Africa Looted, now Muted:
For our "first world cousins, the "better black!"
The "better black" is a lie perpetuated by the racist systems that permeate our world and is often proudly adopted by some black and brown people who reside in so-called "first world countries!"
The past colonialism and present-day continued plundering of Africa's resources seem to bolster the belief that we, as black and brown people living in Africa, are "backward," "third-world," "not as advanced," as our black and brown kin in countries such as America or Britain. There is a sense of superiority that stems from some of them when dealing with people from Africa.
So here are the questions you have to ask yourself and some "food for thought:"
Do you feel superior based on your knowledge and or command of the English language?
An "English accent," easily understood by white people, has nothing to do with intelligence. All it indicates is that you have learned a language. In Africa, some ordinary people have mastered several languages. There is no direct correlation between the ability to speak "the Queens’ English" and intelligence.
Do you feel superior because you have bought into the lie that first world countries are more "urbane" and therefore more "advanced" than those from Africa?
Advanced technology, better housing, or education indicates a country that pours its resources into those sectors and has little to do with "intelligence" or "superiority." The need for a movement such as "black lives matter" to highlight brutality and inequality is indicative of how pervasive systemic racism is.
What is it about Africa that makes you assume we are the "country bumpkins" in this narrative?
If you, as one of our "brothers or sisters" living in a first world country, think that, then, I'm afraid that you have unconsciously "bought" into the idea that Africa is deep, dark and wild and that we roam around, draped in loincloths with lions as pets, waiting to be "rescued. and or attack visitors."
Why is it that our education, our "learning," isn't mutual?
What makes you think you have nothing to learn from us and we have so much to learn from you?
Some of you seemed to have forgotten that life started in Africa!
That the Greek philosopher Thales, among others, studied in Africa.
That South Africa is the only country colonised, followed closely by Apartheid, and thus black and brown peoples lived experiences are unique, and as a result, their stories should be widely spread.
That Africa birthed one of the greatest mathematicians!
When people refer to countries like South Africa or Zimbabwe as "banana republics," why are you silent about that?
When did the notion that we, in Africa, don't know much germinate?
Africa, viewed as a big, black hole always needing to be "rescued" by countries from the "first world," is inaccurate! Yes, we need assistance, but we need it as a result of looting. Because big corporations use the "cheap labour" strategy in Africa, our "ignorance" to be employed should therefore be a sign of desperation on our part and exploitation on theirs.
If you subconsciously or unconsciously think that you are superior to people living in Africa, it means that you believe the lie told by racists.
For black people from Africa to flourish and our history to be told, we need to develop methods of mutual learning and not where we sit as "missionary" children listening, learning from you but muted when it's your turn to learn from us.
