Women Born In The 1920s

"It takes a lot to become a champion. You need to be a killer. If you can't look over that net and see Public Enemy Number One, then you aren't going to be a champ.""

"Life itself returns over destruction, putting out death. (1963)"

"Poets appeared like flowers on the earth."

"Love, love, love, LOVE where do you hide forever? In the deep. But so deep in ourselves."

"At times I don't know if Hunger or the World allowing Hunger pains me more."

"you see bread is never enough and the soul is always hungry"

"Alone in my room, spinning with the whole world in my head from the day I was born."

"I learned to dream on the roof of the house"

"100 painters engraving their dreams on skin"

"if you feed us the bread of love we will all grow stronger with fraternity with pity with serenity,"

"Ay, those who can't shed light nor let others shed light."

"If you don't like this world we'll change it with kisses"

"I'm just a worm with metaphysical necessities wanting to rise but lacking sun"

"We are born old how life descends and one gets younger."

"I can climb to the top story of the highest poem and throw myself into the vacuum of a life."

"We think of these people as primitive, uneducated, crude. But bringing myself a bit closer to their lives, I felt with emotion their capacity for kindness which they radiate, because they contain it, towards any stranger. Every civilized-intelligent person, whom I have known, tends towards evil, coldness, distrust of friend. Every civilized-intelligent person, seated one step above the rest, perhaps in order to spit down on them and shout; "because I am intelligent" -with the right to everything, above everyone. I've come to the conclusion, after briefly touching these high villages without aspirations, that intelligence is not one of the human values I respect. It's inhuman. Especially since those gifted with super doses of cerebral juice can't seem to live in peace with each other. They isolate themselves and retreat from a reality they insist on showing their back. There I found men who escape all definition. Perhaps "pure" is the poor word best fitting. I feel not that "I've arrived" in a marvelous world, but that "I've left" the inclement garbage of the city. (1963)"

"There is space, I say this from my heart, to reconstruct the world. (September 1963)"

"I was four thousand feet high. And more. In the heart of stone of the Andes. The open mouth of the earth surprised me, with its deep color. Like one of her fruits, the coffee bean...A difficult earth, only a bit of earth stretched over the sleeping eye of a volcano. One day she awakes, yawns and swallows an entire village with its men, its screams and its trees. (September 1963)"

"Another day the poor inhabitants lift themselves from the ruins and right there begin to reconstruct the roads; children without shoes, but with joy on their shoulders, return to carry the future. (September 1963)"

"The Nadaistas are a miracle. In many ways they are fighters. I've never seen a whole nation living the exaltation of poetry as if it were a political party. After my reading, I tried to save myself from the Cali effusion and I retreated to my dark room in the hotel. Success frightened me. Or the noise of the crowds. (1964)"

"I'm writing a prologue for the Ajy Tojen like nothing ever read in literature. (1964)"

"Long live the thieves! They don't make a lie of their lives in this wormy society. They are what they are. Sincere in their disgrace. Working with them I've learnt the importance of loyalty and honor."

"Generally, a revolution isn't enough. For me, it's changing one chaos for another. The important thing is to know that which from this moment is to be constructed."

"Raquel Jodorowsky's poems, in form as well as content, have had an enduring impact."

"I remember her as both compact and graceful, shorter than me but with contagious energy. She had long dark hair and eyes that seemed backlit by a magical knowing. Having traveled from Peru, she brought with her its tenuous Andean air and wailing reed pipes. Vivacious and determined, she filled a room with vibrant power. Her poetry captivated us all."

"Raquel was also clearly accustomed to being a lone woman among men. But she operated on a different strata, not because of her gender but because her lifestyle and goals situated her beyond all social constraints. When she read her work, the air turned electric. We listened in awe."

"Another of Raquel's letters included a few lines that continue to resonate with me. She wrote: "You can't imagine, my brother, how much I've thought of our children. In all they have yet to touch, create and do. There is space, I say this from my heart, to reconstruct the world." Today Raquel is long gone, and I am thinking not of our children or grandchildren but of my two young great-grandchildren. Is there still space to reconstruct the world? It doesn't feel like it. And yet I believe that the spirit that palpitates in Raquel's work urges that reconstruction even more now than it did then. And that poetry and art remain our best resistance to the horrors that besiege us."

"In yet another poem, "Chewing" she writes: "This is the first time on earth for me / but I've been in other mouths before and my / heart has beaten in another tongue." And later, in an untitled poem, she describes herself: "Raquel maker of useless poems, says: / I want to regain my dignity / in the poorest spot on earth / dressed in a song to write a song / that doesn't pretend to amuse, honor or impress..." This work is a cry against social hypocrisy, entitlement, consumerism, complacency, ostentation and false idols. Without following party lines or using political jargon, poets such as Raquel honor values necessary to effecting positive social change."

"LSTM, along with the mentorship of Dr. Hynes, instilled in me the passion and drive for scientific exploration. Three years of immersive engagement with freshwater ecosystems introduced me to the captivating world of freshwater research and its vulnerabilities. This experience compelled me to initiate national freshwater research to support Ghana's extensive Volta Lake and inland water system. I had the privilege of establishing and leading the National Research Institute for this noble purpose."

"The work you have produced is a confluence of pure wisdom, raw passion for the environment, a deep sense of patriotism and a pragmatic commitment to get things done to preserve the environment."

"Tiredness is a luxury most people can't afford."

"Whatever you do in life, do it to the best of your ability and after that, you can say this is the best I could do. Then, there will be no regrets. If you do not succeed at the first attempt, try, try and try again."

"No one else could have played Mrs Warboys as she did and the honesty that she brought to every line, however bizarre, was what made the character so funny and legitimised even the maddest of moments. There was never the remotest suggestion that she was playing comedy: in her hands it was all utterly real."

"I was rolled down a hill and mounted by a dog."

"[Of Mrs Worboys in One Foot In The Grave] She always wanted to help and meant well all the time. It's just that she was tactless and not very bright, although occasionally she'd have these strange streaks of knowledge, like the time she knew all the answers while playing Trivial Pursuit."

"The Dean, Prof. Maegraith, extended a heartfelt invitation to study for a PhD at LSTM during his visit to Ghana. His inspiring presence left no room for hesitation, and I eagerly accepted the offer with gratitude."

"Without a doubt, my proudest moment was embarking on the journey to LSTM at the age of 36, accompanied by my three children, aged 8, 6, and 3. Successfully completing my PhD while managing the responsibilities of motherhood fills me with profound gratitude and fulfillment. Additionally, the memories of my children assisting me in the field, such as helping me climb out of a gorge during our sampling expeditions in North Wales, are cherished moments of accomplishment."

"I started a secondary school. That secondary school is still in existence till today. After that, I got married. I had spent two or three years in the school at that time. Then, my husband got an appointment at the University of Ibadan. I moved there with him. At Ibadan, I joined the university as the Map Librarian."

"Because I was a government scholar, I felt like working for the government, but at the civil service, they told me they had no room for candidates that finished with university degree as teachers. So, I went to work for the Anglican Mission. I taught at Anglican Girls’ Secondary School, now St. Margaret’s School, Ilesha, and St. Anne’s School, Ibadan. I lectured at Nigerian College of Science and Technology, and the University of Ibadan, where I also served in the University Library.I became a Reader; Professor; Acting Director, Institute of Librarianship; Head of Department of Library Studies; and Dean of Education. I have carried out and supervised many academic researches. I have more than 50 publications."

"I taught myself Latin to qualify for the entrance exam. I got credit in Latin after the one-year study and I was able to take the entrance exams and I got government’s scholarship to study Geography at Cambridge University in 1949."

"When I finished at Yaba Higher College, one of my teachers had recommended me to take the entrance examination to Cambridge University, London. I took the entrance exam to read Geography at Cambridge but I had a problem because I did not do Latin in secondary school."

"I obtained BSc and MSc degrees in Geography from Cambridge, before attending Simmons College in America, for a master’s degree in Library Science."

"I was a foundation student of University College Ibadan, from where I got a scholarship to Cambridge University as the first Nigerian female student."

"I couldn’t study medicine because Queen’s College didn’t offer sciences in those days.But there was an interesting issue before going to Yaba Higher College. After finishing from Queen’s College, my father went to my principal and asked him if I could take exam to go to Yaba Higher College. It was an all-male institution then. But the principal told my father they would not take me because I was a female and it was all-male institution. But my father disagreed with him, arguing that there was nothing in the instrument setting up that school that forbade women from attending it. So, I took the entrance examination, passed and was admitted. I was the only female student in the first year."

"I went to primary school in the Cameroons – British Cameroon Tutorial – because my father, who was a chief clerk, was transferred there. From there, I went and took entrance examination to Queen’s College, Lagos. I finished from Queen’s College before proceeding to Yaba Higher College for my Teaching Diploma. Yaba Higher College was the only one around in 1945, training doctors, engineers, and education officers, etc."

"I have a baptismal certificate signed by the mission. The date of my birth was in that baptismal certificate."

"My father was a missionary teacher, first in Benin, and it was at the same time he became a civil servant."

"This is probably the first time any of us would be gathering to witness the launch of a book by a 95-year old. It is an event we all will remember for a long time."

"The day we met, it was like I met an old friend. It was fantastic. We started talking as if we had always known each other. He was wonderful. When we met later, I read his papers and critiqued them. It was fantastic."

"So for me as a mother…what I sow now in terms of feeding my children properly with nutritious food will remain embedded even at old age."