By Maceo Keeling –
There is no question that men and women are different for very specific reasons.
On the surface men are perceived to be physically stronger and have the brute strength to lift heavy objects or fight aggressors. Women are perceived to have the gift of managing multiple challenges of varying types and complexities. Men tend to be a bit more combative, while women are willing (in some cases) to compromise and negotiate.
Whether or not you agree with these over-simplifications, we must agree that history has proven that we need each other, and that the various roles played by women and men, and whatever characteristics are exhibited, all of them are needed, even if the need appears at different times and in different circumstances.
Yet many hold a religious perspective that man is—and is meant to be—the head of his woman. In American culture, the man is head of the household. In keeping with English traditions, Laws of Coverture by Barrister William Blackstone essentially states, When man and woman are married they become one—and that one is the man.
A very interesting article on the subject at is on Thoughtco.com, which explains that, under traditional law, “When a woman marries she becomes incorporated into the man’s property and is essentially rendered a mere extension of the man’s existence under the law.” Thus a woman is deemed invisible!
Many of these laws were, and are, as outlandish as the Jim Crow movement establishing and perpetuating segregation in America. To ask why we celebrate women, their stories, their struggles and triumphs in a special issue of this paper is akin to asking why celebrate Black History Month.
The magnitude of women’s contributions to this country and the world is both immeasurable and, to a great extent, unmeasured. Women have labored and delivered in the need for change for centuries. If women don’t tell their stories from their perspective, others will appropriate their narrative as “his-story,” never “her-story.”
I have six sisters, and their positive influence, intelligence, strength, power, and wit have lifted me more than any achievement I could imagine. My mother’s endurance, commitment, faith, and fortitude resides in each of us, and a legacy of inheritance that lives in me, although she has gone on to that golden shore.
When we look at our struggle as African American people, we see that it is the compassion of women who used their insight, wisdom, wit, nurturing, and unconditional love to bring about change.
As a woman once said to me, “When the water rises—all boats are lifted!”
In conclusion, the message I share is when we (men and women), come together in agreement we step into the full power of humanity. We need each other in faith and work to homogenize our needs.
Thank you to those mothers, sisters, aunts, daughters, and intercessors who are caregivers to our universal world family.
Tell your story! And may all the rest of us listen well!
Remember: You don’t have to be great to get started, but you do have to start to become great!
“Vision Is Not Enough – Clarity is Vital to Achieve Your Goals.” Speaker Requests Contact (828) 989-6999.
The opinions and statements made in this column are solely the opinions of the author and not necessarily those of The Urban News.