It was a truly imperial gathering of Rastafari women and they came from near and far to Issemble at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia for the 4th Annual Empress Menen Earthlight celebration. The Conference followed the pattern established during the first one held at Howard University in seeking some engagement with students of the host institution.

Ijahnya Christian

This year, the Empresses shared the experiences of wombmanhood in a safe environment created by the Sisterfire group on the evening of Thursday 23rd. While I appreciate the need for women to have such spaces in which they can express themselves freely, my challenge to the group was to question whether there would ever be a time when women and men could feel free of fear and empowered to express their innermost thoughts and feelings in each other’s presence. I also accused the student group of cheating. They said that no males would be allowed in the room but invited the largest, omnipotent, male presence of God, with only one young woman acknowledging, in her introduction, the divine feminine embodied in the Supreme Creator Being – so much for the myth of male marginalization.
I shared the opening plenary panel discussion with Attorney at Law Empress Marina Blake who is based in New York and together we presented our perspectives on the theme “Collective Security for Repatriation Surety”, to set the tone for a more particular focus on Education, Health and Economic Development. Other representation from the Caribbean included Sister Empresses from Antigua, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands and St. Martin. I still do not know the total number of participants but a couple of brethren who sat behind me reasoning in Kiswahili turned out to be from Kenya. The Conference was well-organised and included heavyweight speakers such as Dr. Charles B. Finch III, Director of International Health at Morehouse School of Medicine, who delivered a slide presentation on “Great Queens of Africa”. Dr. Aminata Umojoa, Director of the Kilombo Institute; Professor Dr. Ithari Toure, who developed the curriculum for the Kilombo Institute and Director of the Jegna Collective and Center for Biblical Studies at the 1st Afrikan Church as well as Sister Nnijah of the “One Perfect Love” homeschooling programmes led the reasoning on Independent Afrikan-Centered Education. Professor Lance Seunarine of Trinidad and Tobago shared statistics on the State of the Race in the United States of America and surmised how Empress Menen would have responded.

One of the highlights of the gathering was the launch of the book, Empress of Zion: she hands us her rulebook from the poles of supreme authority, the first collection of literary works published by Rastafari women, including me. My submission was the presentation I had made at the Washington gathering in 2003, in which I shared my vision of the RasTafari woman as follows: “My vision of the Rastafari woman is a vision of brightness – the Moon in relationship with the Sun, a vision of wholeness, a vision of inclusiveness and a vision of capacity to respond to the needs of the Rastafari Nation in ways that are self-actualising and empowering. The Rastafai woman is therefore not just a beauty to behold but that Ivine female energy that is the essence of the Omega principle being unleashed for the freedom of a people, a force to propel the Nation across the Atlantic and an I-llumination influence in whatever context she finds herself.

As part of the publicity for the Conference, I participated in three radio interviews and on one station the interviewer was a DJ from New York who knows Bankie Banx, so armed with Roots and Herbs, Bankie got some air play as I shared “Where I and I Abide” with listeners. My fellow-interviewee at the larger commercial station was none other than Dr. Finch and I was glad just to bask in the shadow of our great son and show him that I had cited him in Wayne Chandler’s “Ancient Future”. What was even more exciting was to hear Dr. Finch, the distinguished scholar, confirm the intuitive knowledge of my vision shared earlier. In his words, “the anatomic location that mediates the evolution of the human species is in the moon and the moon will dominate the new world that is coming.”
Politics was also on the agenda and the gathering received brief remarks from State Representative (Able) Mable Thomas who read a proclamation declaring March 25th Empress Menen Day. Among the Rastafari Sistren, there was also our very special Mama Osun who is a midwife and whose listeners are transported into the experience of labour and childbirth when she describes the process. Mama Osun played an instrumental role in the lobby to change the law in Georgia permitting midwives to practice once again. The message from the Empress of Zion collective to the medical establishment is that childbirth is NOT a medical event but a natural process. The Empresses resolved to take the lobby beyond State and National borders and into the international arena. Another lobby was that for the right to exempt children from being vaccinated.
After the hard work over a two day period the gathering rocked, skanked, swayed and sang along with the singers and players of instruments and I really enjoyed veteran Sister Nancy, Sister Takiya from New York and Batch, Attitude and the Zionites band from the US Virgin Islands. This is another act that I hope can bless us with their music at Moonsplash 2007 or before if another promoter gets there first. The conference ended with a luncheon, coffee ceremony and closing Ises at an Ethiopian restaurant. The occasion was also used to honour the Elder Empresses Farika Berhane and Dawta Bubbles. Leonard Percival Howell proclaimed it in the 1930s and the evidence witnessed at the Empress of Zion gathering indicates that the new day has dawned. Queen Omega is now handing us her rulebook from the poles of supreme authority and is charging the powerhouse right now.

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