Fanny Ann Eddy,
David Kato,
Eric Lembembe,
Eudy Simelane, Maurice Mjomba,
Duduzile Zozo, Patricia Mashigo, Madieye Diallo,
And all fallen sexual minorities,
Their names to us, unknown,
In the Loving Creator, families, and friends,
In these sacred hearts, they still exist
As a sacred libation,
of blood unceremoniously offered,
As if to our ancestors and yet,
a sign of rejection
of mama Africa’s own children,
Born from her sacred womb,
A womb so concealed in a pool of innocent blood!
FannyAnn Eddy, Sierra Leone. FannyAnn founded the Sierra Leone Lesbian and Gay Association and is a well know lesbian rights activist. She was raped repeatedly, stabbed and murdered at her workplace on September 29, 2004.
David Kato, Uganda. David was the advocacy officer at Sexual Minorities Uganda and a leading voice against the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. He was murdered in his home on January 26, 2011 by an intruder who struck him twice on the head.
Eric Lembembe, Cameroon. Eric was the executive director for the Cameroonian Foundation for AIDS and an outspoken activist defending LGBTI people. He was tortured and murdered in his home on the evening of June 15, 2013.
Eudy Simelane, South Africa. Eudy was a football star, LGBT equality campaigner and openly lesbian in her township. Her body was found April 28, 2008 in a creek after she was gang-raped, brutally beaten and stabbed 25 times.
Maurice Mjomba, Tanzania. Maurice was a founding member of Stay Awake Network Activities, a Tanzania group working with men who have sex with men. He was murdered in his home on July 28, 2012 after being tied up and beaten.
Duduzile Zozo, South Africa. Duduzile was found dead in the home she shared with her mother and three sisters in the municipality of Ekurhuleni. She had been raped before she was killed and was found with a toilet brush inside her. Her family and friends believe she was the victim of ‘corrective’ rape because she was lesbian.
Patricia Mashigo, South Africa. Patricia was found dead out in the open on a street in the Daveyton township. She was stoned to death with rocks and stones found near her body. Patricia, a lesbian woman, lived with her sisters and was the mother of two children.
Madieye Diallo, Senegal. Madieye’s body had only been in the ground for a few hours before a mob dug it up, spit on its torso and dragged it away and dumped it in front of the home of his elderly parents. The desecration of Madieye’s grave was filmed on a cell phone, passed from phone to phone, sowing panic among gay men in the area.