The African Man

 

Up until this stage of the book, we have studied where the Zambian economy presently is. Later on, we will explore opportunities in the future. Our emphasis, here, however is where we are coming from. Our history is filled with accounts that can guide our discussions today, both from an economic standpoint as well as from a cultural perspective. Sadly, much of this rich heritage is rapidly being eroded, most notable by the slow death we are seeing in our local dialects. This is being driven by the misconception that many a Zambian believes, that our languages and as an extension our culture is primitive, animalistic if you may. It is widely perceived in Zambian homes that speaking in your mother tongue is a sign that you are not educated. As a result, a whole generation of Zambian children only know how to speak English. Quite sad. These are Zambian, Bantu children who look everything like their hunter gatherer ancestors, but who know nothing about this heritage.

In their parents embrace of civilization, perceived I must add, they have made a subconscious vow to deny their children the knowledge of who they truly are. There is a shame that, particularly, in my analysis, the Zambian has about him or herself. Where it came from? I cannot say with certainty. However, in my readings, I learned that in the schools run by colonialists in Kenya in the 50s, children were not allowed to speak in Kiswahili. Those who did, were admonished often by way of putting a derogatory tag on them which their peers would mock them for. This must have been what was happening in Northern Rhodesia. And so, a whole generation of parents and grandparents have stuck with this shame, to the extent that many of them would go their entire lives never having said a Tonga, Bemba, Tumbuka word to their children.

The Zambian man is trying to run away from who he is. He allowed the white man to convince him his simplicity implied he was less of a man, three fifths to be specific. The mistake he made was to believe this. Unfortunately, the African man tends to be the most subservient of the peoples of the world.  We have a deep respect for authority, sometimes to our own detriment. Take in the African homes, a child both young or adolescent, dare not question his or her parent, even when the parent is clearly wrong. It is taboo in an African home. This is why it was easy to colonize and more broadly enslave us. Is it no surprise that of all the peoples of the world, the easiest to capture was the African man? Later on, I will show how certain traditional rulers applied to become British protectorates, literally going out of their way to relinquish their independence, exemplifying this point. This was not the case for the Asian, who though also colonized, to a much lesser extent, did not see himself as inferior to the European. The European man respected this and left him alone, where confrontation was met, they fought to the death.

Today the African is free but is he really. I do not think so. The slavery has only become more insidious. We are not free. We are still British colonies. When the government mandates that children be taught in local languages, parents are in uproar. The British no longer need to be our official rulers, we accord them this role without their involvement or interest. Our education, our laws, our speech even our music all speak of the British empire.

When we will wake up? I hope soon. Young people will, however, begin to question these mental shackles that their parents have. Re-awaken to who they are. African men. African women. Black people, proud of this identity. Bold in the expression of themselves. Not looking to left of right. Animalistic you claim. I say simple, a concept which is closer to the divine than complex. I made you simple. You made yourself complicated (Ecclesiastes 7:29).

Concerned Young African.