Africa my Africa!
Africa of proud warriors!
In the ancestral Savannah
Africa, I have never known you, but your blood flows through my veins...
a poem by David Diop.
I love it so much. I'll write it in full in my next Steem story.
A part of our culture and beliefs result in some complexities that make it impossible to prosper as a group of people.
Africa, ancient tales have it that we originated from Ethiopia. We are said to be children of Kush! Others say we are by-products of evolution.
Whatever our source is, we are from one like source. Our unique skin colour, our similar culture and traditions and so on verify that.
I have come to realise that we are complex people. So complex that we can not fix our own problems.
My mother travelled to USA a few months ago on vacation and she returned home with lots of stories. She talked about how America was so organised that detectives could tell when a person had committed a crime secretly.
She talked about how an over speeding driver would get a ticket at his destination without the police chasing.
She also mentioned how Americans were so organised that they clocked in and out of work and got paid exactly the amount they worked for.
A picture of my mum in USA
A funny experience she had at JFK while going to Turkey was when she forcefully struggled to remove the trolley from the rack.
She was then guided by a security man to put $20 in the machine. She did and it released the trolley to her.
Food is so cheap in America that you needn't worry about stocking you house with food. She also mentioned how people paid for gas, water and electricity per month and get value for what they paid for.
Did I mention that she spent 6 months in America and never had a flat battery or wore rumples clothes because there was electricity all through.
However, she also saw some bad sides of America. People needed to work, work and work to pay for whatever they needed. Children had the right to call the Police and have their parents arrested.
A woman who has a little misunderstanding with her husband can place a call to the police who respond swiftly to arrest the man.
She didn't fail to mention the Black American gangs that posed as threats while she was in New Jersey, New York and Indianapolis.
She also mentioned how dangerous your neighbour might be if he/she had a snap in the brain and a gun at home.
My mum also told me of how Africans struggle to make a living in Africa. Some of them work 2 shifts in a day just to raise enough money to get out of poverty. They end up returning home (Africa) with health issues; usually leg pain.
She mentioned so much which I will be sharing later in my writings. She told the family that she wished Nigeria was just like America.
HERE ARE A FEW PICTURES OF HER IN DIFFERENT LOCATIONS
On the train in New Jersey
Selfie with twins she met at the Laundry
At a church in Indianapolis
That's the trolley she was struggling with at JFK
My opinion
Africa hasn't really known the worth of civilisation. It has caused more harm than good.
Our belief system is filled with so much complexity that we struggle to practice the Western Culture at our own peril.
One of these complexities is praying to the God we don't believe in.
Another is thinking it's impossible to attain a thing because we have seemingly limited opportunities.
One I find quite interesting is the level of inferiority we live in because we want to look like the whites.
Youths want white collar jobs that turn individuals to corporate slaves.
Government officials make economic deals that favour the elite.
The elite accumulate all the wealth they can that the lower class practically kill one another for the little that is remaining.
We learn about winter, autumn and summer in school when all some of us will ever experience for the most part of dear life is Harmattan, rainfall and heat.
Our mother-tongue is called vernacular even in our homes.
A man forces his children to speak English with which they can't fully express themselves because they don't have good teacher.
Africa then births a cascade of repetitive mediocrity.
I know if civilisation never came, I won't be as educated but I think if it never came, we won't be in much disarray.
We would cherish our natural resources and rear more animals. We won't need so much fiat so there wont be need to kill elephants for their tusks. Tiger skin would be treasure for only hunters.
Gold mining won't cause a tussle so lead poisoning would be minimal.
Crude oil won't be needed and our soil won't be polluted. For this reason, there won't be militancy.
Islam and Christianity would have been a thing of the Westerners hence terrorism won't be known at all.
Well, we have civilisation already.
Let's hope that it's not too late before we realize what has happened to us as a nation.
#oneafrica
This is just a simple and innocent thought.
Glossary:
Harmattan is a season in the West African subcontinent, which occurs between the end of November and the middle of March. It is characterized by dry and dusty north-east trade wind, of the same name, which blows from the Sahara Desert over West Africa into the Gulf of Guinea. The name comes from or is related to Ga haramata. It is cold in most places, but can be hot in some places, according to the circumstances
