The Bronze Woman is London’s first statue of an African-Caribbean woman, which has since been recognised as an ode to motherhood and the prominence of this ethnic minority. The statue sits at 10ft high and was installed in the Stockwell Memorial Garden. It was based on the now famous poem of the same name by Cécile Nobrega who lived in Stockwell until her passing in 2013. The Bronze Woman poem was written around 50 years ago, celebrating Caribbean women, with lines like ‘find me a place/ in the sun’ and ‘there i will set her/ honoured, free’. With this poem, Nobrega was able to immortalise not only her own memory and legacy, but the memory of all women.
BRONZE WOMAN
Written by Cécile Nobrega
Find me a place in the sun
in the sea
on a rock
near an Isle
in the Caribbee: There I will set her, Honoured, Free!
Free
to be kissed and petted by the wind;
Free
to be washed with the brine of sweet and bitter memoirs Sin:
Free
to be stubborn and steadfast as night,
Dark is her Destiny Wrong her right.
Woman of Bronze! Symbol of Slavery
Free
Strength sweat and toil,
who can foil
your quest
for best
to give your child?
One night a woman
says the Book,
went to Him late,
late in the gloomy darkness of the night;
Went to Him, the Light,
for places for her sons
the left, the right
to sit beside Him.
Chide her not!
Mother instinct is the same today
as then
for evermore
however mild,
she seeks the betterment of her child.
Bronze Woman!
You were no different
When you laid with massa boss, Free
or
forced
you knew there was no loss
of favours
food:
Food for the black and hungry brood, Mulato-Eurasian child money subsidised economy,
guaranteed
a step away
from want and need:
a step away
from toil and sweat the heat of day: Pray
Feel no hurt
with those who talk of illegitimacy
and illiteracy,
Social stigmas – Language Craft; Feel proud
that you have done your part:
Stained your skirt with water-mark waist deep
paddy beds
cane fields
to keep
stinted stomachs
hungry mouth
salt and rice
such sacrifice
as those passed on many know of Death!
Consumptive death Malarial death, visited troolie huts clean earthen floor the same as Overseer, Manager before
promotion to driver extortion
child labour.
All this you bore, Feel hurt no more.
Feel Joy
with those who served the mine, today your sons and daughters shine like the bright gold
you bartered for,
in great professions,
Music, Medicine, Law.
White Man’s purse has no curse
his seed
no need:
but Men
poor Men they run away
after the night
the day
is done
they’re gone
through need
disown their seed then you are left alone Bronze Woman father-mother Caribbean Woman
To play a dual role.
Stalwart woman-man
With the sun in your bones and the bloods in your veins; strength in your heart
and love in your limbs,
Your buxom breasts
hang down
like juicy brown mangoes
in the mouth of your child, Your eyes are determined Yet gentle and mild,
Who can help but set you Bronze Woman
above!
Who can help but cherish
This monument of Love............
Then find me a place in the sun
in the sea
on a rock
Near an Isle
In the Caribbee: There I will set her Bronze Woman Free
Honoured for shaping Our Destiny.
A lovely woodland walk today - 2nd set of photos