She was finally given a proper Khoisan funeral in a formal ceremony hosted by President Thabo Mbeki... }

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4404108,00.html }

In a classic and haunting tune entitled "We All...Everyone Of Us", Sweet Honey in the Rock sing: "We all, every one of us, have to come home again..." I am elated to announce that, FINALLY, our eternal sister Sara Baartman is going home to South Africa! I pray that our sister's soul may now finally rest in peace. Her long and legendary journey has been filled with uniquely brutal sexist savagery and racist inhumanity. Her saga epitomizes eternal injustices and indignities:

Sara was a native of the Khoi San tribe of South Africa. In 1810, she was a 20 year old slave in Cape Town. She was taken to London and exhibited as a freak across Britain. She was usually locked inside of a cage and treated like a dancing bear. In 1814, she was taken to France to be used as a guinea pig for racist scientific research. In 1815, she died from these abuses. Her corpse was dissected so that her sexual organs and brains could be placed in jars for display in the Musée de L'homme in Paris, France. These morbid remains were on display until 1985.

Sara was known as “The Hottentot Venus”. Her white male captors charged admission to racist voyeurs who wanted to gawk at African female genitalia, buttocks and breasts. It is ironic that many women who are displayed so today are not captives, but eager volunteers. Sara's cage has been replaced by droves of cages disguised as porno films and magazines, and music videos. Sara's captors have been replaced by video/film directors, magazine editors, strip club owners, toxic diets/drugs, and plastic surgeons. Like Sara, women are still perpetually on display. And, we still perish trying to please the gawkers who judge us, mercilessly and endlessly.

For more information on Sara, see a great documentary film (www.frif.com) called “The Life & Times of Sara Baartman”. It is expertly directed by Zola Maseko. It is hauntingly narrated by a sister who vocally channels Sara’s pain and humiliation. Many superior scholars are interviewed who expertly relate the historical and ongoing racism and sexism that made the abuses of Sara possible. Clay molds from her skeletal remains recreate the physique that cursed her to a life of torturous display.

Viewing this documentary is a spiritual experience. It features camera shots of the waters that Sara sailed to her demise. Watching them flow is akin to sailing along beside her, to her doom. It also features many editorial cartoons which ruthlessly degrade Sara and her plight. They remind me of today’s political cartoons, penned by neocons, that similarly make jokes of the misery of the masses.

Legal battles over the repatriation of her remains have spanned decades. They may continue through June 2002. There are many callous and racist fools, devoid of souls, who are more concerned with the legal precedents concerning the property rights of museums than with African humans' rights to the stolen remains of their kin. Their offensive "legal" and political antics may continue to delay Sara's homecoming.

It has taken 200 years for racist French curators to do right. Until 1976, anyone could enter the Musée de L'homme in Paris, France and view Sara's brains, breasts, buttocks, and vagina floating in jars. Now, only her skeleton remains. Her flesh has mysteriously disappeared from storage. Certainly, the same ilk of racist freaks who once displayed her privately may now host private freak shows. Fortunately and defiantly, Sara's spirit soared far beyond her flesh long ago. The return of her bones will give the Khoisan all they need to give Sara a proper burial and to celebrate her homecoming.

There will be no more laughing at Sara's tragic torture. We now laugh with Sara at her belated victory. There will be no more tears of pain shed over her posthumous exile. We now cry tears of joy as we rejoice over the serenity that this closure will bring to her haunted spirit and restless soul. We have prayed her to rest.

Kudos to the mighty Khoisan people who fought tirelessly for their sister. Kudos also to a gifted sister poet named Diane Ferrus whose passionate 1998 poem, in tribute to Sara, moved politicos to sincere action. Never underestimate the power of a woman with a pen. Never underestimate the will of any people with a mission. Never underestimate the haunting screams of a sister across oceans of time...

Dear Sister: Welcome Home Saartjie. We, who have shared some of your pain, embrace your eternal spirit with all of our love. Rest in peace, in African soil...With joy, love, respect, and reverence...Always...

For more on Saartjie, and ongoing sexist abuses, see hese additional columns herein:

FILM REVIEW: THE LIFE & TIMES OF SARAH BAARTMAN: MADNESS IN MUSIC VIDEOS

AMADOU DIALLO SONGS: ALTERNATIVES TO HIP HOP-PIMPING PAST THE REVOLUTION

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