I write with much hesitation and a lot of anger due
to all the times I wasted watching the most watched South African film titled 'Sarafina!' on
a black and white television in the
90’s showing the battle
that the children of Soweto waged against the brutal apartheid Government that
formerly ruled South Africa.
I was a kid who sought knowledge and had just read about apartheid in South Africa. I had an uncle who was an avid Pan-African, so it was natural that as he was the “last-killer” when I was growing up; we watched nothing but what he felt would broaden the mind. I sat through long hours of 'What-do-you-knows', 'Talking-points' and 'Evening news bulletins'.One afternoon after church service we were all marched to the “living-room” of my Uncle to watch this lengthy movie. In the wake of these past xenophobic attacks I think my thoughts on the matter were “inevitable” although I must admit it took a long time coming.
I was a kid who sought knowledge and had just read about apartheid in South Africa. I had an uncle who was an avid Pan-African, so it was natural that as he was the “last-killer” when I was growing up; we watched nothing but what he felt would broaden the mind. I sat through long hours of 'What-do-you-knows', 'Talking-points' and 'Evening news bulletins'.One afternoon after church service we were all marched to the “living-room” of my Uncle to watch this lengthy movie. In the wake of these past xenophobic attacks I think my thoughts on the matter were “inevitable” although I must admit it took a long time coming.
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| #ITakeBackMySarafinaTears! |
In this day and age I would like anyone to define
who a national of a country is? If my mother is Ghanaian and my father is a
native of Lesotho, and I was born in South Africa do I qualify to be burnt as
well? Who then defines who a foreigner is? Or better still, who defines who a
citizen is??? Are they also privy to the facts concerning naturalization? Jerry John Rawlings(former President of Ghana), Barack H. Obama(current President of the United States of America), Dr. Guy
Lindsay Scott(former Vice and former Acting President of Zambia) are but few examples of people who qualify as foreigners in the
various countries they oversaw per the description of the few ignorant black
society in South Africa. These men were however received and in most cases voted
for by natives of such sovereign states.
On a much lighter note, are whites or Caucasians not
more “foreign” than dark-skinned people? Isn’t it easier for those carrying out
the attacks to fish out such folks?
In Ghana where I live, it has become a norm that our friends from neighboring francophone countries are considered better at doing certain jobs than us natives, but have you heard of us burning children alive as easy as we would buy prepaid credits from the Electricity Company of Ghana?
In Ghana where I live, it has become a norm that our friends from neighboring francophone countries are considered better at doing certain jobs than us natives, but have you heard of us burning children alive as easy as we would buy prepaid credits from the Electricity Company of Ghana?
I think South Africans have once again made put into
question the psyche of the black man. If I had a “time machine”, I would go waaaaaaaaaaay back in time to stop the tears
in my tear glands from flowing for the same South Africans who made my siblings
and I go to bed with a sour taste in our mouths for what our fellow dark-skinned
people were going through in their own country.
#SAYNOTOXENOPHOBIA
#ITakeBackMySarafinaTears!
#ITakeBackMySarafinaTears!
#ONEAFRICA
