To mark International Women’s Month, which also co-incides with our own marking of (O)gelede festival, both of which commemorate the achievements, power and potential of women, mothers and femininity, motherhood, the nurturing and the cautioning – this year, the kiye is done by Jebujene’s editor, Dele Meji, and we hope to invite others to do this in future years; here’s his recording, and a little bit of background to it, we hope you enjoy, and however you mark international women’s month – enjoy.
Akiye (English)
We greet our mother, the great mother that gave birth to us as children, That birthed twins, and birthed Deji, that birthed Kemi and birthed ‘Sola, Help me greet our mother, the child of Adesina, bethroed to Fatunla, help me greet the great mother, who has walked the path of life, and smiled at the world in times of difficulty, help me greet our mother, who raised me to maturity, who is wise, who has beauty and manners, who has been the guard, who beat us, and cautioned us, who raised us to maturity with the cane and honour, help me greet our mother who is maami mi, mommy, mom and mother, mother, mother, and mother to us, and who has done goodness for her husband’s mother, the mother of the house, and who has taught us the virtue of suffering, we bow We give thanks
Akiye (Yoruba)
A kiye fun iya wa, yeye, to bi wa lo mo, To bi ibeji, to bi deji, to bi kemi, to bi ‘Sola,
E bami ki iyawa, olokiki, eni ire, iya ire, omo ire, Omo ile Adesina, Aya Fatunla, E bami kiye fun yeye, to se irin aiye, to se erin aiye lo jo isoro, e ba mi ki iya wa, To bi wa lo mo, to to wa d’agba, to gbon, to l’ewa, to l’eko, To she esho, to na wa, to bawa wi, to fi egba ati owo to wa d’agba, E ba wa ki iya wa to je maa mi, mommy, mom ati iya iya iya ati iya si wa, to de she se rere fun Iya oko, ati Iya-Ile, to ko wa l’owo iya, Iba, Eseun, adupe
Akiye (Portugues)
Cumprimentamos nossa mãe, a grande mãe que nos deu à luz quando crianças, Que nasceu gêmeos, e deu à luz Deji, que nasceu Kemi e nasceu ‘Sola Ajude-me a cumprimentar nossa mãe, a criança de Adesina, bethroed para Fatunla, me ajude a cumprimentar a grande mãe, que caminhou pelo caminho da vida, e sorriu para o mundo em tempos de dificuldade, me ajude a cumprimentar nossa mãe, que me criou à maturidade, que é sábia, que tem beleza e boas maneiras, que tem sido a guarda, que nos bateram, e nos advertiram, que nos elevaram à maturidade com a bengala e a honra, me ajudem a cumprimentar nossa mãe que é maami mi, mamãe, mãe e mãe, mãe, mãe e mãe para nós, e que fez bondade pela mãe de seu marido, a mãe da casa, e que nos ensinou a virtude do sofrimento, nós nos curvamos Nós agradecemos
Português brasileiro feito via Google
Commentary & Curation
The Reflection:
I can’t remember exactly where it is – but I think Toni Morrison once said that in trying to relate to Muhammad Ali, he took no notice of her when he thought of her as just a professional and it was when she switched into interacting with him as the mother figure and an owner of boundaries that she got his respect; I think this idea of women as mothers, especially in the professional space is a double edged sword for everyone, and while I have had experienced of it that are positive, by and large it is not the mask I hope to see, because generally it’s a false promise, in the end, whoever acts as a mother to you in an office or anywhere outside of your family or home, and does not intend to fully occupy the role of mother sets you up for something rather dangerous and seductively promising but often empty – that said, I think when we all harness the full expression of the nurturing which includes both the requirement of kindness and toughness we can do extraordinary things, especially when those lessons we learn in our bringing are harnessed from private life into public expression and there are many examples of that both in our recent and deep past, some of which we hope to explore soon. In the meantime, enjoy King Sunny Ade and Asa’s superlative expressions of mother veneration.
The Jist: Short and sweet content 