Date: Mon, 4 Nov 1996 11:41:48 -0500 (EST)
From: Cheryl Gittens <cgittens-AT-mtholyoke.edu>
Subject: immigration woes...


i would like to reply to this message about "tyrannic women"...i am a 
West Indian woman who has been living in the USA for close to 7years...i 
originally came here in search of a better life in 1986...unfortunately i 
got sidetracked and ended up literally fighting for my life on many 
levels in the ghettos of NYC...i was illegal at the time.  Anyway living 
in the ghetto, working off the books, cleaning peoples houses, cooking 
and babysitting...for"white people"...was not easy but it was all that i 
could do as an illegal immigrant...finally i decided that i had to get 
out of the mess and returned to school for my GED...this was the best 
thing i had ever done in my life...it somehow had a domino effect and i 
eventually ended up doing my SAT's and ended up working in an Art College 
in NYC where i was able to tell my story...it was here that survival 
ended and life began for me....i was offered a scholarship at this school 
and had to return home after being here for many years illegally...to 
obtain my student visa...i returned home...not sure if i would ever be 
able to come back...totally on faith...and met up with a white male 
immigration officer who was willing to listen to my story...he saw my 
struggle and issued me a visa to return to the USA...telling me that he 
thought i was a very courageous woman...this was in 1993...this year 
spring 1996 my visa expired and i had to return home to renew it...this 
time i met up with a black African American woman...she cancelled my visa 
with predjudice...saying that i should not have been allowed to return to 
the USA in the first place...the proof that i had...documentations from 
one of the top colleges in the USA...proof of grants and fellowships i 
had received...references...and proof of a full scholarship for 4 years 
did not change this woman's mind...with one mark of her pen she deleted 
my life...a trip that was supposed to last one week ended up lasting for 
3months with me fighting the USA government...letters from my 
school...calls from Senator Kennedy's office did not help the 
situation...she said that i would never ever see the United States 
again...i have said all that to say this...sometimes the people that will 
help you are the ones outside of your culture and all females are not for 
females...it really hurt to face this from a black woman whom i saw as a 
sister and whom i thought would understand my struggle...i learnt very 
quickly that black does not mean sister or brother...but sometimes it can 
mean enemy of the worst kind...yes i know first hand that these 
"tyranical women do exist"...but i have overcome and am back here in the 
USA to prove that nothing beats faith and a belief in oneself...we have 
got to stand up and fight for our beliefs even when faced with obstacles...

On Sun, 3 Nov 1996 atefeho-AT-vms2.macc.wisc.edu wrote:

> Date: Sun, 03 Nov 1996 21:56:40 -0600
> From: atefeho-AT-vms2.macc.wisc.edu
> To: third-world-women-AT-jefferson.village.Virginia.EDU
> Cc: third-world-women-AT-jefferson.village.Virginia.EDU
> Subject: Re: readings
> 
> 
> Prof. Osage
> 
> You must be very lucky, not having experienced the tyrannic attitude of any
> women.  
> Could this be the start of the debate?  Gender or power/abuse of power
> Where is the problem? Are we dealing with a polarized world of Saint (women)
> and Evil (men) ?  May be  this is one of the diverging point of  (if we can
> categorize it this way ) western and non-western feminism.  What do you all
> think? 
> Atefeh
> 
> 
> At 09:16 PM 11/3/96 +0000, Professor Osage wrote:
> >The best place to start with the history of women's resistance would be
> >with gathering information about the Amazons.  (amazon is a Greek word
> >meaning breast less in English)
> >
> >The Amazons were basically all women who resisted the onslaught of
> >patriarchy for thousands of years.  They are still here today evident in
> >at least some of the members of "third world women," who desire to right
> >the wrongs of patriarchy.
> >
> >I would like to suggest the following book for reading which will serve
> >as a jump off point for some serious business.
> >
> >The name of the book is "When God was a Woman" by Merlin Stone.  Any
> >woman who read this book will find their eyes opened to the tyranny of
> >patriarchy and so seek ways to counter this evil of male superiority.
> >
> >If you are seeking truth there are many book to use but they are not
> >advertised and that is why most books that are useful to women are not
> >known to most women.
> >
> >Or would the group prefer to read Darwin's "Origin of Species" or
> >Bancroft's "Native Races"  where you will find information and an
> >ancient ritual about baptism of the new born by the mid wife. ( vol. 3
> >page 372}
> >
> >This will help to prove that baptism predated Christianity.
> >
> >I have nothing against Christianity if it was practiced as preached, it
> >is the dishonesty of the practitioners that appalls me.  I my self am a
> >Christian who knows that the dead will not come back to life but the
> >spirit lives on and that the only foundation of the Christian church is
> >the hope that Jesus will return from the dead to save the living.
> >
> >Kamar Osage
> >luvgenie-AT-bellsouth.net
> >
> >
> Az Khak Bar'amadim-o- Bar Khak Shodym
> 
>