people were shipped across even though
there were recorded accounts that many
captured slaves threw themselves overboard
or starved themselves to death rather than
be slaves.
ruse and since they had already convinced
themselves that Africans were not people
but potential trade goods, their conscious
were clear.
Being captured into slavery was already a
death sentence so the odds of one surviving
were slim from the outset. How did a
handful of shippers manage to subdue such
a huge number of people who were already
prepared to die? Why not die for freedom? They sent in the missionaries who lied to
the Africans that their gods were false
and how salvation could only be attained
by adopting their gods. Amazingly the
Africans bought the story in spite of the
glaring cruelty of the people that were
selling their gods to us.
A typical plantation had an overseer and a
handful of armed slave guards. But the guns
were flint guns which were slow to load and
fire if they fired at all so all the enslaved
people had to do was to rush a guard and
at best he would kill one before he was
overwhelmed by sheer numbers. They lied to us that they were bringing in
western civilization and all the while they
were plotting to grab the land and turn
the inhabitants into slaves again although
they had abolished it. But since huge
profits could not be made by fair trade
exploitation of people was inevitable.
Sociologists have tried to explain that the
trauma of being forcibly uprooted from
their homes may have contributed to
their unnatural docility and the fact that
the slaves were from different tribes who
may have been foes in Africa and hence
would find it difficult to cooperate and plot
freedom. After being duped once, the same people
came for the second round and Africa
found itself fighting for its survival but
this time at home. What gods bewitched
Africans that we could be fooled by the
same enemy a second time round?
That does not however explain why after
learning a common language, English and
losing their identity of tribe and name they
seemed still unable to organize and create
such unfavorable conditions for their new
masters to make it dangerous to own slaves.
Why did it take more than two centuries
before any meaningful revolt took place and
surprisingly the revolts were engineered and
funded by the English who had realized
that they could bundle the grievances of the
working class to those of the slaves. They all
wanted fair working conditions.
Back to Africa where the slave trade had
decimated the African population by
robbing her of her able bodied young men
and women. So when the slave trade was
abolished the same European powers that
had made a killing out of slave trade came
calling again.
Only this time they did not want slaves they
wanted the land and the infamous scramble
for Africa began where Europeans sitting
in their offices shared out Africa among
themselves as if Africa was a piece of cake
even though they had not helped in the
baking.
We had allowed them during the slave trade
to play around with our tribal affiliations and
when they came back they had perfected the
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And to prove that we are truly bewitched
we adopted wholesale their gods who have
never been kind to us and even took on
their names which have no meaning for
us but most annoying is we took up their
political system that was used to dominate
us.
Ochieng wanted to know if there isn’t a
saying that says you can’t use the same
method to get out of trouble that got you
into the trouble in the first place. How
do we expect to sort out the African
predicament if we are going to use the
same methods of the initial oppressor?
clear that they are not welcome.
Our children pine to emigrate and join
the ranks of ex-slaves that are actually
still slaves in a system that refuses to see
a black person as a person, thanks to our
continued demonstration that we do not
value ourselves enough or have enough
pride to stop the self-immolation.
It cannot be that the last word we have
is another scenario where Africans are
still trying to be white because we have
been brainwashed over the centuries to
curse our heritage and desire to distance
ourselves from the paradise that we were
lucky to be born into.
Africans created the conditions that
made progressive discrimination against
black people possible and we continue to
suffer the indignity of what we created.
Some morally upright whites have done
their part to redeem the situation but
only the Africans can reclaim their total
dignity and pride.
We have just celebrated the remembrance
of the holocaust where six million
Jews were murdered. In the ceremony,
attended
by
many
international
leaders and survivors, the international
community undertook to reassure the
Jews that such horrors will never be
repeated.
When will the African genocide or
holocaust if you like be recognized as a
systematic murder and dehumanization
of a race and recognize the hundreds of
million that perished during the slave
trade and the colonial occupation.
By keeping the same system of government
we have merely exchanged thieving
colonial masters who were our slave
masters with African thieves using the
same methods and language as the ones
that have oppressed Africans for centuries. Are we the children of a lesser god that
our deaths only recognizes as stock
loss in the macabre account books
of our tormentors who have never
apologized nor ever welcomed us on the
commonwealth table unless when they
are planning to exploit us again.
What is really galling is to know that they
have become so good in their game that
they have convinced us that we actually do
vote for our so called representatives while
we know for a fact that the elections are
rigged and stolen by the highest bidders. We brought this upon ourselves by greed
and certainly greed will not be the way
to get us out of it. Unfortunately all we
seem to have learned from our oppressors
is an unbridled greed that allows man to
eat man in the name of progress.
In the meantime our compatriot in despair
at the turn of events in their countries are
risking life and paying a fortune to be
smuggled to the same countries and the
same people they spent years removing
from their country. And it is abundantly That is not the African way, it never was
and it will never be. Ubuntu is the only
way… I am because we are!