Against a backdrop of increasing geopolitical tension, it is fair to say that there is a sense in which a cognitive awareness is occurring amongst Africa’s direct descendants. This increased awareness seems to be borne out of a longstanding frustration with the status quo (especially regarding our relation to and place in the world) as well as a desire to reconnect with each other, in an attempt to bridge our gaps of misunderstandings using the common ground we share: a unified heritage and identity, to which we are inextricably bound and upon which we must build our future. The latest wave of awareness seems to me to be a change of vision amongst the children of Africa. However, we must critically consider how to mold this collective vision, and how to avoid the potential pitfalls that lie ahead. Before going any further though, it is important to clarify a few matters. Firstly, this piece is aimed directly towards descendants of Africa, wherever they may be and wherever they currently call home. This is not to say that it cannot act as a window into a personal view on a complex issue, in order to further grasp the intricacies at hand – however, the target audience is somewhat specific. Secondly, as the author, I implore you as the reader to critically interrogate my words. I do not believe that what I write below is the bible truth regarding the issues that I raise, for they are multidimensional. Thus, it is wise as a reader to understand my point of view, so that you may then juxtapose it with your experiences and views, in order for us both to embark upon a reflection that broadens our collective understanding.
As with any substantial study of a complex issue, let us begin our conversation with a focus on the past. Contrary to (a worrying amount of) popular belief, Africa was constituted of various empires and kingdoms before the dawn of Imperialism. Apart from Ancient Egypt well known to have a history dating back to before 3000 BCE, Africa was also home to the Aksumite Empire (100 CE – 960 CE), the Kingdom of Ghana (700 CE – 1240 CE), the Mali Empire (1230 CE – 1670 CE) and the Songhai Empire (1000 CE – 1591 CE), just to name a few. Retrospectively, these early African civilizations are lauded as being key points of global trade and production of strategic resources as well as centers of learning and education, to which a great many scholars would travel to broaden their minds. However, these civilizations were not examples of paradise for all, because the same germ that would come to haunt the continent centuries later already had its roots in the inception of these civilizations. The germ to which I refer is the conceptually loaded term, slavery. It is important to mention that this slavery was either self-inflicted with regards to the aforementioned civilization (where the rulers of the civilization enslaved their own subjects) or was due to clashes between civilizations that resulted in prisoners of war (POW) being enslaved by the winning side. The world view was somewhat limited at that time, for the continent was seen by its inhabitants in terms of broad civilizations. Fealty was owed to the rulers of the respective civilization, and thus there was a lack of collective continental identity such as an ‘African’. In the existing dichotomies between rulers and subjects or our empire and their (an enemy’s) empire, slavery found its justification and was accepted as commonplace. In this era, it seems that the African civilizations held visions of progress. They were not kept static by the sight of things as they were, but were driven by a vision of how things could be in the future. However, it must be said that the means by which the ancient civilizations aimed to realise their vision was faulty, as they upheld a system of division, and progressed off the sweat of forced labour.
Some enslaved Africans had already travelled to the Middle East and Europe (due to small scale slave-trading between merchants that had been going on for some time before), but it was around the middle of the 15th century in which widespread and systematic transatlantic slave trade began, resulting in the largest form of forced migration of a population that has ever taken place. When Europeans first arrived on African shores, they floated aboard massive vessels that carried them on water and held technology (artillery and gunpowder) making that which was readily available in Africa seem outdated. This period in African history saw Europeans sailing across to Africa and kidnapping its people in order to ship them back to Europe and sell them as beasts of labour. Worse yet, the ruling elite of the African Kingdoms would also intentionally trade their own subjects or POW in exchange for desired European goods or weapons. However, it is also around this period in time that Africans began to gain awareness of their collective identity, at least insofar as they were perceived by the rest of the world. The borders and differences between African civilizations began to hold less significance on a global stage, and the Africans that understood this best were probably those that were either kidnapped by or sold to Europeans as slave labour. It is this period in time when the germ of slavery alongside the technological infancy held by Africans (in contrast to Europeans) culminated in the psychological construct in which Africans perceived themselves as inferior. This construct was prevalent not only among the Africans in Europe literally working and being treated as inferior beings, but within the ranks of the ruling elite of African civilizations who opted to battle their self-perception of inferiority at the expense of their subjects. Thus, even as the unified African identity stretching beyond kingdoms was birthed, it was conjoined with a perception (both internal and external) of inferiority. During this period, the African civilizations and their people lost the visions that would propel them forward. Only the sight of what was before them mattered, and what Africans saw were ships, guns and each other being used or traded as slave labour. Sight took over and vision was depleted.
If we move further forwards in time, towards the end of the 19th century a conference was held in Berlin, which aimed to ‘regulate’ European trade and colonization within Africa, subsequently leading to decades of illegal occupation of the African continent by Europeans. It goes without saying that ‘occupation’ does not cover the extent of the atrocities visited upon Africans by the Europeans. A prime example of this would be the Herero and Nama genocide perpetrated by German Imperialists in modern day Namibia, which saw tens of thousands murdered, while others were sent to concentration camps and used as forced labour. I find the statement ‘History always repeats itself’ to be somewhat too rigid to stand up against rigorous examination, however unfortunately, it seems this is one exact situation where the statement proves true. Imperialism along with all its associated pains further enforced the perception that an African identity is congruent to an inferiority. This is because most (if not all) Africans were judged by the illegal occupiers and found wanting, leading to them (Africans) being subjected to the same trials and tribulations as those shipped off to Europe before. The only difference is that now they were 3rd class beings in the homeland they inherited from their forefathers. One insidious strategy employed by the imperialists was that of ‘divide and conquer’. Given the plurality of peoples, cultures and histories within any demarcated area of illegal occupation (as agreed upon in the Berlin Conference), the imperialists saw it effective to create division between the Africans by way of either physical separation or amalgamation in an effort to strain any ties they had to each other. Without strong ties, Africans would then be in a position to compete with each other in order to gain the imperialist’s favour and enjoy minute leniencies under occupation. Thus, ruling over a divided group of people became much easier. Across the continent, there were many Africans that became colonial sympathizers, chasing leniency under occupational conditions, in the same manner as the rulers of African kingdoms were sacrificing their own people for personal gain centuries prior. Again, here we see a select few Africans aiming to get ahead of their fellow Africans, through the offers of Europeans and all the while at the expense of their fellow Africans. Fortunately, this did not last long as Africans across the continent grew tired of the illegal occupiers and began resisting and rioting against them. After facing a lack of autonomy for decades, Africans (almost in continental harmony) rose up against the European settlers in an attempt to go back to the times before their occupation, when Africa was ruled by its own people. Fortunately, across most of the 20thcentury (and even earlier for Liberia), African countries gained independence from Imperial occupation. Despite the plunder that was carried out under occupation, African states once again had the political and economic autonomy that they enjoyed before the times of colonialism. In this period in time, the sight of the then status quo could not be tolerated any longer by Africans, and so a vision was born to return to the previous state of affairs; one in which African Kings and Emperors had control over their respective lands; one in which the subjects of a kingdom / empire suffer for the sake of its rulers; one in which Africans were still cognizant of their inferiority towards Europeans (because their world view could not be shrunk), but it was accepted that some Africans (especially those in the ruling class or the freedom fighters) were less inferior than others. Thus, the fight for independence and the end of subjugation by the Europeans was somewhat flawed from the beginning, because one form of domination was replaced by another, and therein lies the problem with the retrogressive vision employed to combat the sight of imperial occupation before our eyes.
If we move forward in time towards the period from the mid 20th century until now, we see the fruits of the seeds sown in the fight towards acquisition of independence for the African states. The problems that we face as a continent today should not strike us as outlandish, for they find their root within the retrogressive vision of the African kingdoms and empires. In the aforementioned time frame, Africa has had decades worth of on-going battles between neighboring communities or countries, that have cost countless lives; Those whom we elect (or rig their way in) to power seem to show no real interest in furthering the country or the lives of the people they lead – instead, they seem to be interested only with the advancements of themselves or their family, at the expense of the majority and posterity; The ruling elite seem to hold powers that allow them to be judge, jury and executioner with regards to citizens’ lives or human rights; Certain communities are as faithful to their religious persuasion as they are intolerant of religious freedoms, and so they find some discombobulated justification to spill blood over their differences with other communities; Governments would more often than not still stand divided if offered a lucrative deal to line their pockets, than demonstrate a united front of African states. If we shift focus to external relations still pertaining to Africa or its people, the painting is not in any way ameliorated – Discrimination against the children of Africa has been elevated in a manner to which it is institutionalized such as in the North American medical, religious, law enforcement and judicial institutions; Some of our most promising leaders both within and without Africa have been assassinated by foreign nations that considered their momentum and ideas a threat; The ECOWAS states were forced into a legally-binding yet financially crippling form of economic colonialism, that aimed to bolster France’s economy decades after independence from illegal imperial occupation. Even though we have chronologically moved forwards in time to trace where we are today, how different in essence, is the situation Africa and its people are in now, from between the 15th and 19th century, when transatlantic slave trade was rampant? By this account (however erroneous it may be), it seems that powerful nations continue to steal our resources in order to enrich themselves – this is of course if the African rulers do not sell the resources at a throw away price for their own benefit in the first place; Africa still maintains infancy with regards to development and technology, yet we are still left to deal with the repercussions from the development of Western nations such as those presented by climate change; Powerful corporations continue to exploit cheap labour in sweatshops across the continent, all in the search for higher profit margins. All of this culminates in growing tensions and divisions amongst Africans, and a reinforcement of the erroneous perception that an African is inferior to a European. Once again, sight is proving itself to be paramount for we seem to have no collective vision as a people. The vision we fostered and employed towards independence did end up liberating us from illegal occupation, but at the cost of taking us back into a time in our history where we were visionless.
Following this lengthy line of argument, we see that throughout African history, the ancient kingdoms and empires began with a progressive vision (however limited in collective scope) that was driving them forwards towards higher ideals beyond what they could see, despite the fact that they were pursuing said vision in an unwise manner (as we later came to learn). Suddenly, our world grew much bigger, the African identity was born, and we were faced with the knowledge that we were outpaced in technology. Thus, we traded our vision for the sights that surrounded us, which constantly married the African identity with the perception of inferiority. After this, the continent then faced illegal and oppressive occupation, in which our homes no longer seemed to be ours. This led to the genesis of a new vision awakening amongst all African people to fight for and earn the freedoms and rights they once held before the illegal occupation. After gaining back their autonomy, Africans then faced systemic and institutionalized discrimination abroad, while languishing under oppressive and selective regimes of governments that cared little for their own people and would rather sacrifice them and their futures for the selective good graces of former colonial powers, at home – resulting once again in a lack of a collective vision as a people and the flourishing of an inferiority complex. When laid out in this way, it is easy to assign blame the status quo on the leaders of old and today that seek only to enrich themselves by stealing or killing their own people, the Europeans that decided to illegally occupy and commit atrocities in our homes or on the unavoidable gulf between technologies that plagued Africa from the beginning once they encountered Europeans. However, as much as these aforementioned factors played an indubitable part in getting us here today as a people, I submit that you are largely to blame.
Yes you, the individual behind the screen reading these words, are largely to blame. Please be patient as I explain why: From the dawn of our ancient civilizations, we divided ourselves into social & economic strata, as well as continentally into kingdoms and empires. This was acceptable when our world was small, but when our borders expanded, the division continued and was exploited by Europeans in slave trade. No longer were we facing division only within our civilizations, but we began to face it outside the continent. Within the continent, the division grew stronger as well, for a new stratum of slave was born, that would face hardships outside of the continent that were probably worse than those faced by slaves that remained in our kingdoms and empires. Given that Africa was ripe for the taking due to the lack of technology as well as the thriving division, Europeans illegally occupied our lands and further propagated division, in which we were directly faced with a robust hierarchy that linked race and ethnicity to an intrinsic value system. Once we collectively got tired of the race/ethnicity – value system and armed ourselves with a vision for how things were before occupation, we marched towards liberation where we would enjoy full autonomy, yet still maintained the majority of divisions that existed within the times of the kingdoms and empires. Today, the children of Africa still experience the race/ethnicity value system abroad and find no respite at home where the socio-economic and ethnic divisions between leaders and citizens could not be any starker.
It would be reasonable to ask yourself how the African quandary as outlined above draws responsibility from you, but therein lies the problem. With such a vivid history of division from time immemorial bound to our people, how are we to attribute blame? Perhaps the answer lies in another question: Of what actual use is division, both in concept and practice, concerning the problems we face today as a continent? Absolutely none. Division has proven time and again to be more enemy than friend, and it goes to reason that if we aim to mold a collective vision as a continent that moves us forward into a destiny that we control, we must leave no place for division. Gender, nationality, ethnicity, generation or religious persuasion hold absolutely no weight with regards to the perceived African identity from the rest of the world. Why then, should these lines of division matter to us, to the extent that they hamper our efforts to progress as a people? From this, we can extrapolate that even individual differentiation does not help us in our march towards progress. If we truly aim to be free as a people, work together in harmony and to mold a collective progressive vision, first we must each individually win the psychological battle of division that is prevalent amongst us all. You are a part of the whole. The whole is within you, and the whole cannot be without you. Within you is the entirety of the African Ancestry, as well as the endless descendents to come in the future. We must see ourselves as an integral part of the collective African identity and be able to identify the collective African identity within ourselves. Once we break the psychological barriers of division within us, we will then be able to take full responsibility for our past failures. Once we are able to see each other in ourselves, and ourselves in others, we will be able to rise to appreciate the individual uniqueness we all bring to the collective identity and vice versa. From this perspective, we can begin to bridge the gaps between the gulfs of the aforementioned lines of division towards a sustainable and tolerable solution that stands the test of time. Perhaps then, we can also tackle the inferiority complex, and gain pride in who we are as individuals, and as a long history of people.
Time and again, I have heard a metaphor of the world as a train, in which all the passengers represent humanity. In this train, it was said that Africans always choose to sit in rear-facing seats (relative to the direction of travel). Apart from the time of the ancient African Kingdoms before slave trade, this analogy rings true to some extent. However, I would add that while sitting in rear-facing seats, oblivious of the direction and destination of the train, we can also add that Africans look out the window. When put like this, we can represent Africans as not only looking backwards at what has been, but also outwards at what currently is. In line with our arguments above, it appears that Africans have captured only sight, with a lack of vision of what will or could be. Perhaps it is time to get off the train that we have not been directing for the past few centuries – In this case, staying still is better than going the wrong direction. While remaining still and collecting ourselves, we can take the time to study our surroundings with a 360 degree view and way of thinking. This will allow us to then be able to dream of where we want to go, who we want to be, and the legacy that we want to leave behind that will inspire pride in posterity. After all this, we can then begin to collectively walk forwards in the direction we choose, until the time when we can build our own planes (yes, I meant planes, not trains) to transport us to our desired destination.
