Black Beauty

"I became a whole person when I finally put away the exile’s little packed suitcase.

If I am ever liberated from this bondage of racialism, there are some things much more exciting to me, objectively, to write about. But this world has such a social orientation, and I am involved in this world and I can’t cut myself off.” ****Peter Abrahams - first internationally published Black South African author - 1946 "Mine Boy".

I have been to Zimbabwe and experienced the fears and falling tears.
I spent more than moments within the barracks of Nigeria and witnessed gruesome atrocities and the divides of rich and poor. The ghastly and animalistic slayings of refugees in South Africa and broader nations. Teens begging me to care less and let them die at their own hand - life in the trenches of the ghetto too painful and overwhelming. Poverty and abuse a hell hole most would do anything to be free of.

I reflected and re-visited the sins of apartheid; it's authors and their strategies of mental bondage and gradual destruction of the morale of the majority. Black people were considered as the debased race. A people to be tolerated.

"Mixed race" groups became the pawns in a cruel and diabolical game - we created our own hubs of distinction and privilege. Little did we realise that our bloodlines were written into the white master's keypad - our heritage was his design. He had a monopoly over our inheritance and still has us running from our blackness. The regime gave us nothing but took everything - our land and homes, our heritage and pride.

Apartheid shaped societies by its inequitable structures; it brewed hatred amongst race groups that still contaminate our souls.

I understand the minds of the exiled; the revolutionaries who despite knowing they would possibly die entered this war for the sake of freedom - for the value in being black.

I wept at not knowing this then. I mourned for the dead whom I did not salute. My heart bled. We were all victims. We were sub-divided blacks. Africans.

The slave masters just like the Britons wanted ownership of our cradle of humankind; the wealth of our great minds. The occultic gods who used the bible as a justification for their crimes.

Maybe for the first time I wept with great sorrow as the truths reigned home.

While every white man is not evil every single one was a beneficiary of superior privilege - those who despised the system died and fought for justice - died for all races to be a human race. This is important to remember. It gives us hope that liberation is not only a black thing but a mindset.

The crime of apartheid and segregation stripped our humanity and brought grown men to their knees; begging to be free and ultimately fighting for it.

The spirit of bondage still resides - the enemy remains amongst us and it shows in the oppressed who have now become our liberated chief oppressors - obliviously "wheeling and dealing" for the approval of the white man who sits as the eye who watches the world crumble as he waves his bills about.

My sorrow sees the imprisoned minds and I am angry; I weep - not only for South Africa but for Zimbabwe; Nigeria; Kenya, the displaced African American and the countless societies whose dignity and resources have been crushed underfoot.

I see the consequence of prejudice and injustice in our communities today - I am outraged that murder and massacres can be traced to the sins and crimes of apartheid and the agenda of colonialists and the masters of oppressive systems. A sinister triad that stuns the mind.

I weep for the Sullied Savanna  - Our bloodied beauty.

We dare not slack where oppression reigns. We must tear down the walls that divide and we must destroy the agenda 's of despots who pitch one race against another in their bid for control; to identify the true enemies amongst us.

Who is at the helm of slave trade in Libya - why are we not writing and fighting to be heard?

We must ensure equal development of the marginalised; use our words to annihilate the ploys of leaders who grow fat and empowered by our blood, sweat and tears; strive to raise and uphold black consciouness. Our words must hack the chains from enslaved and bigoted minds. It must shout aloud that slavery and trafficking is a crime against humanity.

You may not understand the power of words but awareness is everything; it disrupts a man's sleep and spurs him on to do that which he deemed impossible. Words - my words leave him restless, angered and opinioned. Words extend an invitation to wield extraordinary havoc on darkness. It is the enlightened print that nations will read long after we are gone.

We prophesy, proclaim and campaign the demise of the Pharaohs who enslave our people.

In the words of freedom fighter Steve Biko ,
"We know that all interracial groups in South Africa are relationships in which whites are superior, blacks inferior. So as a prelude, whites must be made to realize that they are only human, not superior. Same with blacks. They must be made to realize that they are also human, not inferior.

The basic tenet of black consciousness is that the black man must reject all value systems that seek to make him a foreigner in the country of his birth and reduce his basic human dignity".

Your people are my people - we must fight together if we are to rise as a force against compromise and corruption.

Release yourself from the bloodied stains of the past by embracing who you are; your worth and value; call it by name - unchain your mind from the slavemasters hook. Stop your brain from being the tyrants bait.

Set your value in bold print and be brave in your belief.

We must make a choice - to remain bloodied and bitter or to rise and embrace our beauty and value in being black.

(C) Jambiya
"The power of words".