The Afrikan Renaissance
The word irreplaceable must be reserved for the best. Irreplaceable means invaluable, priceless, unparalleled, even incomparable. To me, Afrika is indeed one such place that is irreplaceable. The so-called developed countries have repetitively acted in ways that often suggest a disregard to Afrika and its people. The picture of the continent as painted by Western media is overwhelmingly perverse. Development agencies have actually spent millions of dollars in advertising to sustain this incomplete image of Afrika to perpetuate domination and dependence.
Do we have our own struggles and challenges? Yes. In fact, at the moment, my home country of Kenya is facing the worst political crisis since 2007, and its own existence is threatened by the very institutions and leaders that are supposed to protect and serve the people. A section of the population has been marginalized and secluded from development initiatives, and in severe cases they have even been intimidated and killed because of their political beliefs. There have been acts of abuse of leadership positions and massive violations of fundamental human rights, and many people have become docile in the face of oppression. But as far as I know, every country is struggling with their own problems, even those countries that Robert Mugabe once referred to as the self-appointed prefects of our time.
Only highlighting the problems ignores the immense resilience that Afrikans have shown over and over. In response to the current situation in Kenya, the majority opposition has made it crystal clear that it will not tolerate at any given moment in time the processes, structures, and institutions that are meant to benefit only a few individuals at the expense of the other citizens, and it has mobilized its supporters to resist such attempts.
Beyond resilience, what stands out among people of Afrikan descent are our communal values — our sense of mutual responsibility, mutual respect, and social solidarity. The mention of Afrika surpasses a mere concept; it is an assertion of common origin, identity, and destiny. The Afrikan philosophy of life states that human beings should be the center of all development activity and anything that diminishes their status is alien to its people. I would argue with great conviction that since the main goal of development is to improve the quality of life, a traditional society was best suited to Afrika’s conditions. Pre-packaged development policies that may have worked for developed countries cannot be imposed on Afrikan countries with the expectation of success.
“I often wonder: how can you tell someone’s story when you have never even been to their home or walked in their shoes?”
Context matters, and blindly exporting policies without considering context is premature, dangerous, and destructive. Our leaders and policymakers must utterly reject the notion that foreign governments somehow have Afrikan interests at heart. Afrikan nations may borrow certain aspects from foreign ideologies as all nations do, but we should in no uncertain terms reject the wholesome importation of those ideologies to the Afrikan continent. Time and again unrealistic comparisons have been made between Westerners and Afrikans. History has been distorted to lend credence to the claims by Westerners that Afrikans are primitive and backwards in their ideologies. This is simply untrue. I often wonder: how can you tell someone’s story when you have never even been to their home or walked in their shoes?
The West can no longer refuse to accept the important fact that Afrikans have development philosophies of their own. Scholars have given varied but consistent accounts of the existence of traditional, democratic societies in Afrika, and have determined that these societies were clearly advanced and could not be described as “primitive”. The Afrikan dream is the awakening and a new beginning.
The Re-Africanization process is often a long and tedious task, but will be realized by applying Ujamaa principles as outlined by Tanzania’s iconic leader Julius Nyerere. The seven pillars (Nguzo Saba in Swahili) are: Unity, Self-Determination, Collective Work and Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity, and Faith. Nyerere identified friendship, reciprocity and equality as factors to consider in striving to maintain unity in the family, community, nation and the entire Afrikan race. In the spirit of Self-Determination, he pondered on the question of who we really are as Afrikans, and whether we are what we ought to be. He urged Africans to name ourselves, define ourselves, speak for ourselves, and even create for ourselves. The third principle is based on the idea that being Afrikan is more of a duty and a destiny, than an identity, hence the need to build and maintain our community together. Cooperative Economics implies building, owning and maintaining our businesses, and to profit from them together. Purpose recognizes the need to build and develop our community to restore our people to the traditional greatness. Creativity is about striving to make the community more beautiful and beneficial to the next generations. Lastly faith is singled out as being essential in the Re-Africanization process, and is based on our profound belief in ourselves and our people.
In all truth, I have always desired nothing short of just systems and societies that afford dignity to all people. I yearn for a young generation that is empowered and well educated. Afrikan governments and leadership have, beyond any reasonable doubts, made mistakes that were dangerous and harmful. Yet I have always believed that with a new generation of empowered and visionary young leaders, everything could change — everything will change. I see a future in which people are proud of their rich history, the color of their skin, their personal identity, and their moral standing.
Afrika is developing and evolving at a terrific speed in the spheres of economy and culture. My belief that youth can overcome the mistakes made by past generations is slowly but steadily becoming a reality. Young people are now demanding a seat at the table and a piece of the pie instead of being spectators on the sidelines. With their incisive minds, great strength, energy, and commitment to realizing an Afrikan Renaissance, I do not question the bona fides of the amazing young leaders that I have met throughout the world.
“…numerous stumbling blocks lie in the way of responding effectively to the urgent and persistent developmental challenges in Afrika. But I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, because many young people have now rolled up their sleeves and stepped up to craft solutions to these concerns.”
Achieving an Afrikan Renaissance will take time and persistence — numerous stumbling blocks lie in the way of responding effectively to the urgent and persistent developmental challenges in Afrika. But I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, because many young people have now rolled up their sleeves and stepped up to craft solutions to these concerns. I wish to echo a call by Kwame Nkumah, one of the greatest Afrikan leaders of all time, to the Afrikan community on the need to be united in order to find an Afrikan solution to our problems. We as Afrikans must be prepared to emulate the ideas of Ubuntu and Ujamaa to steer us to be proactive and take initiative to address our challenges ‘from the inside’. The liberation of Afrika will be achieved by Afrikans themselves.
Brian Juma is a 2017–2018 Global Health Corps fellow.
