Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Rhubi V on African exploitation: A poem for Sarah Baartman by Diana Ferrus






Left Photo taken by Marianne Lindberg de Geer (A long deceased African women is still being forced to exhibit her body for the savage enjoyment of europeans.)

   Europeans saw us, Africans as savages…when indeed they were the true perverts and savages fellow blogger Deeva Interrupted states in her blog. (http://peacebenwilliams.com/who-is-sara-baartman-every-black-woman-should-know-her-name-photos-video/)  

This image is where my curiosity started. I learned in the Dutch Colonies of South Africa British Doctor William Dunlop, bought for his sociopathic perversion a Khoisan women.
His goal was, exhibit  her natural beauty for his and many others further inherent pseudo-science sadistic pleasure until  her taxidermic body was removed from The Musée de l'Homme (French, "Museum of Man"), is an anthropology museum in Paris, France from further exploitation in 1974.

In 1994 her remains were taken back to South Africa a per request of then President Nelson Mandela.

In January 2002, Sarah Baartman’s remains were returned and buried on 9 August 2002, on South Africa's Women's Day, at Hankey, South Africa. Her grave is now a national heritage site.





A poem for Sarah Baartman



By Diana Ferrus
“I’ve come to take you home –
home, remember the veld?
the lush green grass beneath the big oak trees
the air is cool there and the sun does not burn.
I have made your bed at the foot of the hill,
your blankets are covered in buchu and mint,
the proteas stand in yellow and white
and the water in the stream chuckle sing-songs
as it hobbles along over little stones.
I have come to wretch you away –
away from the poking eyes
of the man-made monster
who lives in the dark
with his clutches of imperialism
who dissects your body bit by bit
who likens your soul to that of Satan
and declares himself the ultimate god!
I have come to soothe your heavy heart
I offer my bosom to your weary soul
I will cover your face with the palms of my hands
I will run my lips over lines in your neck
I will feast my eyes on the beauty of you
and I will sing for you
for I have come to bring you peace.
I have come to take you home
where the ancient mountains shout your name.
I have made your bed at the foot of the hill,
your blankets are covered in buchu and mint,
the proteas stand in yellow and white –
I have come to take you home
where I will sing for you
for you have brought me peace.”

Diana Ferrus

Diana Ferrus, of Khoisan descent, wrote “A poem for Sarah Baartman” while studying in Utrecht, Holland, in 1998. She said of the process: “One evening I was looking at the stars and I thought to myself, ‘They’re so far away. But if I were home, I’d be able to touch every one of them.’ My heart just went out to Sarah, and I thought, ‘Oh, God, she died of heartbreak, she longed for her country. What did she feel?’ That’s why the first line of the poem was ‘I’ve come to take you home’.”

http://www.southafrica.info/about/history/saartjie.htm#.Ul2sd7v_Qy9

Read more:http://www.southafrica.info/about/history/saartjie.htm#.Ul2sd7v_Qy9#ixzz2hpJVts3d




VENUS NOIRE (THE SARAH BAARTMAN STORY) – FULL LENGTH FILM (2010) below

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