28/05/2021
Deculturalization of Africa
Ngwana Magana go botšwa, o tšhabela komeng tše šele a re ke tšešo. (A child that refuses correction, will adopt other cultures and call them his)
African (Sepedi) Proverb.
Africans are a very cultural people. In Africa, the issue of culture is in many ways similar to that of spirituality. Culture is the very blood that runs in Africa’s veins, it is in the heart beat of her people. It is in their languages, in their strides, in the way they seat and how they eat. Culture is the glue that holds the people together, the very thread that connects each one of us. Culture is a government not enforced by men, but established by Higher Powers for men to live in harmony. It is indeed an institution so profound, and entails within its immeasurable nature, words of wisdom and timeless proverbs. In African, culture is life, and life is culture. Turning away from one’s culture, is turning away from one’s self.
One of the most important things the colonisers understood was critical in their objective to see the demise of the African Spirit was, they first had to destroy the Africans’ cultures, or at least convince them there is no hope in them. For if you persuade a man to hate himself by hating his culture, you will not have to lift a finger to see his destruction. He will do it on his own, and indeed we did.
My heart bleeds every time I hear people, especially the religious and the educated, pointing to Africa’s way of life and calling it evil. I also, at some point was guilty of the same crime. Until I understood that I spoke without Knowledge, I criticised without Understanding, all because I lacked Wisdom, or perhaps it was sheer arrogance. I found Myself, asking myself, can it be inherently wrong to be Yourself? If Ntr/God created man in His own Majestic Image and for a purpose, why then is it wrong to be African? Truth of the matter is, external influences brought about this feeling of non-contentment in Africans, and this did not happen overnight. The process of deculturing Africans was likely to have happened at the same time or just prior to introducing new religions to them. This is because the two could not co-exist if the colonisers were going to achieve their goal of annihilating the African. We can see this today in African Christians or African Muslims who do not believe culture and faith are compatible, although Romans 13 stands contrary to these claims. Here I beseech we do not confuse Culture and Tradition. Perhaps a clear distinction must be made before we take a step forward.
Tradition is a set of beliefs passed down from generations to generations within a family, a group or society, with sentimental meaning or significance. Example: in the X family, all males must get married by the age of 30.
Culture on the other hand is a page up on which traditions are written. It is the base or foundations on which social behaviours, knowledge, laws, customs, traditions, aptitudes and arts are built.
Example: there shall be an institution called marriage.
Thus the colonisers knew they would stand no chance against a people who understood themselves to the core. And convincing them that theirs was a culture of demons, of darkness, tainted with evil and “black magic”, was a strategy that could win them over. Missionaries came not to salvage the stranded and the deserted and the lost, they came to unteach Africans their way of life and to instil an indoctrination of self-hate and deculturalisation. Naturally, for Africans to win this war, these are factors that need tackling. We need to love ourselves for who we are, and fully embrace our African-ness, that is, our cultures. We will not succeed as long as we are bipolar (African by looks and Caucasian by behaviour). We must understand, for example, that Cultural wedding is by all means valid, just as white wedding is valid for the Caucasians. It is trivial to see Africans insisting on a white wedding just as it is absurd for two people of the same tribe conversing in English among themselves. Let me tell you a short story:
I once took my son to a dentist for tooth extraction, and his brother and friend were there for support. We were called in, and as the dentist was busy prepping her equipment, the boys were chatting away in English. The dentist turned to me and said listening to the boys reminded her of a time a Caucasian colleague of hers came to her house. My dentist’s granddaughters were speaking to each other in English, and the colleague asked if they do not speak the same vernacular. The dentist said they do, they are both Pedi speaking. To this, the colleague said she always finds it surprising to hear people of the same dialect choosing to speak in English over their language, and asked the dentist why is this the case, especially among educated natives. Realising how silly this is, the dentist was embarrassed and had no sensible answer for her colleague.
A few years later, my second child was promoted to Grade 5. The school policy for children in Grade 5 is they have to learn two languages. One being English and the other, a choice between a home language and Afrikaans. This caused a small skirmish between his mother and I. She saw no good in the boy learning Sepedi and wanted him to take up Afrikaans. I on the other hand ranted that Sepedi will help him become the best of himself as a Pedi man, and Afrikaans will only drive him further away from himself and his heritage. We finally agreed that he will take up Sepedi instead of Afrikaans.
Language, just like culture, is a central part of our lives. Language holds in it the necessary vitalities that makes us the best of who we must be. Beautiful sayings such as “Monna ke nku, ollela teng” or “Gopola tšhukudu o namele mohlare” even “Nama kgapeletšwa e thuba pitša”. These are timeless sayings that were meant to teach principles of a virtuous life. Sayings that builds societies and responsible individuals. Often, misunderstandings or misinterpretations results in people thinking these profound and timeless sayings have lost their relevance. This is our arrogance.
It is beyond irrational that I am here, writing this work to my African brethren in a foreign language. How I wish we as Bapedi, Batswana, Basotho, VaVhenda, Batsonga, Amazulu, AmaXhosa and the San, had a common language we could use to communicate with each other. Using English is a proof, a legacy that we were colonised by the English, just as Sudan (Arabic speaking) was colonised by the Arabs. There is a saying “He who controls the language, controls the masses”. English was not just a language of choice for communication, it reflects the dominance of the English as an Imperialist. I look at European countries like Spain and Portugal who chose to stick to their own languages. Nations such as China who only speak English as an option. Perhaps it is time Africa too has one language spoken from Cape to Cairo, a language of our choosing, a language of our making. Perhaps it is also time we invest in the resurrection of African cultures, for this is a safe in which our strength has been locked and put away for ages.
When observers looked at our forefathers living according to their cultures, and did not understand and were insecure, they quickly judged them as witches and dark magicians. They conspired to obliterate their powers for good. They made up laws to outlaw Africa’s way of life and called it unholy. Turned around and took the very arts and used them for their own gain. Today we shun herbs from traditional healers, yet take 5ml of a syrup made from the same herb, only in a laboratory overseas. Couples will not find rest until they spend thousands of Rands they do not have on a white wedding, yet God had already consecrated their union when parents and ancestors agreed the two are an item. Calm down, Africans practice Ancestral acknowledgement, not worship. In their wisdom, Africans understood that life is energy, and energy cannot be destroyed. For over 200,000 years we understood that all came from the Creator and all will return. Therefore, one’s passing from this life, does not mean they are indeed gone. We know they are continuing their journey in another realm, and are still aware of what is happening in this realm. We know they can hear, we know they can see, we know we can reach and communicate with them, just like Saul reached and communicated with Samuel (1 Samuel: 28) or Jesus with Moses and Elijah.
Case in point, we are indoctrinated to believe the dead cannot be spoken to or should not be spoken to. That God hates this. Truly I tell you, the same thread that connects you to all of God’s creation, does not cease when flesh and bones rot in the grave. It was never about the flesh, it’s always been about the Life Force, the Spirit, the Chi, that continues living when the flesh stops. You are amazing, you are unstoppable, you have no end and no limits. Your African culture teaches you these. Ask why would anyone want you to stop believing in that? Our ancients spoke to this when they said “Monna ke thaka, o a naba”. I will expand on this proverb, its meaning and relevance to ancestry. There is a phenomenon of continuity, a legacy to this thing called life, and nature teaches us something about it. When one plants a seed, a tree comes forth. The tree will bear fruit that carries a seed. You plant that seed, the same tree comes forth again, and this will keep continuing into timelessness, as it was meant to be. Same is the story of mankind. A man carries a seed. When that seed is “planted”, another man comes forth, thus it continues into timelessness. The only difference between the tree and man been, man feels the need to distinguish between the two beings, that is himself and the new born child, but the essence is one. This is why it is very important for a child to look to his parents for a path, for a generation to look to its predecessor for directions, because they know better the mission the Creator entrusted up on them. A child is its parent in another time. We are our ancestors, in the now. And looking to them for directions is only natural.
There is absolutely no reason for suppression of African cultures in their diversity, except only for ignorance, lack of knowledge, or mischievous intent.
In this process of deculturalisation, the world is fed propaganda disguised as the Word of God. We should get one thing straight, biblical events of what is referred to as the Exodus, is a politically motivated movement of a people of a specific ancestry, who were sent back home by an African leader. Let us break this down further and bring it closer to home. Here is a people that came into a land foreign to them, seventy in total (Gen 46:27). Years later, the seventy has turned into a countless multitude. So many, that they threatened the wellbeing of the land and its people. As a result, the King asked them nicely to go home. No drama. No God.
Dear reader, I know how you must be feeling right about now. I know in your heart you came to believe you are a child of Israel, descendent of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and probably hated the Pharaoh for things written about him in the book. However, I ask that you bear with me as I bring these hurtful truths to light. We are living in the age of information, and thanks to science and archaeology, so much, more that anyone could have imagined, is now known of the ancient Africa. What scientists are discovering is, the more mysteries of ancient Africa are unearthed, the bigger the dent on the historical claims for the past. Example: There are no records of a person called Joseph who was said to be the king’s second in charge. There are no known records of a people called Israel that were enslaved in Egypt, no records of a person raised by Pharaoh’s daughter, in Pharaoh’s house, named Moshe or Moses, no records of an Exodus, nor plagues that hit Egypt. Contrary to the historical claim of the Exodus, the Pharaoh’s (Ramses II), mummified body is in a museum, in Cairo's National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, refuting claims that he disappeared at the bottom of the sea with his army in pursuit of Moses and the Israelites. Furthermore, scientists have discovered that those who built the pyramids were actually highly skilled workers who ate healthy, lived well and judging by conditions in their surroundings, they were compensated handsomely for their ingenious work. These were masons, bricklayers of note, scientists say as they examine the workmanship of the pyramids, temples, statues and other monuments across Egypt. So we ask, what gives?
We are fortunate to be living in this era where we can see the same attitude of the people claiming the name Israel, doing the same things, politically bullying nations wherever they go. What is happening in Palestine is a shadow of “what happened” in Egypt. People claiming to be God’s favourite, demanding lands and using the bible as a title-deed, giving them God-given authority over other people. Nelson Mandela said: “We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians”.
We also see USA doing the same when invading Iraq under the pretence Iraq had WMDs. The story never changes, the western world is still the white elephant in the room. It is far from a coincidence that the elephant so happens to be white.
Everything is a monopoly. Money, Power, and God. PLO Lumumba once said, and I am paraphrasing ‘The western world’s ambition is to dictate to the world which way to go, and the problem with the world, well Africa in particular, is we think and believe we are divinely ordained to follow’. I say Africa because the West tried this with the East, but the East said ‘no thank you, we are fine with who we are and what we know’. As Africans, we need to get our act right, and revert to our cultures, for it is true that Men do not make cultures, but cultures make Men. Who are we then, when we forsake our cultures for someone else’s, certainly not men. My cousin told me, complaining about attitudes of her Caucasian colleagues at work, saying they do not take them (African colleagues) serious. To which I answered ‘they will not, until you take yourselves serious first’. All other people see when they look at Africans, is a people who are trying hard to become another. It was Frantz Fanon who captured this behaviour with intellect when he said ‘The educated Negro, slave of the spontaneous and cosmic Negro myth, feels at a given stage that his race no longer understands him. Or that he no longer understands it’.
I am an advocate of education (although not educated) and an ambassador of faith in God. Do not get me wrong and think I am suggesting you turn away from your faith, whether Christianity, Judaism or Muslim. What I am saying is these must not change who we are. If anything, they must help us to find deeper meaning of ourselves as Africans in this world. Our Continent, our Great Mother, has been painted in a black brush, and her people also. The narrative is we are good for nothing and this has driven us to seek an identity that is not ours. Something that made us a laughing stock. We need professors that will profess our freedom, we need doctors that will heal our nation and not just suppress the pain momentarily. We need priests that knows the truth and the way. We need leaders and not mis leaders, to lead us to the land of promise, the Africa we left far behind. We need judges that will uphold the African laws and philosophy above all.
One more story?
I went to court a few years back to resolve a squabble I had with someone. Waiting for the commissioner to hear our case, we sat observing the commissioner presiding over other cases. One of these was of a lady against her society club. The issue was this poor woman had covered her husband that in his passing, the club should pay whatever monies due. Alas, the husband passed and the club refused to honour their obligations. Reason being, the deceased had two wives, and their fellow club member was the second wife. The ladies insisted that since all funerary proceedings were done at the first wife’s home, they do not see it fit for the second wife to claim benefits. After hearing both sides, the commissioner judged in favour of the second wife. He ordered the club to pay what was due to this woman. I thought that was fair, and was happy until the man in a black robe and a gavel in his hand said to the ladies of the club, ‘remember that when you are sitting under the trees and writing your constitutions, this court has the authority to nullify any or all of them’. This was an absolute display of the arrogance of the European supremacy over African cultures. Similar to a president having the audacity to order the arrest of a King, thanks to democracy, one other system used against Africans. Think about it, if democracy was that good a governing system for all peoples across the globe, why are the Europeans not ridding their monarch?
