The Coming Together of the Caribbean's Future Feminist

Me
I don't blog, really I don't. This is my first attempt at it and I do hope it is worth the read. Usually I write when I'm upset but preferably in a book.I still believe somethings are best kept a secret and only myself and God should ever know those thoughts. However, after a fabulous, fun filled three days in Barbados I had to get my fingers typing and adding my new found feeling to the growing list of reflections.


Feminism
As far back as I could remember feminist were defined as liberated women who chose not to shave, did not apply deodorant to armpits and never allowed themselves to be dependent on a man for anything. I remembered having a heated discussion with friends in school on whether a man should open a door for a woman, why versus why not. I still laugh today when I realize that that perception was misinformed and stereotypical.


Invitation
When I received the invitation to attend this movement building in Barbados I didn't know what I was getting myself into. All that kept going through my head was I get to be part of a feminist movement, FINALLY! I wanted to walk around beating my chest, standing tall and proud that I, with Gods intervention, am able to stand on my own two feet and no man has ever been able to step on me. I was going to open my own doors and cook when I feel like and prove that I can make my own money and didn't need a man but I had to shave. That was one thing there would be no compromise on. I was going to come back to Jamaica and organize workshops that empowered women to the point where they would proudly demand their rights and get it. I was going to proudly declare my title as Feminist to everyone and every male will cower at its resonating sound! Say it loud I AM FEMINIST! YEAH ME!


Barbados - Day 1

WOW!!! Beautiful, young/ish, sweet smelling women; varying height, ethnicity, culture, country and language. They looked nothing like the feminist I remembered quarreling about and sometimes defending. They were vibrant and friendly and more than passionate about their lives and work. They meant business. Their faces will become what youngsters will see and aspire to become; eloquent, confident, knowledgeable, caring and sexy.

The next 9 hours were the defining moments as to whether this movement would make it. We laughed, we talked, we danced and we spoke frankly and very openly. I am a lesbian and I am woman. We confided in each other, only having met a few hours before, without worry or care. This ordained movement was slowly unfolding and blossoming into lifetime friendships and a regional movement like no other.


Barbados - Day 2

I'm missing home and my girlfriend and there is so much on my mind that I am unable to keep it together... It's 6am and I am crying about situations back home I have no control over and my girlfriend is really trying her best though Blackberry Messenger to comfort me. It worked if only long enough for me to get ready and leave the apartment. If I could just make it to the meeting space then nothing else would matter, because its never about me but what I can do to help those in need. For the next 10 hours this space, these ladies, these activities will become the rock I will lean on because what is happening in Jamaica will be there when I get back but what happens here will create a lifetime of ideas, lessons and memories that can never be replicated.

I am blessed and honored to have shared the same space with same thought women from all across the Caribbean with the same goal to #CATCHAFYAH! by getting F'ED UP! (Fired Up). I was blessed to have been in the presence of those who had paved the way for this movement to be possible and who are still willing to offer their best practices and advice when asked. I am confident that those two days of movement building were the defining days of greater things to come. I do believe there is power in number, words and unity and that is what we were able to start.

I look forward to another call for a longer meeting with additional voices and we'll come with the same tenacity and fire to ripple the effect unto other movements. Keep di fyah blazing!

Tracey-Ann Lewis
Women for Women (Ja.)
@traceyannslewis