Many of the institutions in whose hands we place our lives have become plantations in their own right. Tradition is one of them. As Africans we must rediscover ourselves as individuals first.
The African must come to understand that he is an individual, a singular entity burdened by his misconstrued ideas of collective thought. Bonds that overwhelm him and hinder his progress keep him eternally chasing the standards set by others because his mind has been forced into a template of old ways that are meant to order his steps in the present and guide him into the future.
Saul Williams said, ‘…the smartest thing they ever did was still our minds…’ and as such, a redefinition of self is a much needed exercise. Many of these institutions in whose hands we place our lives have become plantations in their own right. Tradition, religion, education and of course, politics. The African seriously needs to reconsider and redefine his understanding of these ideas according to his nature, environment and knowledge.
See, I am the African who is against tradition, an institution that always seems to set the African centuries back each time it comes up in conversation. You will often hear someone say ‘long ago things were not like this’ or ‘if white people hadn’t come along, we’d still be spear chucker’s in loin cloth’ or some other statement that seems to neglect that regardless of histories efforts, every human is under the influence of evolution and as such, a development of sorts. See, concepts or understanding that may have been headlined a century ago may not necessarily be the way forward today. And if I may, those centuries ago, a lot of ignorance must have ruled for us to live in this sort of today. A today were one can start a revolution on social media, were drones drop bombs where planes once dropped bags of maize, financial depressions and of course, heads of religious orders who prophesy cell phone numbers; but we will get to that.
For now let’s maintain the matter at hand, tradition; this old man stuck in this time warp without a clue as to what to type into that Google search bar to get directions to the present tense. See tradition tends to place thoughtless men who lack vision at the top, pun intended. Men who manage to brainwash everyone else into beating the left-handed child until he uses his right, make an example of him so all the other children know that none of them have a say in any matter whatsoever. Tradition presents a communist type approach to life in which it seems to breed us into the very same communal tool. According to tradition, I can’t be anything beyond what my lineage has pronounced me as. That I exist as a means to the ends of society and not ‘of my own’. And of course WOMEN. But to get to that, I have to make a pit (latrine) stop on religion.
Karl Marx’s likening religion to opium was a sober realization considering how people are drunk motherless off this institution. The initial purpose of religion is to destroy the being and has excelled exceedingly in the case of the African. As Steve Biko points out in the case of Christianity: it adapted to the so many cultures that took it in all around the world but on landing in Africa, was made to seem rigid. It was made the central point of our cultures, thus Africans had to cast away all indigenous clothing, customs and beliefs. Secondly it tears down the oneness of the people, dividing them into the converted and pagans. Now today you have most believing Africans disgusted at their natural beings, hidden beneath masks of clothing, synthetic hair, language, customs, pledging the root of all evil to a self-ordained ‘Man of God’ whose hands are as sweaty and greasy as that of a politician. This to me seems a suggestion by you that God is stupid. Why you dare ask? How about the fact that you chose to alter, change and/or hide that which the creator saw fit to create you as.
And the fact that as Africans we have to get married more than once, to the same spouse (which I am not doing by the way) is utterly preposterous. Because most of us live on both sides of the fence, traditional or religious (just in case the one side aint right), we will marry traditionally: a ceremony of haggling and cows and uncles who are never there every other day, who we hardly know. Then legally: in front of the lawman and his stamps and papers and finally a white wedding, a huge expensive ceremony necessary for the church, in which the bride is usually in tears when the most important day in her life is crumbling to bits because those uncles are now drunk now and are fighting their own battles with the other relatives at your wedding.
And of course women. See, both tradition and religion have been repressing women for ages. The traditional belief that the three stages of a woman’s life are ‘someone’s daughter, someone’s wife and someone’s mother’ should be proof. The classification of the creator as male is another form of oppression considering we lack knowledge as to the true form of God. Traditional marriages view of women as property and the traditional view is that sons are more important and thus exalted than daughters. How often do you come across a “Certain Company Name & Daughters”? Yet sons are wealth out of the kraal, not into.
Lastly yet not the least pertinent is education in Africa. The larger percentage of our schools are curriculum centred, not pupil centred. It’s not about your unique ability or what you can contribute but what tool we can shape you into for the agendas of other people. The lesson is to remember what great people did and not that we can be great people in our own right. And this is where we are supposed to begin as Africans?
Principles like these, set in the prime of our subjugation contribute to the retardation of the African people and continent. Principles that speak tradition not progress, religion yet not spirituality and education not Knowledge of Self Determination. And in the wake of our independence, none of these institutions were redefined according to African knowledge, standards, objectives and/or capabilities. And what with this current breed of politicians, Africa exists in a modern form of self-chosen oppression.
The African must come to understand that he is an individual, a singular entity burdened by his misconstrued ideas of collective thought. Bonds that overwhelm him and hinder his progress keep him eternally chasing the standards set by others because his mind has been forced into a template of old ways that are meant to order his steps in the present and guide him into the future.
Saul Williams said, ‘…the smartest thing they ever did was still our minds…’ and as such, a redefinition of self is a much needed exercise. Many of these institutions in whose hands we place our lives have become plantations in their own right. Tradition, religion, education and of course, politics. The African seriously needs to reconsider and redefine his understanding of these ideas according to his nature, environment and knowledge.
See, I am the African who is against tradition, an institution that always seems to set the African centuries back each time it comes up in conversation. You will often hear someone say ‘long ago things were not like this’ or ‘if white people hadn’t come along, we’d still be spear chucker’s in loin cloth’ or some other statement that seems to neglect that regardless of histories efforts, every human is under the influence of evolution and as such, a development of sorts. See, concepts or understanding that may have been headlined a century ago may not necessarily be the way forward today. And if I may, those centuries ago, a lot of ignorance must have ruled for us to live in this sort of today. A today were one can start a revolution on social media, were drones drop bombs where planes once dropped bags of maize, financial depressions and of course, heads of religious orders who prophesy cell phone numbers; but we will get to that.
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| An African against tradition |
For now let’s maintain the matter at hand, tradition; this old man stuck in this time warp without a clue as to what to type into that Google search bar to get directions to the present tense. See tradition tends to place thoughtless men who lack vision at the top, pun intended. Men who manage to brainwash everyone else into beating the left-handed child until he uses his right, make an example of him so all the other children know that none of them have a say in any matter whatsoever. Tradition presents a communist type approach to life in which it seems to breed us into the very same communal tool. According to tradition, I can’t be anything beyond what my lineage has pronounced me as. That I exist as a means to the ends of society and not ‘of my own’. And of course WOMEN. But to get to that, I have to make a pit (latrine) stop on religion.
 |
| Some still believe sons are more important than daughters. We have tradition to thank for that. Photo: Women’sENews |
And the fact that as Africans we have to get married more than once, to the same spouse (which I am not doing by the way) is utterly preposterous. Because most of us live on both sides of the fence, traditional or religious (just in case the one side aint right), we will marry traditionally: a ceremony of haggling and cows and uncles who are never there every other day, who we hardly know. Then legally: in front of the lawman and his stamps and papers and finally a white wedding, a huge expensive ceremony necessary for the church, in which the bride is usually in tears when the most important day in her life is crumbling to bits because those uncles are now drunk now and are fighting their own battles with the other relatives at your wedding.
And of course women. See, both tradition and religion have been repressing women for ages. The traditional belief that the three stages of a woman’s life are ‘someone’s daughter, someone’s wife and someone’s mother’ should be proof. The classification of the creator as male is another form of oppression considering we lack knowledge as to the true form of God. Traditional marriages view of women as property and the traditional view is that sons are more important and thus exalted than daughters. How often do you come across a “Certain Company Name & Daughters”? Yet sons are wealth out of the kraal, not into.
 |
| One wedding for the lawman, one for tradition, and finally a white wedding for the church. Photo: Sobitart |
Principles like these, set in the prime of our subjugation contribute to the retardation of the African people and continent. Principles that speak tradition not progress, religion yet not spirituality and education not Knowledge of Self Determination. And in the wake of our independence, none of these institutions were redefined according to African knowledge, standards, objectives and/or capabilities. And what with this current breed of politicians, Africa exists in a modern form of self-chosen oppression.
