women-from-cameroon

"The thing is I'd always felt very drawn to my roots. In fact, I've always felt this real homesickness for my country and my native language, Eton. When I was growing up I made my mother speak to me in Eton all the time - that way, over the years, I haven't lost touch with the music of my mother tongue. All the time I was singing backing vocals for other artists, I'd be singing and writing material for myself too. I'd write my songs in French, English and Eton. Then one day I was going through my material and I realised that most of the stuff I'd written was in Eton. This material formed the basis for my first demo tapes which later got worked into my debut album "Tribu". Around the same period I was already getting interested in bikutsi - that's a type of music from central and southern Cameroon which nobody was playing in Paris back in those days."

"Personally speaking, yes. I performed my first tour of Cameroon and that was an absolutely extraordinary experience. I actually got to reach out and touch my Cameroonian fans. It had been a personal dream of mine for a long time you know, as a singer who comes from Africa to go back there and play bikutsi, my native music"

"Unfortunately, it's not an African scene... The most important scene for me was the scene where I played with Maceo Parker , James Brown and there were more than 70,000 people in front of us. They bought all my CDs and at the end of the concert, they took off their t-shirts and asked me to sign on their bodies with permanent markers. The scene happened in Denmark. Another unforgettable memory was in Belgium when I saw children paint their hands blue and they made a line from the stage to the dressing room to wait for me. While I sang in Eton, in Fang, in our languages, these children shook their hands to tell me that I had given them the opportunity to think that there are no colors among humans. Culture has no color, it's the vibration that we give to the other that counts."

"I like wearing clothes which fuse elements of different cultures. I'm not just "Africa" today, you see, I'm a world melting-pot! It takes me an hour to get ready for each performance. I like to take the time to do my make-up and choose which materials I'm going to wear on stage. The way I see it, music's not just about sound, it's also about stories, paintings, perfumes and colours. You don't just listen to music - you breathe it, you taste it and you enjoy it visually! When I'm on stage I love constructing a décor for my songs which helps transport the audience into another world."

"The city is definitely my home away from home. There is this saying that when you have lived in New York for more than ten years you are a new Yorker – so yeah I feel like I have arrived. It is a magical place. It will beat you up but yet make you feel so inspired and hungry for better."

"it’s completely euphoric…a reaction to what I was experiencing at the time, not a document of it."

"I have fresh roses on my rider, it makes my dressing rooms feel a bit more like home"

"It’s because things were dark that this record is so full of life and energy."

"I didn’t feel like being introspective. I just wanted to have fun."

"I moved to the States for the first time when I was nine but I don’t think I fully settled until I was 13. Of course it was not easy but my family and me went through the journey together. Being a child is always hard and moving of country does not make it easier. Especially, when you are into different things because as a kid we are trying to figure ourselves out while simultaneously figuring other people out."

"I'm currently in the studio working on a new album. But I'm in Cameroon to fight against child marriage. I've been a UNICEF ambassador since 2016, and since then, I've been very active in Cameroon to fight against child marriage, to meet with artists, and above all, to carry out a major undertaking: the production of a musical, in order to reach out to the public through institutions."

"I don't know how to answer because I don't know the artists who are being boycotted, because we don't operate in the same environment. I don't know those who are boycotting them either. I've never been boycotted, anyway ."

"I feel that autonomy as an artist is very important and I have to be able to do what makes me feel excited. If I do not feel it, nobody will. So I gladly took the risk and made this album because I can!."

"I was too creative to live there! In Maryland, honestly, your art will stay on your balcony for the rest of your life, whether you're good at it or not!."

"Child marriage is a big problem in Cameroon, and I think it is necessary to have more significant support from the government and international actors. Not just in terms of policies. Policies are good. But also in terms of their implementation. We need to make sure the governments everywhere are aware of the necessity of protecting children, especially girls, as they are being dropped from schools. In addition, accessing birth certificates and child marriages are also critical issues."

"I think that I always wanted more than I was given...I was the child that had everything and I still just went out there"

"When I got to America, it was not what I expected."

"And is the image of African women you wish to convey the same as in the 90s? My message hasn’t changed. Stereotypes are still very much present. Even nowadays, people tend to be surprised with my works due to their preconception of the African continent and African women. In a way, all of my projects translate this wish to break away from stereotypes. Although I cannot change the world, I believe I can contribute to this evolution of mindsets."

"Yes, especially for children. Sometimes I feel frustrated because all the children globally should be treated the same concerning their education, protection, health... So, I believe organizations and international actors should focus more on Africa's children's situation, especially in areas like my region, to address issues like child marriage."

"I chose the term " self-determined" because our role cannot be one of definition or direction. We accompany, support, and encourage, but there comes a moment when a woman takes on personal responsibility, formulates her own interests, and represents and defends them to society. With our work, we open up the opportunity for independent and self-determined development for a person who has suffered violence and is traumatized"

"My colleagues were very happy. Then my family and our partner organizations. I received calls from everywhere. Within minutes, it was as if someone had sent the message over the airwaves."

"I primarily work in the far north of Cameroon, where we also face the Boko Haram crisis, which was still going on even when people talked only about the Anglophone crisis because this is maybe a very advertised crisis, but the Boko Haram crisis is still going on."

"First and foremost, the trauma and psychological consequences are relevant. Many women have witnessed attacks. They watched their husbands murdered and their children killed in front of their eyes. They had to witness their children or themselves being kidnapped. This traumatic experience overshadows everything. Furthermore, the economic losses are enormous: many women are displaced, and if they fled the war, they did so with nothing. It is not easy to return to life traumatized and empty-handed, with children to constantly care for."

"Being the Right Livelihood laureate gives me the strength and courage to do more what I have been doing, also more effectively. Because I feel like I'm now having more support for what I'm doing for women, girls, and children in Cameroon."

"It’s because of Addison's that my music career took a back burner. The doctor told me you have to pick between being an artist on the road and your life. You will not be able to do tours all the time because your body is not going to be able to take it."

"Living in Europe and the encounters I made around the world through exhibitions and travels definitely shaped my artwork. I arrived at a young age in Europe and rapidly felt disconnected from my culture and way of living. In a way, photography allowed me to reconnect with my African roots. At the end of the day, my heritage is African. Paradoxically, being abroad actually brought me closer to the African continent. This is why themes like communication, roots and communion are omnipresent in my artwork."

"I was the new girl in town. I was skinny, tall with long legs, big curly hair and my African accent. Everybody was always like ‘Who is she?’ Everybody just wanted to be cool with me."

"They would not let me go out to work. I was told, ‘Oh, you're gonna get shot’ and I believed those things because what I saw on TV [about America] in Africa was terribl"

"It is very important for me to transmit my knowledge and experience. I am proud and grateful for what I have achieved as a black woman, and I believe I can use that success to help and inspire emerging artists. The Venice Biennale has had 59 Editions since its creation in 1895 and out of 54 African countries, only 8 have been represented at this year’s edition. As such, representing Cameroon at this exhibition is historic for my country and I believe I have a role to play in opening a path for others."

"I am accused of proposing a product that pushes women to conform to white standards of beauty ,"

"Americans feel attacked. Honestly , they are just memories of slavery ."

"As Cameroon bids farewell to this extraordinary woman, the legacy of Barrister Mrs Weledji Miriam will continue to inspire generations of legal professionals and advocates for gender equality."

"A force to be reckoned with, Mami Weledji was not only a legal luminary but also a business magnate and real estate giant. Her notable investment, the HOLIDAY INN RESORT in Limbe, stands as a testament to her entrepreneurial acumen."

"She has acted as Rapporteur on numerous occasions, and has specialised in thematic areas, such as the right to vote, the rights of detained persons, arbitrary arrests and the right to fair trial."

"“he weaponization of the justice system to intimidate human rights defender Alice Nkom shows the authorities’ flagrant disregard for the human rights of those who defend the rights of other people."

"In celebration of International Women’s Day in Cameroon, on 8 May 2011 Judge Arrey was named amongst 50 women who had made an impact in Cameroon and was hailed “as a no-nonsense Judge” by her government."

"Apart from Justice Epuli, other Anglophone Magistrates who were also raised by Paul Biya include Justice Arrey Florence Rita, who becomes technical adviser the MINJUSTICE"

"The authorities must immediately end the misuse of the justice system to target Alice Nkom."

"In her personal life, Mami Weledji was a loving mother to five sons and one daughter, leaving behind a family that reflects her strength, resilience, and commitment to excellence."

"Justice Mengue is also a member of the National Commission of Human Rights and Freedoms of Cameroon, where she has acted as Rapporteur on numerous occasions, and has specialised in thematic areas, such as the right to vote, the rights of detained persons, arbitrary arrests and the right to fair trial."

"Do not worry for me. I believe I will be arrested in the coming days, but I will not lose sleep over this or, especially, abandon what we have begun together."

"No need to remind you, what a man can do, a woman can do and sometimes even better. (Nul besoin de le rappeler, ce qu’homme peut, femme peut et parfois même mieux. p. 49 éd. CLE, 1983)"

"They say that love is blind, but with time lucidity comes. In general, the latter is very cruel. (On dit bien que l'amour est aveugle, mais avec le temps la lucidité survient. En général cette dernière est très cruelle. p. 78 éd. CLE, 1983)"

"I think that if women are not political leaders here, it is because at a certain point women were relegated to the social domain and they were not encouraged to get involved in pure politics. (Je pense que si la femme n'est pas leader politique, ici, c'est qu'à un moment donné on a relégué les femmes au domaine social et qu'elles n'ont pas été encouragées à se lancer dans la politique pure. )"

"Work does not replace either life or the feelings that bind you to a man. (Le travail ne remplace ni la vie, ni les sentiments qui vous lient à un homme. p. 42 éd. CLE, 1983)"

"In each party you have a women's wing and a youth wing and these ancillary bodies prevent women from participating fully. They are no longer there except to dance, to entertain, to do social work; now they are encouraged to create non-governmental organizations, simply to get rid of women on the political level (Vous avez dans chaque parti une aile féminine et une aile de jeunes et ces organes annexes empêchent la participation des femmes à part entière. Elle ne sont plus là que pour danser, pour animer, pour faire du social; maintenant on les encourage à créer des organisations non-gouvernementales, tout simplement pour se débarrasser de la femme sur le plan politique)"

"The 39th edition of the International Women’s Day urges us to pool our efforts to advocate for the promotion of female leadership in all domains… and the protection of women and girls against sexual exploitation and abuse"

"My own experience of discrimination inspired me to become the activist that I am today."

"“When I was 7, my mum always told me: the best way out of poverty is quality education.”"

"Even though I was forcibly married at the age of 16, I fought to finish my studies before having my 3 children."