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Foreign Imprints on Afrikan Souls |
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Written by Atandi Anyona
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Wednesday, 17 September 2008 |
It is not once that foreign names possessed by Afrikans have been condemned by those who see the importance of culture in maintaining and protecting a people’s dignity. Personally, these lines of thought regarding cultural nationalism find a welcome home in my mind. Herein I will strive to explain my stance.
First of all it is imperative to understand how these foreign imprints gained access to Afrikan souls. As is common practice of assimilation, the culture of the colonizing party is imposed on that of the colonized. During the colonization of Afrika, missionaries had perfected the art of freely giving English/Christian names to every Afrikan soul that came their way. They did this due to their inability to pronounce the sweet, tongue twisting, traditionally rich Afrikan names. Of course, this was in addition to the amplified cultural arrogance they possessed. By some very strange logic based on what one would term as scientific and anthropological nonsense, they believed that anything Afrikan was primitive in nature; from the languages we spoke to the very nature in which our spirituality we expressed.
It is understandable why we would and still do retain these 'western' names. We were a colonized people; you could experience serious repercussions for flaunting your 'Afrikaness' - either through name or cultural ritual. Similarly, you would have some privilege for having a European name. But today, we speak of a different tale. We are a free people- at least politically and socially. So, one would ask, why do we continue to take pride in these colonial imprints? What dignity is there in boasting of another man’s culture? What gain is there in perpetuating the elements of cultural imperialism?
The man of India proudly retains his names, yet he was once colonized. The man of Mongolia still retains his own, yet he was also colonized. So, Mr. Afrikan, what excuse do you have for your cultural alienation? Is your inferiority complex so ingrained that you abhor everything that is you? Why do you continue to be an accomplice of colonialist supremacy madness?
Colonialism and imperialism is wrong enough, but to teach a person to hate himself is outright inhumane.
Where is the pride in our culturally rich names; those spiritual gifts that are the archives of our unwritten history- I mean, Ourstory? To what degree has historical amnesia confused our minds that we have forgotten the value placed in our names? This flaunting of labels and alien imprints- which neither reflects us in culture or disposition- seriously escapes me. It seems the Man not only sucked out the wealth from our lands but also from our souls and minds. Yes, Marley said it right: we need to break free from the mental chains of cultural inferiority. Only by re-igniting the flames of self pride and appreciation can we resurrect our suppressed dignity, ONE NAME AT A TIME.
____aTANDiLE__
"A race of people is like an individual man; until it uses its own talent, takes pride in its own history, expresses in its own culture, and affirms its own self hood, it can never fulfill itself." __Malcolm X
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Atandi Anyona |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 19 September 2008 )
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With all due respect to your good effort, I do not think it is just the colonialists who imposed their names upon the indeginous, but rather their religous establishments which did the same, and indeed still continue to do so. The Indians were lucky to retain theirs especially where Hinduism as the original faith was 'unblemished' by the foreigners, nlike their Goan countrymen and women, who carry their fair share of Portugues names and catholic faith to go with it.