Page 28 - A People Called Afrika
P. 28

A PEOPLE CALLED AFRIKA

             and in the Diaspora. This continent is filled with great po-
             tential in terms of natural resources, minerals, oil, precious
             stones and metals and vast tracts of arable land and fresh
             water. It boggles the mind just how on earth it was that a
             small set of people called colonialists would sit down and
             imagine putting this huge territory under some form of con-
             trol purely for self-gain, without for once thinking about
             the consequences that this would have on the societies rep-
             resented within it. How dull and wicked can men truly be?


             Today, Afrika, with all of the diversity found in its people,
             remains like a huge village of brothers and sisters who were
             told that having borders helped to keep their “criminal sib-
             lings away” and protect them from untold evils. A dirty tale of
             divide and conquer. Nevertheless, the whole of that narrative
             will be changed and a new paradigm created if we, as Afrikans,
             come to realize that the pain of what was stolen from us over
             the years and the abundance of propaganda that was created
             to cover it all up, will no longer define us, but the truth of who
             we are in the eternal plan of God will be what will create new
             spaces for us going forward. We just have to realize that we
             need this paradigm shift and also do all it takes to give it life.


             We must keep in mind that the world is only able to conceptu-
             alize a definition of success for Afrika on the basis of the terms
             that it uses for itself. From the world’s viewpoint, Afrika will
             only have attained any achievement worth acknowledging when
             it has: educated all its people (even though there are billion-
             aires in the West and East who did not finish their education),
             housed all its people (even though there are millions who are
             homeless in the West and East), fed all its people (even though
             there are millions going hungry in the West and East), created



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