women that do not possess some of these things? Women’s power comes from the underestimation from others. Slavers used to separate men and women on the ships. Men would be chained together below deck and guarded while the women were above deck, unchained and unmonitored. This allowed them the opportunity to rebel and free themselves.
Yaa Asantewaa (Ashanti)
Yaa Asantewaa was an Ashanti queen who ruled what is now known as Ghana in the early 20th century. She was crowned by her brother, Nana Akwasi Afrane Okpase who was also a ruler. As queen she was the Gatekeeper of the Golden Stool which is a sacred and divine throne that is said to house the spirit of the Asante nation. The whole spirit – living, dead and even those yet to be born. Therefore, when the British tried to seize this stool, they were met with powerful resistance. The Yaa Asantewaa War of Independence began on 28th March 1900. Asantewaa had men and women fighting in her army in a battle that would last many months. Unfortunately, the British captured Asantewaa and exiled her to Seychelles where she died. While this war was lost it marked the final war of the Anglo-Asante 19th century wars.
I became interested in Queen Yaa Asantewaa’s story while researching rebellious women of the diaspora for this project. I wanted to include a woman of recognisable social status that stayed true to her people as there are many examples of corrupted leaders in history. However, in balance to this, I think it is important to think about our relationship to monarchs and royalty. Many people’s responses to us descending from enslaved people is to say, “there were kings in Africa too.” Which is true. Some of us are descended from royalty. But the reality is most, the majority of us, are not. We are not descendants of Pharaohs and Cleopatras but farmers, craftsmen, healers, Nat turners, teachers, fighters, Bussa’s and all of The People. There is power and pride in both. But there must be an honest conversation as to why we would prefer to come from royals.