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“Inyathi iBuzwa kwabamphili”: The year of Inclusion in a Cosmopolitanism and Non-Affirmative Theory of Education Era
01 AUGUST 2024 | STORY TEBOHO PITSO. PHOTO VUT
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Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
This year, the theme for women’s month is to inspire inclusion in recognition of the diversity, multiple perspectives and accounts that many women are exposed to and their expression in intent, experience and collective well-being. In 18th century Africa, African women intellectual and consciousness sovereignty was violated in very extraordinary ways leading to a ruptured psyche. Since then, the world has experienced a domination-prone and unjust world. In the new, anticipated world the Japanese government coined society 5.0 in 2016, there is an increasing recognition that our differences in terms of race, gender and ethnicity are our collective strength making the 18th century use to racialise humanity and engage in inferiorisation. In places such as in higher education, we need to develop women as social justice pioneers who strive for social and economic justice and who:
· Challenge every misrepresentations in each scholarship and who uses NATE to summon knowledge from within own context and supplement it with epistemes from other contexts and regional ontologies and without affirming none. This affirmation of one or two knowledges lead to epistemic injustice and, in turn, lead to epistemic disobedience, this idea that in generating knowledge then the 19th century ontological plinth that undergird science and modern-day knowledge has to be disobeyed and discarded.
· Transcend disciplinary silos and monastic origins of education in order to challenge all social myths and lies that underlie western civilisation. For those women in STEM, take the opportunity to stem your authority by being technologically innovative. Marie Curie whose pioneering work in radiation in the 18th century resulted in cure for cancer, Every time you use GPS then remember the woman, Gladys Mae West who was instrumental in inventing it. Women need to reclaim their ancient African status as authoritative and rainmakers. Al-Fahri becomes the first African woman to establish a university in 859 in Morocco.
· Participate actively in the struggles towards societal transformation. The struggles of Lilian Ngoye, Winnie Mandela, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini and Ruth First in dismantling domination-prone and unjust society epitomise women who dedicated their entire lives to justice. How can we forget the immense contribution of Kimpa Vita who, during the 14th century challenged the formidable forces of coloniality and Christian menticide project and sought to protect African cognitive content.
We need to develop women who apotheosise these trailblazers in research, innovation and struggles for justice not those who serve avaricious oligarchy and who are not socially just. This is how universities contribute into a society that is free from domination and injustice. Academic philosophy boasts women philosophers such as Martreyi (1000BCE) and Cirene (5-4th century). In closing, I move on the premise that these women voices need to be made palpable as each woman reaches her higher self:
“would rather be feared or loved? Uum! Easy, both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me” Martreyi.