A colonized mind of Africa
-Jacques SprenkieMateya
Don't call my Africa a moron!
After stealing its means
Poisoning its food
Larcenous its resources,
And made it to look poor, like a church
mouse
My African? Your mind is still colonized
even today!
Africa you are now monotonous
With fake accent of colonization
Look! What colonization have done to
your bright thoughts
I didn't know that it will last during
your lifetime.
'Africa your mind is still colonized
even today'
You use to have sharp shooter mind
You whereIn depth and independent
And now you are forever broke and in
debt
You are breast feeding your children
with disease-ridden milk
And your generation is mislaid
generation,
Shorn of self worth and delicate
identity
African children are on denial
They have give-up their Africanism
'Ubuntu'
They size their short hair with
extensions
And paint their skin with this!
What is this? On African daughter?
Africa you are not yourself
Why? Who gave you food poisoning again?
When I gaze at you I see America!
When I take a glance at, you are Europe!
Your pregnancy with colonization
Was supposed to be miscarriage
Then I will approve death
A vital misfortune of your expectation
Your TB affects your children
Your infections give them a running
bowel
They don't know which is which
Africa can I brain wash you?
And give you a medication for this
infection.
'Africa your mind is still colonized
even today'
As the title suggests the poet talks
about the colonization of Africa and how colonization has disturbed the culture
of Africa. The poet seems to be annoyed throughout the poem and blames Africa
for its weakness and how it could let an alien or an outsider country to come
and dismantle the lifestyle of the natives. The title suggests that
colonization has not only affected the culture and the lifestyle of people but
also has crept into the minds of the natives. It has impacted to such an extent
that the Africans think and talk like the colonizers.
The poet says that the colonizers have
ripped the essence of Africa to pieces, created a hegemony which made the
colonized feel inferior to the colonizers. The line “Don’t call my Africa A
moron” shows how the colonizers perceived the colonized, shows the ambivalence
which was exercised. The poet says that the colonizers have treated Africa in
such a way by “poisoning its food” “larcenous its resources” and made it look
poor.
He says that Africa’s mind is still colonized,
it has become “monotonous” and has a “fake accent”; this could mean the mimicry
that took place during the colonization period, where the Africans mimicked the
colonizers to fit into the society. He says that down the line somewhere
colonization has had a negative impact on Africa’s “bright thoughts”.
The poet contrasts in how Africa was and
how it has become after colonization, before it had a sharp mind and was
independent but after colonization it is broke and in debt. The poet sees
Africa as a mother who feeds disease-ridden milk to its children. The effects
of colonization are a disease in the poet’s view. There is loss of identity due
to colonization. The natives of Africa are in denial with the fact that their
minds are not colonized, but that is a meek example of how they have accepted
the ideas that were put forth by the colonizers. The poet used the term ‘ubuntu’ which in
African culture means human kindness, which he says that they have lost. On what
costs were they trying to mimic the colonizers, where on the way they are
losing out on their culture.
Africa does not remain itself after
colonization which appears in people having extensions or painting their skins.
The poet says that when he sees Africa all he can see is either America or
Europe. He says that Africa was supposed to have attained freedom have a
‘miscarriage’ but that hasn’t occurred, this resulted in outbreaks of diseases such as
TB, infections, food poisoning etc., all of these diseases are metaphors for
the different negative impacts of colonialism. Africa has attained freedom
physically and politically not mentally. He also says that these diseases have
affected the African who no longer know who they are or where they belong.
Towards the end of the poem the poet
asks if he can brain wash Africa and bring the feeling of nationalism or the
concept of nation so that it can be free from the grasps of the colonizers and
have an ideology, identity and a nation of its own. But he concludes saying
that Africa’s mind is still colonized.
Jumana Moochhala
1214282
5 PSEng
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