Friday, December 27, 2019

We must cure Black Ignorance with Black Enlightenment


In the world over, we discuss frequently, the cost of black ignorance without juxtaposing that to the value that will come along when we promote black enlightenment.

This black ignorance, which is indeed an injury to our community, is seeing to be significant in all our communities not just in Africa or in America.

It is this black ignorance that has kept us in a position where we know very well that our current position is inhuman, and yet we turn to believe that it is so desirable only for us.

Yes, black ignorance costs the black community billions of dollars in each major economic sector annually and yet we seem to care less. The subsequent realities are few narratives I have outlined to help us understand in a bit, how much it costs our community to be ignorant of ourselves, this will also help us to understand why we need urgent self-help actions and initiatives rather than relying on our governments or the system to bring the needed changes:

1. In reality, Footwear Company who may not give us an equal opportunity within its managerial, production, and distributing lines (these are the areas where the major share of the company's profit is spent) after its production, will only need to pay a few thousands of dollars to one celebrity who looks like us for advertising. The next morning we carry all monies which we have to invest in our collective development (in sums of millions) to this footwear company by way of buying this product which we may not need after all.

2. In Ghana and in Nigeria, there are well-functioning locally established automobile manufacturing companies; Kantanka and Innoson respectively. Governments of these countries ‘massagingly’ act like they are supporting these local companies only to turn around and purchase vehicles costing billions of dollars from the economies of their slave and serving masters. Are they not aware of the fact that the most important aspect of business development and sustainability is the market? Assuming that the products from these local automobile companies are not up to the standard expected by these governments (which obviously is not the case), wouldn't it be prudent for the state to still demand those products to ensure that these companies are able to get enough capital and resources to invest in research and product development to improve on the standards of their products, rather than sending those monies to economies to demand for finished goods? After all, development is a decision and determination that comes at the cost of short-term pleasure.

3. Whereas, the African Continent is said to be so rich in natural and mineral resources, the values from these resources that go into serving the interest of the indigenous African is estimated to be less than 12% from cross-sector average estimates. In some sectors, the local benefit value is far lower than this 12%. Since this proportion is highly insufficient to satisfy the abundant needs of the damaged African society, a few powerful class jump on it and use it to satisfy their hunger. From this scanty portion also, the power-class provide for themselves, a terror security system to secure them from the danger of revolt from the hungry masses. It is therefore not surprising that you keep asking how is it possible for leaders of European nations to sit in the same public transport whereas our leaders need a range of 300 Matter convoy before they can move around in the same country they have been voted for by the people they lead?

Indeed, the black ignorance is a huge money-making object in all sectors, from education to sports, and I can go on to examine each and every sector and bring out empirical evidence to show how damaging and alarming the situation is. However, the most important thing is not really the problem, but the solution.

If the black ignorance is costing us a billion-dollar in each sector, how much do you think black enlightenment will worth to, or bring to us from each of these sectors? Obviously, that will bring to us multiple-folds of what it is costing us today.

If this is the situation, what then can we do to help ourselves?

What if we start to look for opportunities from all our challenges (wherever there exists a challenge there exists ab opportunity)?

What if we start to organise ourselves into powerful sub-groups and start to work together and support one another in a more systemic and network faction?

What if we create common platforms for designing, production, distribution, and consumption lines by ourselves and for ourselves?

What if we bring together and join our knowledge, ideas, and expertise?

What if we come to know that the governments of ours and the system are only exploitative tools that will bring no change to us or to our future generations?

What if we make Black Enlightenment the focus and the new order and empower our communities through the sharing of positive knowledge?

What if we come together to build a Black World Community for ourselves?

Setting ourselves free is our duty and not anyone else’s responsibility.

My name is Kwadwo Agyei Yeboah and I love Africa. You can always connect with me on Facebook to talk about Africa.

The Great Zimbabwe: An African History Colonized by Europe


In the early 16th century, rumours of a mysterious fortress with gargantuan walls, abandoned in the African jungle, spread around Europe.

Surrounded by goldmines and sitting on a 900-metre-high hill, the city was thought to represent the summit of a unique African civilisation which had traded with distant Asian countries, including China and Persia.

Though the indigenous African have always know about this civilization they have built, a Portuguese sea captain, Viçente Pegado, was one of the first foreigners to encounter the site, in 1531.
To his surprise, of what he has seen in the African civilized community, he wrote: “Among the goldmines of the inland plains between the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers [is a] fortress built of stones of marvelous size, and there appears to be no mortar joining them … This edifice is almost surrounded by hills, upon which are others resembling it in the fashioning of stone and the absence of mortar, and one of them is a tower more than 12 fathoms high.”

Great Zimbabwe was constructed between the 11th and 14th centuries over 722 hectares in the southern part of modern Zimbabwe. The plan, construction, and governance during its flourishing days were all by the Bantu Speaking who migrated from East to the Southern Part of the Mother Continent.
When European Colinizers took over, they concluded that such an advance development couldn't have come from the indigenous African people and for many centuries, they attributed it to an unknown foreign group.

It only came in recently (in 2004), that a group of Archaeologists, Historians, and Geographers ended a long lasting study with a conclusion that the Great Zimbabwe civilization was solely built by indigenous Africans without any external or foreign influence.
Indeed, Colonizers colonized not only people and their resources, they also colonized history, civilizations, and thinking/minds. Many of these are still in chains which require our collective efforts to set them free.

Yes, no one can go to, for example, France and say, I want to examine your civilization and determine whether it was built by French, how disrespectful will that sound. But why us?
Rest not until you have no life to stand in for the war of life.

My name is Kwadwo Agyei Yeboah and I love Africa. Connect with me on Facebook let us talk About Africa.