There is a saying that says for you to be old and wise you
need to have been young and stupid first. If I could write a letter to my
younger self the first thing I would probably say is embrace your Africaness
and enjoy the beauty that is Africa and most importantly Zimbabwe (for me). For
the first time in a very long time, I have come to treasure all things African.
Perhaps it is because I am getting older and the priorities of what I value
seem to have shifted or perhaps it’s a phase of all things African that I am
going through.
Back then in my teenage years, most of us embraced all things
from the UK and the States (the West) as the IT culture and as such neglected
to look at the beauty of what was our own. More specifically, as Zimbabwe went
into economic decline, the populace seemed to lose its identity more with
people always looking for hope to beyond the Zimbabwean borders and as such
many of us never placed or treasured our country, ok well I speak for myself…..
So many years on from my teenage years, I have a different
view point of the African continent and all things African. Despite the
economic hardships most African countries face due to lack of good governance
there is a brighter side to the Continent. Africa is filled with talented and
warm people. We have a continent rich in resources, while not properly used for
the benefit of the populace we have them all the same. Africa is home to many
areas with breath-taking views, my favourite being Nyanga in Zimbabwe, the
Western Cape in South Africa and of course Zanzibar. The list is endless and I
could go on.
Over a decade ago having hair cornrowed or braided in a particular
manner was not so cool, instead, weaves were flying high supreme as they had
just come in. One would not even have imagined that young girls or guys would
wear anything with African print and consider it fashionable. For me wearing
anything with an African print design was probably wearing the long “Zambia’s
or Chitenge’s” worn by the older women or our grandmothers for big family
gatherings or for being in the rural areas and that is where it ended. Again,
there was not much appreciation for local music in Zimbabwe or Africa as a
whole as people seemed to embrace all the latest music that came out of the states
as being the coolest sound ever. Again speaking the vernacular was not so
popular in certain areas as everyone was expected to fluently speak the queens
language, as a result we never paid attention to African Literature but instead
our focus was on English literature, not that it was bad but I see now that our
focus was always getting languages and other cultures right while we neglected our
own and never took pride in it.
Today, all the above is different thanks to a generation that
decided that we needed to showcase our identity and culture. This generation is
one that spent its childhood in Africa and then early adulthood overseas and had
embraced foreign culture then realised they had to set themselves apart wherever
they were so that people could see they were from Africa. This is the generation
that would order the latest music from their countries and would cook the meals
that reminded them of home so that they wouldn’t get so homesick and in the
process revived African culture in the countries they most likely call home
now.
From the early 2000’s local African music has become popular among
the ‘youth’ of most African countries wherever they are in the world, people
are proud to play loudly the local music and dance to the local dances that go
with the tunes. Even international artists now sample music from African
artists for example Beyonce sampling a TED talk by Chimamanda Adichie and
sampling dance moves from Africa and even incorporating samples from African musicians
such as Fela Kuti for good measure in her tracks.
Today, African fashion is showcased in all the fashion
capitals of the world with the African print or Ankara designed dresses being
showcased. We have designers such as Mucha, Doreen Mashika and David Tlale
showcasing showstoppers in African print. Young women flaunt their designer African
print dresses while young men wear their African print suits with such confidence
and pride and all sorts of accessories that go with it. African women are proud
to flaunt their African hair and have all sorts of fabulous hair designs and
the hashtag #teamnoweave and #teamnatural have become a common one
on social media. We now even use our very own African produced beauty products
and export these, for example the famous West African Black soap more
specifically the Dudu Osun black soap that is quite big in the US as well.
African food now also features as African cuisine on world menu’s with people
all over the world trying out and enjoying ‘African food’.
People are proud to speak their local languages and in fact
encourage others and the younger generation to speak their local languages. African
Literature has never been more appreciated than it is now with people from many
parts reading books from Africa’s finest writers such as the late Chinua Achebe,
Yvonne Vera, Ngugi Wa Thiongo from the old schools and young writers such as
Petina Gappah, Angela Makholwa, Chimamanda Adichie and many others.
So what’s changed from the 1990’s to now? “You cannot be what
nature did not intend you to be, the struggles of life come from trying to be
something other than you” – and Africans have realised this. Apart from Globalisation
and Africans being global citizens, Africans are learning to support each other
on a social level and on a business level and take pride in their rich
cultures, and have learned to embrace their uniqueness. I for one, have done
just that and love it (took me too long though). Other than the big names of
Africa, we also have the smaller people that at times go unnoticed that however
do their bit to showcase the talent that we have on this beautiful continent.
Despite all the tough times that Africa has gone through and
continues to go through, I can safely say I love my country and continent and embrace
all things Zimbabwean as I am Zimbo first then all things African. I hope that
more and more African people see the richness in culture that we as Africans
possess and embrace and appreciate it and use this to further develop our
countries and continent. Lets now wait for other people other than Africans to
show us the richness that we possess but let us discover and develop this
richness on our ownJ
