Carolina QuotesHow can I, Nawal El Saadawi, have an identity if my history is effaced? If my female ancestors are forgotten, buried in oblivion? If Ma'at, Isis, and Sekhmet are not spoken of? If Khadija the wife of Prophet Muhammad (who was the first to call him Prophet, to tell him not to fear or doubt but go on with courage) is not spoken of, although if it were not for her courage Islam might have been born not through him but perhaps through someone else. Is it I who decides what my identity is or those who have the power, and the money, and the arms and the media, and the global market and the multinational corporations in their hands?
Nawal El Saadawi Connected to the Carolinas
Source
"Why Keep Asking Me About My Identity?" (1996), included in The Nawal El Saadawi Reader (1997)
- year
- 1996
Cite this record
“How can I, Nawal El Saadawi, have an identity if my history …” Nawal El Saadawi. Carolina Quotes, record CQ-37784B1F43. https://carolinaquotes.com/quote/37784b1f43
More from Nawal El Saadawi
All revolutions in history have obstacles. There is not a revolution that succeeded in a few months. It takes years, even decades, to fulfill its goals. I am very hopeful because I trust the revolution and feel nobody can really conquer a nation that has decided to be united and to fight, and we decided to fight. The revolution is there, inside the Egyptians by the millions. (2011)
Hope, too, is power.
…Nobody can help anybody. Nobody can help us in Egypt—we did our revolution alone, we liberated ourselves alone. I don’t believe in charity or “helping.” I believe in the equal exchange of ideas, and networking.