Buchi Emecheta lived a full life. Even as we mourn today, we celebrate her. An author who brought a uniquely female perspective to the stories she wrote, she truly is one of the most important figures in African literature. Although she hated the term ‘feminist’, there was no doubt that she was fully aware of the suffocating patriarchal nature of the societies and times she lived in.
1. On men
A hungry man is an angry manBuchi Emecheta
2. On patriarchy
A man is never uglyBuchi Emecheta (Joys of Motherhood)
3. On being a feminist
I work toward the liberation of women, but I’m not feminist. I’m just a womanBuchi Emecheta
4. On the female gender
But who made the law that we should not hope in our daughters? We women subscribe to that law more than anyone. Until we change all this, it is still a man’s world, which women will always help to buildBuchi Emecheta
5. On being a Nigerian woman
I am a woman and a woman of Africa. I am a daughter of Nigeria and if she is in shame, I shall stay and mourn with her in shameBuchi Emecheta
6. On morality
Few things are as bad as a guilty conscienceBuchi Emecheta
7. About feminism
Being a woman writer, I would be deceiving myself if I said I write completely through the eye of a man. There’s nothing bad in it, but that does not make me a feminist writer. I hate that name. The tag is from the Western world – like we are called the Third World
8. About black women
Black women all over the world should re-unite and re-examine the way history has portrayed us
9. On her tough marriage
The first book I wrote was The Bride Price which was a romantic book, but my husband burnt the book when he saw it. I was the typical African woman, I’d done this privately, I wanted him to look at it, approve it and he said he wouldn’t read it
1. The Joys of Motherhood
We all read this book in secondary school.
2. The Slave Girl
The heartbreaking story of Ogbanje Ojebeta, who was sold to slavery by her own brother.
3. Kehinde
If you want to read a good book on IJGb problems, Buchi Emecheta’s Kehinde is the one for you.
4. Second Class Citizen
The story of how a Nigerian woman fought for an independent life for herself and her children.
5. Head Above Water
Buchi’s autobiography which was basically a masterpiece.
6. In The Ditch
In Thee Ditch features the story of a Nigerian woman and how she struggles to fit in as a black woman living in London.
7. The Rape of Shavi
The dramatic book highlights the consequences of colonialism of Shavi, a fictional African village.
You probably know her as the author of ‘Joys Of Motherhood’, but she had so many other novels under her name.
Born July 21, 1944, Buchi’s writing has brought to focus, the oppression of women in a largely patriarchal society.
She also wrote about the discriminatory treatment of black people in Britain in her book ‘Second Class Citizen’ (1974).
The New York Times described the book as ‘completely engrossing’.
Though she authored over 20 books, most of them based on revealing the inequality in gender roles in Africa as well as the ills of child slavery, Buchi never described herself as a feminist.
She was awarded many honors including the Order of the British Empire(OBE) in 2005.
Buchi Emecheta died on January 25, 2017 at the age of 72, in her London home. She had lived there since 1960.
Her novel, ‘Joys of Motherhood’ (1979) which describes the pains and sorrows of a woman with many kids, who sadly died alone, remains one of the foremost references to gender roles in Nigeria and beyond.
She can’t hear it now, but one feels an overwhelming urge to say ‘Thank you’. Thank you for being a great woman. Thank you for being an exceptional writer. Thank you for your legacy.
