kashema

Women’s History Month has ended, so has the first quarter of the year.  Have you fulfilled or started to fulfill your goals and endeavors? Well here is some motivation with a little help from Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Hatshepsut (c1479 – 1458 BC) and…some lyrics from Nicki Minaj–just follow me. Hatshepsut was the first and most prosperous female pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, in her reign she served longer and acquired more than another female ruler. In order to do so she had to become king–not queen. I learned about her many years ago, but when I heard Nicki Minaj declare she was “king” in her song “Moment 4 life”, I immediately thought of Hatshepsut, but I  can show you better than I can tell you:

M4L:
“I get what I desire, it’s my empire
And yes I call the shots, I am the umpire…
In this very moment I’m king,”
Hatshepsut was the daughter of Pharaoh Thutmose I and wife of her half-brother Thutmose II. However, Thutmose II died at a young age (in his twenties) and his successor from harem wife, Thutmose III, is only an infant. Hatshepsut becomes regent to her stepson for about seven years then claims the throne as pharaoh. This is a first, there have been queens before Hatshepsut when there was no male heir fitting for the throne, but none took the title as pharaoh.
Commit to your goals.

“In this very moment I slay, Goliath with a sling,
This very moment I bring
Put it on everything, that I will retire with the ring,
And I will retire with the crown, Yes!”
When someone became ruler in Ancient Egypt, the occupation was for life. She also knew in order to succeed she had to play the part. She donned traditional regalia of kilt, crown or head-cloth, and false beard like the former pharaohs. How she was portrayed changed as she transitioned into power, her formal portraits began to show Hatshepsut with a male body. Although argued the Egyptian artistic ideology was to show things not as they were but as they should be. So she wasn’t, uhhh, “fronting”.
Sometimes you have to “fake it, till you make it” while you create it. 

“No I’m not lucky I’m blessed, Yes!
Clap for the heavyweight champ, Me!
But I couldn’t do it all alone, We!
Young Money raised me, grew up out in Baisley”
Gaining power is not a solo act. Never has been, never will be. Hatshepsut, had more royal blood in her than her husband and stepson (Thutmose III was also the son of a harem wife), literature shows that she may have resented being in the background of Thutmose III. Being king is also a divine right in Ancient Egypt.  Hatshepsut claimed that while her mother was impregnated Amon-Ra, the Ancient Egyptian Sun God, visited her.  The “blessing”. This among other public relations tactics allowed her to gain and keep power by appeasing the priests and Egyptian elite, with them on her side, Egypt prospered during her reign.
Build a team, a reliable and supportive one…Network.

“Shout out to my haters, sorry that you couldn’t phase me
ain’t being cocky we just vindicated, best believe that when we’re done
This moment will be syndicated, I don’t know, this night just reminds me of
everything that they deprived me of, kuhh!!!
pppp, put ya drinks up, it’s a celebration everytime we link up
We done did everything they can think of
Greatness is what we on the brink of.”
Thutmose III wanted the throne and despised Hatshepsut he knew once she died he wopuld. Even though when he was older she gave a role in state affairs and. After Hatshepsut’s death, he wanted to get rid of legacy. In the twenty years of her rule, Egypt was mainly peaceful with a minor military campaign. Egypt did not expand but it didn’t lose its size either.  The pharaoh’s foreign policy did not include imperialism instead trade routes were re-opened, bringing in goods such as gold and myrrh. She also did a lot of construction, including six sphinxes, her temple and statues.
The haters will be there, use their negativity by turning into fuel to accomplish your goals.
Go into Nike mode: JUST DO IT! Leave your mark, tangible or intangible.

Peace.