I recently had a conversation with a friend who mentioned that she disliked how some people pretended to be something they are not; especially black people who bended too much to western ways of living. She was making reference to a mutual acquaintance of ours.

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She was making reference to a mutual acquaintance of ours, who seems to have an inherent distaste for Africa, black people and even though a black coloured (lekutwane) claims to be white! It always makes me sad to see people like that as they are lost! Our people are loud, colourful, creative, smart, resourceful, and resilient and have persevered even under the worst political, social and economic circumstances. For some sinister reason, black people are the most hated people after Jews and knowing how shallow human beings are, it’s probably because of their physical appearance. Political conspiracies have made us believe that black people are primitive, backward and stupid; a small minded mentality, as it undermines the black people who are a success and are organized.

I developed an interest in Black consciousness literature in my late teens and have since had difficult conversations and debates with myself and friends about issues of African identity, culture and how to maintain pride in ourselves even in a changing world. When I went to university, I was exposed to different people (most of them showed pride in being black Africans) and  I realized that it was ok to have nappy hair, to be brown skinned, to have a slightly wider nose, be a bit thick and yes, to pronounce ‘burger’ as ‘beggar’.  I felt disgust when I remembered all the times I burnt my scalp with hair relaxers to get soft straight hair, aspired to be perfect in Western standards and learnt Western history when I should have been learning about my own people, history and culture. I sincerely believe that as black people, for centuries, we have been taught to despise ourselves and our people’s history of slavery, colonization made it worse as we were eroded self pride and racial esteem.

The “world” wants Africa to be bad and Africans to be dull; psychological manipulation! We even see a white man with long hair as our saviour. I can assure that if Jesus was reflected as a nappy haired or dreadlocked man with ashy dark skin, then religion would have a different face. How many people believe in black people? As much as our people have weaknesses, most of the time blacks do not reach their full potential as they do not believe in themselves and other black people.

We are sold all sorts of nonsense and mind you, they benefit some big companies financially. Our women are taught that they must be reed thin, have soft feathery hair and so they starve themselves and put on fake hair that makes them look like they are wearing nests on their heads. We see skin lightening creams flying off shelves and people speaking in unnatural twangs; anything to be accepted in Western standards.  Some Batswana parents speak to their children in English, before even teaching them Setswana. I have heard some parents say, ‘Ngwanake o a choma, ga a itse Setswana’, like it’s something to be proud of! How can you not know yourself, your own history, cultural values and identity and quickly want to know and embrace that of others?

Most of the problems we have as a society are caused by ‘identity issues’. We don’t know ourselves. Instead, we want to adopt foreign values and lifestyles, making them our reality. That is why people can come from outside our country and tell us how to live and behave. We are a confused lot and cannot grasp that the essence of our being is ok as we still think that in everything, ‘foreign’ or ‘white’ is better!

We read too much into Western television, movies, music and are “sponges” of first world pop culture that has bred a “bling” generation of violence, sex obsession, laziness and numbed-minded youth who just know how to ‘tweet’ and ‘like’.

Times have changed and we live in an evolving global community but there is room for everyone and we don’t necessarily need to change to fit in. I am sorry to break it down that you will always be a black African, so stop wasting your time and take pride in being Black! It isn’t a fad or trend but a way of life. The more we keep reflecting disdain for ourselves and our people, the more it will be a reality. I always tell people that whoever has a problem with Africa, Africans or being Africa must pack up and leave! It’s ironic that while other races don’t need to affirm their ‘whiteness’ or ‘yellowness’ yet we must do it, but hey Proudly African. 

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