Women And Resistance
Women And Resistance
Podcast Description
"Women And Resistance" is a groundbreaking podcast celebrating the courage, resilience, and revolutionary spirit of women across the globe. Each episode hosted by Aya Fubara Eneli and Adesoji Iginla will uncover untold stories of resistance against systemic oppression—be it colonialism, racism, sexism, or economic disenfranchisement. Through deep conversations, historical narratives, and contemporary analysis.The podcast will amplify the voices of trailblazers, freedom fighters, and community builders whose legacies should be known, because many either never got their dues or have faded into obscurity.From the bold defiance of Winnie Mandela and Fannie Lou Hamer to the activism of modern leaders like Mia Mottley and grassroots organizers like Wangari Maathai,"Women And Resistance" illuminates the transformative power of women in shaping a more just world.This is a call to honor the past, embrace the present, and apply the lessons for a more empowered future.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast focuses on themes of resilience, activism, and women's contributions to social justice, exploring specific topics such as colonial resistance, the struggles against racism and sexism, and economic disenfranchisement. Examples include episodes dedicated to figures like Queen Nanny, a symbol of resistance in Jamaican history, and Lorraine Hansberry, whose activism in theater shed light on civil rights issues, creating a narrative that intertwines past and present struggles for empowerment.
“Women And Resistance” is a groundbreaking podcast celebrating the courage, resilience, and revolutionary spirit of women across the globe.
Each episode hosted by Aya Fubara Eneli and Adesoji Iginla will uncover untold stories of resistance against systemic oppression—be it colonialism, racism, sexism, or economic disenfranchisement. Through deep conversations, historical narratives, and contemporary analysis.
The podcast will amplify the voices of trailblazers, freedom fighters, and community builders whose legacies should be known, because many either never got their dues or have faded into obscurity.
From the bold defiance of Winnie Mandela and Fannie Lou Hamer to the activism of modern leaders like Mia Mottley and grassroots organizers like Wangari Maathai,
“Women And Resistance” illuminates the transformative power of women in shaping a more just world.
This is a call to honor the past, embrace the present, and apply the lessons for a more empowered future.
Host Adesoji Iginla speaks with Aya Fubara Eneli, who embodies Maria Firmina dos Reis, the 19th-century Brazilian teacher and writer.
In character, Eneli recounts Maria's life: an illegitimate daughter of a formerly enslaved mother, a public school teacher, and the author of Úrsula, published in 1859.
Takeaways
*No verified portrait of Maria survives. A picture of a white woman was once placed on the cover of Úrsula as the author's image.
*Her birth year is given as 1822 or 1825, in São Luís, Maranhão. She grew up in Guimarães in her mother's sister's house, where a few books were available.
*She passed a public exam in 1847 for the post of girls' primary teacher in Guimarães. She refused to be carried in a palanquin by enslaved men.
*Úrsula appeared in 1859 under the pseudonym ”Uma Maranhense.” Its enslaved characters speak, think and remember Africa, including Túlio and Susana.
*She also published poems, the story Gupeva, the poetry book Cantos à Beira-Mar (1871), and the story A Escrava.
*She opened a free mixed-gender school that lasted about two and a half years before pressure forced its closure.
*After abolition on May 13, 1888, she noted that the Golden Law offered no land, wages or schooling.
*She died in 1917 at 95, blind and poor.
*Úrsula was found and republished about 45 years later.
Chapters
(0:01) Introduction: slavery, and a Black woman challenging it with a pen
(1:30) Context: the world Maria lived in
(2:03) Why no portrait of her exists, and the wrong face on the book cover
(7:37) Birth and early life: Maranhão, 1822 or 1825, and her mother Leonor
(10:33) Writing Úrsula, the first novel by a woman in Brazil
(17:54) São Luís, the tides, and an economy built on enslaved labour
(27:22) Moving to Guimarães and teaching herself from a few books
(33:40) The Balaiada revolt and Negro Cosme's school
(38:38) The 1847 teacher exam
(42:33) Refusing the palanquin
(46:16) Her classroom and what she taught the girls
(49:20) Why she never married, and the children she raised
(52:11) Úrsula published in 1859, the prologue and the pseudonym
(58:04) Newspaper writing, Gupeva and Cantos à Beira-Mar
(62:08) The mixed-gender school
(65:09) Abolitionist movement and A Escrava
(66:46) Abolition in 1888 and what the law left out
(69:22) Death in 1917 and rediscovery of her work
(71:00) Host reflections
(72:26) Closing call to action from Maria
(73:00) Next week teaser
Welcome to Women and Resistance, a powerful podcast where we honour the courage, resilience, and revolutionary spirit of women across the globe. Hosted by Aya Fubara Eneli Esq and Adesoji Iginla…
You’re listening to Women and Resistance with Aya Fubara Eneli Esq and Adesoji Iginla—where we honour the voices of women who have shaped history through courage and defiance…Now, back to the conversation.
That’s it for this episode of Women and Resistance. Thank you for joining us in amplifying the voices of women who challenge injustice and change the course of history. Be sure to subscribe, share, and continue the conversation. Together We Honour the past, act in the present, and shape the future. Until next time, stay inspired and stay in resistance!
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