I AM AN AFRICAN CHILD... THEY SAY
I am an African child...or so they say.
Often, I think, apart from my skin the color of cocoa bean, and my thick, strong hair like my accent, what is African about me? Yes. Aside from my location on Google Earth and the skewed opportunities people there face, how unique am I among the rest of the world?
My mum once told me we had folktales and songs that imparted the wisdom of the elders to the young and connected us with our past. She said granny taught her early to braid hair, and at my age, she could balance a pot on her head and do the “inyanga” dance. But today our grandma only watches “American Idols”, and keeps up with the Kardashians too.
For a millionth time I have had to toss the remote myself because Thunderman, Batman, Antman and all the mans that matter don’t look like my brothers, and they don’t talk like me. Is it that TV don’t care about me, or because Uncle Achebe is gone? I am bothered that my brothers do not chant the songs of Orlando Pirates and Shooting Stars, yet they wear the history of Arsenal like sweater at harmattan.
You see, I also get worried that my school terms are named after Spring, Summer and Winter when our seasons are still rainy and dry. I can count with one hand the kids in my school that can speak our mother tongue. We are very few; and you might get punished for it.
But in all these I still know I am an African because during my holidays all I want to do is play in the open, feel my legs in the sand, hunt for birds and listen to stories from songs to which I have to respond. I wanted to visit Nairobi, see the famous yellow buses of Lagos and feel the artifacts at Benin. I crave to explore Dar es Salaam, Johannesburg, Cairo and Timbuktu. I am confident and proud because I am an African child from the paws of heroes. Like fine clay I have been refined by the heat of the Sahel; like blossoming palm I have flourished from the dews of Africa’s tropics. I am an African modelled to be brave like Nelson Mandela and sagacious like Cheikh Diop.
I am like Thomas Sankara, Wangari Maathai and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I am moulded to be a lite of Angelique Kidjo and Didier Drogba. I am an African. I am Africa. I am in lite of Africa.
I dedicate this one to my MSP friend @sircork
what a wonderful post. I must commend your originality, please keep it up. Africa is beautiful and i'm proud to be an African child and A son of the soil. Steem on friend.
Your boy @gbenga
Thank you, bro 😊. Amazing compliments.
Yeah
I couldnt agree more
I am impressed! And thank you for the kind dedication! When a guy in a country so far away from me uses words I have to look up in a dictionary, ("sagacious") I know I have befriended someone very smart, indeed! :D
"I can count with one hand the kids in my school that can speak our mother tongue. We are very few; and you might get punished for it."
THIS REALLY BOTHERS ME! I don't understand why you might be punished for what I can only call love of your nation, and it's history.
Resteemed!
Thank you @sircork for the HUGE compliments. Truly, I know words (Read that with the most Trumpy possible cadence). 😂😂
Really, it's a big cultural decay we are dealing with. Like my friend puts it, "the [legacy] of the private school system (and indeed contemporary lifestyles in Africa) is to beat the Africaness out of you." The archetypical image of a modern African social elite is one who speaks English with some fusion of American accents, wears foreign designers, have their kids school abroad (or have as little contact as possible with their environment in a case where the parents can't afford schooling abroad--and the private schools provide that haven of illusion). The extreme ones bleach their skins. Down here the term "local" is denigrating, and a reference to things to be avoided. Our languages are gradually getting endangered and we are not bothered.
It's crazy out here for us the woke minority. 😞😞
You have the best words. Yuge words!
It is crazy for those of us that are woke AF.
I am in a place where I am mixed in my emotions. I have a strong dislike for the "state" (government, rulers) but a strong attachment to my OWN country (patriotism, pride, love of the land and it's own natural beauty and vibrant internal history) and it makes for an uneasy mix sometimes.
It is up to us man, to retain the best parts of the past for our respective cultures and combat the homogenization of the future.
On the other hand, there are some good outcomes. Would either of us be here now, having this conversation together, if there were not?
Man I just read your post outloud to a friend in my office, and STUNNED her with your words. She said to let you know how elegant and eloquent your writing was and the story it tells. When she gets back to her own devices, she will be following you too! Keep an eye out for @alphaczarina. She's got some interesting stories to tell of her own.
Oh wow. That's interesting. I owe you a lot of gratitude. I will go right to her blog and bury my big head there 😊. Steemit rocks
She's brand new. I'm not sure she has made any posts yet, but she told me of one she has written and is preparing to post about lessons from Shakespeare that we can use today that sounded very promising. We have to stay tuned to see what she produces!
I noticed that. I followed her though. Tell her I look forward to that post 😉😉
Copy that, captain. Transmission will be resteemed.
Ahoy there! 👮
Im blushing right now for my friend @misterakpan
This community is really nice.
Great post. You are certainly an emerging writer. Like advised by someone else, keep it natural. Steem on bro.
Thank you very much. I feel honored.
one of the greatest challenges with Nigeria is half baked Westernization. we are not Westerners now, neither are we fully African, we are just seating on the fence. speaking your vernacular is now seen as a sign that you are not civilized but i ask, to be civilized, do you have to be educated? Igbo languge is now optional in many private schools here, i wonder what will happen to our own generation. nice one @misterakpan you just made a new friend, I hope the feeling is mutual..
@arizonawise
It's a sad thing to deal with. Where do we go from here? 😞
The feeling is mutual for sure. I'm now following you 😏
we shot our selves in the leg, and we are not even looking for a remedy. hope to meet one day. steem on! brother.
@misterakpan - You have captured the spirit of Africa in your writing. Well written. Upvoted
Thank you very much. I really hold the compliments to heart
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If you really write this , you are truly talented!
Wow. I'm really honored. Your complements buoy me
You kno what I am an indian. But since i have curly hair and a dark complexion my friends call me African. Although they dont mean it any negative way they often make fun of me. But i take it as a complement because i like the way Africans are. I like their lifestyle and their accent. I dont feel offended at all. Be positive and stay chilled.
Thank you brother. Maybe you should come to Africa and just get away from your friends for a while 😂. Thank you for reading me.
Every child is unique in their on little way I am proud of African people amidst the adversities they are facing they still manage to stand strong and continue their journey in this world... to all the African people good luck in your daily endeavor and may the Almighty Father bless and love you always...
Upvoted, this is very beautiful. I hope that one day you get to go to Nairobi and all the other places. Great post it was a nice little read.
😊 Thank you, Rachel