Last Year I was listening to the tunes of bob Marley a Rastafarian musician who created no woman, no cry but I wasn’t fortunate to see him, well in this few weeks a lot has happen and thought keep pondering in my mind, my thought was about this musician who were very famous when they were alive, they made a change but with time their story keep getting less and less forgettable, whirling thought about who tells their story , does their relatives remember them , does their fans know their stories, bob marley was a legend , and we can say he left a legacy behind but was it remembered? so I feel it’s about how they tell our stories.

The feeling of his songs keeps my mind calm and collected , at least they had popularity but I am do not , I’m just a girl who lives, breath and make a change in any way helpful , if I die today my family will grieve ,but they will live, life will continue in a fast pace and soon my story will be like a smoke, memories will be forgotten to an extent , those people who I helped will not remember me for my deeds but for my death, if they don’t remember, who will tell my story?

The music of the great angelique Kidjo was also and is still of great inspiration to me a woman who sings with her heart and tells a story she was an inspiration to many female artists and was a woman from Benin. She is doing many wonderful things and both the young female and male artist respect and cherish her till date I just hope with time she won’t be forgotten.

There is a saying “who lives, who dies and who tells a story” Many of our heroes who passed on, their memories are like fogs, the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for our safety who dies in the process we don’t remember them, those soldiers’ family can’t even bid their last goodbyes properly because their bodies are meant for the nation, they serve and take an oath to protect but even then, their family only have their memories to hold on to. We the civilians doesn’t even remember them for their bravery instead there are criticize, yes, we do have a day of remembrance for them, just a day was given after that they will be forgotten, so I wonder who will tell their stories and cherish their memories if everyone doesn’t.

Okay let’s forget about musicians what about the authors who were there even when not needed, are willing to pass information through their words we sit down and read their best-selling novels but when they passed away, we are unto the next best-selling author, we forget immediately that they exist and we move to the next, if all their fans forget and erase their memories who will remember their stories and cherish those memories and messages they passed on. With the likes of Chinua Achebe, the famous female writer who was an inspiration she tells a story which I can’t place my hands on a great woman indeed she is.

 Then I got a text message from my friends who asked if I was free they was a concert organized on behalf of the great Fela its called the felebration they purchased a ticket for me I was so excited, Fela was a great man in the history of mankind he might have his ups, down and secret but he was indeed a great man, during this felebration Fela will be remembered and this occur every once in a year, to be sincere I have never download his songs on my smartphone, I mostly have all this new artist songs on my phone because I thought their generations isn’t the trend, but I do know some his songs by heart, to tell you how catchy and how his message pass through. I was so happy because this event would make me catch up and I might be able to understand him through his songs and not what the public portrays him to be, the show was amazing a great experience and I learnt how he helped people in many ways possible it felt like he was still alive.

Then I remembered with the likes of queen Amina the greatest warrior who expanded the Hausa territory single handedly, a woman from the north who serves as heroes she is one of my greatest motivation , she makes me keep fighting and she had like 20000 men under her command , she joined the military then everyone both male and female had an equal right but now they made it the men world, we aren’t given the right and freedom we deserved they do celebrate ger , few cherish her memories but not all , with time her memories are going to be a day of remembrance forgetting her sacrifices if it so happen who will tell her stories.

With other influential women like Yaa Asante Waa from Ghana a great woman who left a legacy, she serves as an inspiration and played a huge role in the confronting the British colonial rule during the period of 1900s she was and is till a powerful and inspiration to us, but on like before her memories aren’t that popular she is still a big inspiration to me but with the few who remembers her stories, who will tell her story to the next generations.

And then we have the great Joyce Banda from Malawi she was the first woman to be elected as the president in Malawi, she was the founder of the national association of business women, young women leaders’ network and hunger project, she fought for human right and education in Malawi. Then everyone has their rights but now human rights are just written in a piece of paper and stamped it isn’t abided by the people, it serves as one of our downfalls not knowing our rights anymore. This woman fought till she conquered, imagine she was just as idle and didn’t make a legacy for herself, but right now its so sad to say her legacies are forgotten partially, if her memories are forgotten who will boldly remind the public of her story.

The Dahomey amazons from Benin were compromised by a female fighter they played an essential role in the endless war they rage around the countries. They also have a prominent government role as well as serving the king royal entourage. The are known for their skills of great combat and structure which are told round the world. They recently made a movie about the Dahomey warriors and what they passed through. Imagine a woman having a say in governmental affair’s not on this centuries, women are made to rule under men not having equal rights. This movie was made as a reminder to the nation but with times memories will be forgotten who will tell the tales of this warriors.

Then we have the Taytu Betul an infallible queen and empress of Ethiopia. she was grace and diplomacy were instrumental in overcoming Italian Imperialist attempts of conquering Ethiopia she was an inspiration and a great story she passed on to the public.

Zenzu Miriam Makeba was a grammy award winning singer actress and un goodwill ambassador from south Africa. her talent, tenacity and emotion lyricism made her one of the earliest African musicians to gain worldwide recognition and celebrated symbol of the fight against apartheid. She was a powerful and influential woman and will always be cherish but with time her memories will fade and her story shall be forgotten.

I then realized this might not be the full details of all this stories but this is how history wants us to view every story of this legends. They might have gone through a lot but we won’t know we just read. these legends made it easy for us so we won’t have to passed through tough times, but I wonder if their centuries were much easier than ours.

Stories and history were passed down by grandparent to our parents and then our parent is meant to pass it down to us and we will do the same, a reserves psychology but if we don’t know our histories how is it possible to tell them the stories? 

A legacy need to be uphold by us, we have a legacy to pass through to the next generation.

Now that I realize it, I hope it isn’t too late this saying who lives, who dies and who tell the story has finally gotten its answer.

 Countless of time I thought about the answer but it was made easier like a platter laid on the ground, we live, we die and generations tell the stories. But it all happens with time. 

So now it’s up to you to decides who will tell your story.

#WM2024