Page 79 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 23

Community
here is a sound coming
out of Africa. It’s a deep
Tsound coming from the
core of the existence of the heart
of Africans seeking change,
justice, hope, a new dawn, you
name it. A sound that will shake
the very foundations of how
things have always been in the
world. It is a sound that will
disrupt the system that has ruled
this world with impunity and
cause people to begin to rethink
what humanity is about. It’s a
sound that says it’s about time
things work in Africa and for
Africans.
Africa has spent much of the
past five centuries being the
burden bearer for other nations
of the world, even though
those whom she has suffered
for are mostly ingrates who
are quick to call her a slave
the moment she seeks her true
worth and value. As the mother
of humanity, she has borne on
her back the burden and pain
of nourishing her children for
ages. Not appreciated and not
even approved of as a mother
by those she has sweated for,
she continues to bear the burden
of mankind.
She lights up Europe and
America with her natural
resources, while her home, town
WWW.MSINGIAFRIKAMAGAZINE.COM
and cities are in darkness. She
bears the brunt of the falsehood
called climate change, which
is nothing but the unintended
consequences of the modern
irresponsible use of nature and
the wickedness of the hearts
of men, while she contributes
almost nothing to the menace.
She is the river that feeds
other rivers, and her milk is
nourishment indeed to the souls
of those who call her third
world.
But the time has come for change
to happen and for the old global
narrative to be challenged. I
see that change in the likes of
the events going on in West
Africa. I saw that change when
the people of Niger Republic
rose to say enough of Western
and European imperialism and
the corruption that was eating
the very foundations of the
motherhood of Africa. The main
enemy is France and her dirty
tentacles had spread across the
land.
Somehow, out of the blue, Niger
Republic has become an icon
for the fight for the freedom of
Africa and the emancipation
of the “Black Race” from
perpetual servitude to and the
hegemony of the global north.
Niger dismantled the hold of
Samuel Phillips
is a writer, photographer, author of several
books, and co-publisher of Msingi
Afrika Magazine. He can be reached with:
philpsalmist@protonmail.com
France on the people of Niger,
sending French envoys out of
the country and closing the
various companies and mines
from which the stealing of
natural resources was taking
place. And the same thing is
going on in Mali, Chad and
Burkina-Faso.
Am I surprised at what is
happening in Niger? Not at all.
I am just in amazement. When
you take a look at the true
meaning of the name Niger, you
will see why I am not surprised
but amazed.
From only God knows when,
I have always thought that the
name Niger means “dark” or
“darkness”. I think that also
informs why many think the
name Nigeria means “the area
of darkness”. But this is not
true.
ISSUE 23 | JANUARY 2024 79