Writer: Njabulo Nhlakanipho Shezi
Genre: Opinion piece
REDEFINING AFRICAN CULTURE
To redefine or re-interpret African culture and African history, in my opinion, is to redefine humanity itself. Science has shown that Africa is the cradle of civilization, that being said there is a responsibility to preserve and prolong African culture and its history. To only label or associate African with the colour or paint which is black is incorrect, as Africa is a consciousness, Africa is all colours and Africa is all people.
Africa is a woman whose beauty is in the mountains, the valleys and trees. Her confidence echoes through the deserts making other continents jealous. Her warmth is like that which is displayed by a mother to her newborn infant. She is our mother. Africa is a continent of complex cultural diversity, values and one which Ubuntu, humility and hospitality form the fabric of our wonderful continent. Our dance, our ritual and our chants make us who we are. We are a people of tremendous bravery; we are in tune with ourselves and the times we live in. The land we occupy was and still is in some parts of the continent ruled by kings, chiefs and queens.
In our early developments as a continent around the late 13th century, we adopted a consensus form of government; and of course, all the characteristics of democracy, individualism and free will. As a continent we have been blessed tremendously in terms of our agricultural landscape. We have always been a people who grow and maintain crops for purposes of feeding ourselves or for industry. The fabric of our continent is not purely defined by our past, but will continually be shaped by what “we” as a people do in the future.
The very identity of Africa as a continent, as I see it and of Africans as a people, is designed from pre-colonial history, but not pre-colonial cultures. We have always owned and embraced our cultures and ethnicities. Throughout recorded history, Africans have been unfortunately exploited. This especially during the unjust era of slavery. The continent itself has suffered at the hands of oligarchies whose sole mission was and still is to rob the continent of its minerals. Our economy is growing rapidly, in fact, second only to Asia, yet almost half of our people are living under poverty and this for me is worrying. As Africans, we own almost sixty percent of the world's productive land, but ironically our continent is riddled with unemployment and poverty.
Africa continually faces a constantly changing global environment; particularly in the 90’s, where we saw enormous global trends emerging such as the internet for example. This created a new economic landscape, particularly for already emerging countries such as South Africa, Nigeria and other North African countries. An important feature of the mid 80’s and the early 90’s, was the emergence of globalisation of the global economy.
Global growth in terms of communications and technology has facilitated international trade and finance, leading toward the constant movement of capital and industry. Unfortunately as a continent, we have urgent issues i.e. increased debt, public sectors, little cohesion between the public and private sector and also corrupt government officials. All these negative factors have influenced a decline in direct foreign investment and as a result our economies, are stagnant and or certainly growing below par.
What of our wonderful continent? The continent has hosted a number of renowned events. At the FIFA World Cup 2010, we showed to the world our spirit of unity and delivered a successful tournament. With that being said, most recently locals from predominantly north of the country have been involved in xenophobic attacks towards our brothers and sisters from all over the continent. Murders in Africa reflect social frustration and unrest towards the powers that be. This is embarrassing, as during times of hardship here in South Africa political leaders such as Nelson Mandela seeked refuge outside the country and they were warmly accepted.
The continual radicalisation of Africa in the past forty years by various leaders has yielded growth in some countries, but also in some countries the powers that be; have from certainly an administration point of view, run their respective countries to the ground. Even for developing countries, the growth has been minimal and there have been high levels of inequality. If Africa is to play a major role in the global economy, we need to define, integrate and maintain policy, which is favourable for prospective investors. There is no doubt that as a collective of countries we still have a lot of work to do, however the future does look bright.
FINDING RELEVANCE
How does Africa find relevance in the 21st century? How do we redefine Africa so that it remains relevant, not only to ourselves, but also to the world?
In my opinion, we need to reform the curriculum in our schools so that we teach our children of revolutionaries such as Steve Biko and Martin Luther King, just to mention a few. We need to be at one with our churches and integrate them more into society. We need to continue to embrace our cultures and traditions. We also need to work with one another, whether it is economically, socially or politically. We need to continually come with our own solutions for the problems that face our beautiful continent.
The late Ms. Nadine Gordimer once said and I quote: “Perhaps the best definition of progress, would be the continuing efforts of men and women to narrow the gap between the convenience of the powers that be and the unwritten charter”.
This statement for me speaks to the future and to the youth of Africa, to continually grow Africa and subsequently eradicate poverty, unemployment and under-development. Africa is being redefined and our story will continually be re-interpreted and will find relevance for many more years to come.
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