On Saturday we celebrated Women’s Day, a celebration rooted in the Women’s March of 1956, when 20 000 women of all races marched in Pretoria to protest the pass laws, an Apartheid era law which sought to reinforce segregation by limiting the movement of people. By controlling where people lived, by keeping peoples of different races separate from each other, it made it difficult to form friendships and relationships between different racial groups. This aided in the “othering” of people who were different from you, making it easier to claim that people of a different racial group were somehow less than your own. The leaders of the march were Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Albertina Sisulu, and Sophia Williams-De Bruyn. The last surviving leader of that march is a parishioner here at St Martin de Porres.
In 1994, when new public holidays were instituted, this day was chosen to commemorate the role that the women of our country played in our liberation, not simply a political liberation but a mental and spiritual liberation.
Women play an out-sized role in our society and church today. Women of all ages are the primary caregivers for children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. They are literally the glue that holds our society together. In many parishes the majority of parishioners are women, and they form the support network for the faith community. This is obviously a generalisation but one that at least in my experience seems to be rooted in reality. For this we are immeasurably grateful.
The life of women is a challenging one, so much so that if reincarnation existed I very much doubt that many men would be ambitioning to come back as a woman. In South Africa there are high rates of violence including sexual violence against women. In other parts of the continent and the world rape is used in war to subjugate people, and in places like Afghanistan girls are virtually prohibited from going to school. In 1966 James Brown
wrote a song called “It’s a man’s world”, and he wasn’t wrong. In the lyrics he said that while it is a man’s world it would be nothing without a woman or a girl. That is also true. On Women’s Day let us remember and honour the women of our community. Let us pray for them, but also do something to protect the legacy of women of all colours who marched for the dignity of all South Africans.
Prayer for the women of our community
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift of women. who have inspired us, nurtured us, and loved us. We celebrate their strength, their resilience, and their contributions to our world. We pray for an end to violence against women, for an end to discrimination, and for a world where all women are treated with dignity and respect. May they find strength and hope in your love, and may we all work together to create a more just and equitable world. Amen.
