May is Africa Month and that means we celebrate everything African. The aim of this month is to promote African arts and cultural goods. We also acknowledge the progress that we have made as Africans. The whole idea is wonderful, but the question is do we really celebrate Africa?
Do we go to the villages and find those who make the art and understand the origins or do we just attend expos that showcase what Africa supposedly is? I really wonder how many people really know about Africa – not from the books we read or stories we see on television, but from personal experience.
We experience xenophobic attacks but yet we say we celebrate Africa Month. So, do we really just tolerate one another only in Africa Month or do we really embrace each other every day? Africa is so beautiful but it might be told by those who don’t understand the true beauty of it. We wait for someone foreign to come and tell us what beauty we hold in Africa but yet we don’t embrace it.
The beauty of Africa is not the artwork but it is its people. The diversity of culture and the spirit of ‘ubuntu’. We need to be true and celebrate who we are as Africans. It is easy to forget where you come from when you don’t protect it and with our current generation we are a step away from extinction. If it’s not cool enough it does not deserve a mention, if it’s not endorsed by a famous designer it does not deserve mention. A simple tradition of wearing a doek was not cool not so long ago, but because a stylist or designer decided it could be cool to wear a doek every women is doeking.
Wearing a doek is not new. It has been an African thing for years to show womanhood and respect. Know your history and that way no one can fool you. Let us not celebrate Africa only in May but do it every day. Doing little things like reading about your history or gaining knowledge from an elderly. Try to learn about your tribe and what secrets of life they hold. As we celebrate Africa Month let us teach one another rather than judging each other. Happy Africa month #Takepride #culturelove
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