Takembeng or female activism.
These images do not need a narrative, they speak for themselves. If you have been following what’s been happening in the world for a long time now, then you will understand that the question here is about female activism, Police violence, the spread of information and the rise of unpatriotic leaders.
The reason why we decided to name this project “Takembeng “ is that it is a practice that is carried out not only in Cameroon but in other countries in the world even if the name changes in different places.
The Takembeng is a female social movement in the Northwest Region of Cameroon. These movements connect with traditional practices common throughout the Western grass fields of Cameroon where groups of women perform ostracizing rituals against individuals in their communities. Toward the end of colonial control and in the early years of independent Cameroon (the 1950s and 1960s), these local practices became a crucial tool for larger political protest, often against the agricultural policy. With political liberalization in the 1990s, the Takembeng women became a crucial part of the opposition.
The Takembeng practices often involve groups of thirty to a couple of hundred women participating in wider protests in Bamenda (the Northwest Region capital) but separated from other protesters by large spaces. Nudity, public defecation, and urination are used, in connection with the pre-colonial practices, to emphasize the shame of anti-democratic practices and to prevent disruption by police or security forces. These practices have been very effective in providing room for protests and continue to be used in the Northwest Region. The practice has been carried across the borders and the Cameroonian diaspora uses it as a tool to protest the military abuses in the north and southwest provinces.
In the 1960s Lumumba’s wife Pauline Opango organized a social movement in Leopoldsville with other women protesting against their men marrying other women. It was themed “changer des femmes” “change your women” Not long after independence Lumumba was murdered and Pauline Marched bare-breasted on the streets of Léopoldville in mourning of her husband.
In Russia in 2014 an Activist group FEMENS protested by baring their breast out with written messages, some which read no more pope- no Islamic-freedom for women-no Putin
The organization was originally founded in 2008 to combat Ukraine’s burgeoning sex industry), domestic violence, abortion, homophobia, and fascism.
“Someone cannot just look at my breasts — they can look at my breasts only to read my slogan because my breasts are always saying something.” — Inna Shevchenko one of the founding members said.
In Nigeria, in July 2002 the Odeworitse threat of mass nudity halted works on the oil terminal by Chevron Texaco. “Our weapon is our nakedness” they threatened as they demanded job opportunities for their men and the development of their community by this giant oil company that was draining their natural resources and not giving back.
In 2017 the Takembeng women of the northwest province had to head a peaceful protest against military violence on its youth. They had been arbitrary arrests and killings of their sons. This too is phenomena that are quickly increasing in the USA, more and more blacks are killed by the very policemen who are meant to protect them and the authorities in place seem to be blind and deaf to the violence against the minority citizens. It is a shame that no institution seems to respect the rules on human rights. The same thing happening here is happening in Tchad, Kenya where citizens are pushed to find refugee status in neighboring countries for their safety.
Due to the internet, the world has become a global village and news of anything expedites like wildfire on a dry summer day. It is the new ground for people to protest and air out their minds without fear of receiving a direct bullet. The authorities out of frustration have devised a new form of cracking down on the internet. They either shut down completely or block Facebook and WhatsApp. Not a word from the leader who most often is lost himself and just uses suppression and tyranny to repress his people. The Takembeng’s influence has diminished in the face of repression. Peaceful protest marches have been banned although illegally by the regime in power who wouldn't hesitate to shoot on women and children, if and only if they maintain themselves in power.
