An Ode to Nawal El Saadawi

Abstract

If you have lived an important life there is too much to say, there is no summing up, so this is a remembrance when there are too many memories.Dear Nawal,With love for everything you were and areFierce freedom fighter; courageous warrior for freedomFor all people but especially Arab women across the planet.Freedom for ourFacesOur BodiesOur heartsOur mindsOur imaginations.Unveil them all.When I first met you, you already had that gorgeous head of white hair. I always could find you in a crowd and I was always looking.I had already read your many wordsabout liberating ourselves.I loved thatyou never told me to be careful.Our dinner in Cairo was in your beautiful apartment.I was there to speak about the first Black president in the US.Everyone wanted to know what it really meant, and if it meant anything and especially for the world. You were dubious.The visit was filled with the camaraderie of political struggle.The smells of Sherif’s cooking filled the air and told me I was home.After the Egyptian revolution in Tahrir Square, 2011, you came to the States to share what was happening.We went to a meeting in New York City and the hall was jammed full with progressives and leftists and feminists.A question came to you: What could we do in the US to help?Your answer: You cannot help our revolution. You need to make your own revolution and get rid of your government and free the world.We are trying, Nawal. We love the path you have carved. I will miss you as I/we continue the struggle, imagining you by my side.Always with revolutionary love for you, Nawal, my comrade and sister.