From a demographic point of view, the African continent is young.
According to the national institute for demographic studies, "sub-Saharan Africa has maintained the fastest growth in the world since the year 2000 (around 2.7% per year against 0.3% to 1.8% elsewhere), a very high fertility although in slight decline (4.7 children per woman in 2017 compared to 1.7 to 2.8 elsewhere), the highest mortality (61 years of life expectancy) but in sharp decline (8 years life expectancy separates it from South Asia today, compared to 12 years in 2000). From 2000 to 2017, the african population increased by 58% versus the rest of the world by 19%. »1
The African population growth raises various debates, most often of an ecological or public health nature. As relevant as it may be, these are not the aspects that concern me today, in reality, my interest is on a completely different point, which is the relationship between this massive youth and their respective identities that are confronted to a heavy historical past and an obvious phenomenon: globalization.
The result of an historical heritage in danger
Peter Handke, an Austrian author I appreciate, said “When a nation loses its storytellers, it loses its children”. This quote reflects perfectly the topic I'm talking about. The importance of the past in the present to build the future is obvious to many from a theoretical point of view, but in reality it is increasingly utopic. No need here to redo the analysis of the multiple consequences of the slave trade and colonization, but it's important that these periods remain anchored in the memories. Always remember not to mope endlessly but to heal healthily. Is it possible to effectively treat a disease without knowing its causes?
While politics and economics speeches talk about globalization, capitalism is setting itself up as the grand master of ceremonies on the international scene. The West as a fine strategist has been able to subliminally spread its vision of the world over time. Through culture, entertainment, consumption model or even doctrines of well-meaning, we must admit that the game was played finely. The “unique thought” this famous theory, can we still name it without being accused of conspiracy?
Let us recognize that African lands have been throught colonization have not come out unscathed, and for good reason… It is difficult to build oneself when you do not know who you really are. By having evolved in a society where eveerything beautiful, good and great was always the others. However, this fact should not be a pretext for the identity suicide that we are all witnessing somehow, so now understand that I am part of this generation that refuses to spit in the soup, by rejecting "everything that is not not black! " (Sensitive souls please refrain)
Transmission: a shared responsibility
I had the opportunity during my life to go to several countries around the world, it's a blessing and I'm aware of it. I was also able to rub shoulders with a world from which I did not come, to learn stories that do not concern my people and to exchange with each other. It would be a lie to claim that being a ward of the African Diaspora is only a wonderful path. This journey that I am describing at the begining formatted me to admire only my opposite, to ignore my peers, and therefore to ignore myself.
Then time passed.
Sometimes what despairs me or horrifies me is this ease in which we confort ourselves to accuse the whole earth of our misfortunes. By this I mean that this type of speech in 2023 is no longer acceptable, for the simple reason that time has not erased everything (not yet) and that the collective consciousness about it has actually never disappeared , it has probably been less exposed than it should, indeed there was a time when it was really necessary to seek information, to have this desire to decipher history, but to my humble knowledge, those who today would be qualified as launchers of alert or even dissidents, have always existed, whatever the era...
So today, at a time when the speed of information defies even the laws of gravity, can we still speak of intellectually oppressed peoples? Let's be clear, I'm talking here about an African youth, indigenous, expatriate or exiled, this more or less urbanized and connected youth, because one thing is crystal clear in my mind, wise men and the elders, that general opinion could qualify of arrears are for me the most enlightened.
My intention is not to deny the will of existing systemic powers, whether African or Western, to want to keep populations in a kind of abyssal and profane vacuum in order to better enslave them. My purpose is first of all to recognize that this situation is not unique to African youth and then to make each of us being reasonable. We are all responsible. We are all accomplices. We are all concerned. The real question is when will we finally take responsibility? Or rather how do we go about it?
I briefly spoke about my personal experience because I was this young girl lost in her identity. I just decided one day that it had to change. I searched information that was not given to me in the society in which I evolved, I read and reread books that reminded me of my identity, I listened to philosophical talks centered on an identity prism which corresponds to my roots… I got to know my fathers, I got to know myself. And the beauty of this story is that I know for a fact that it is not unique, because how many of us have reconnected to our identities? How many of us are transmitting what we have learned from this epic journey? This is where the complicity I am talking about comes in. The individualism that characterizes modern societies makes us forget the essential. Does this quest really have a meaning if it remains deeply personal?
- “They stole our knowledge, they looted our treasures, they lied to us…
- Did they steal your souls? »
We cannot go back in time and rewrite history. We can only learn lessons and move forward. Yes we must rebuild, we must repair, we must no longer resign ourselves but above all we must transmit. Through art, writing and history to recast the collective imagination in a mold favorable to the acceptance and self-love of younger generations.
When we reconcile with ourselves, all the complexes and all the received ideas disappear to leave room only for peace of mind and the assurance of our importance. I said it, I read and I love Césaire, Fanon, Senghor or Angelou but to forget feathers like Maupassant, Sand, de Beauvoir or Flaubert who were there during my teenage time would be a lie to myself. Should I still feel guilty about it?
I remain convinced that if there are dominant nations, it is because they have taken the time to study and know their targets. It is not a question of leaving one form of ignorance to plunge into another one. My final observation can be summed up in a few words: "The fear of others is definitely the fear of oneself, flee from Manichaeism, accept your cultural and traditional heritage and build.
Mrs. Prue
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