A
Continent for the Taking: A Review and Call for a more Balanced Analysis
A Continent for the
Taking was an emotional marathon. There were more
lows than highs, Howard French's position had to be intentional—it was
experiential. After reviewing the text in its entirety, it’s easier
to see why French tacitly critiqued the perceived gloriana of Afrocentrism,
where it can be argued, according to French that "they" focus on the
all good and negate the all bad-- or the modern picture. In a
similar vain, I wonder how French would interpret the efforts of Africana
philosophers—those philosophers that focus on the philosophies of Africans on
the Continent and the Diaspora. French might say something to the affect
that Africana philosophers are not doing anything but semantically adjusting
Molefe Asante's axiologically committed Afrocentric thesis. This would be a reasonable critique so long
as one stays cognizant of the different doctrinal ideals of both models: Afrocentrism—scholar-activism; Africana philosophy—academic
critique and circumscription. Yet,
Afrocentrism, Africana philosophy and a confrontation with the modern Africana
world are all necessary parts of the Africana developmental equation. If
any one of the former models are appraised, alone, without context, a given
analysis would be incomplete. As
Langston Hughes painfully reminded us, “We are beautiful and ugly too”.
In
short there is work to be done. The irony behind the whole drama is the
inherent paradoxicality in the Africana developmental equation. Speaking
generally, it appears that the more one focuses on the essence of this problem
it becomes more and more apparent that Africa must stay underdeveloped and
undemocratic if the Western world is to remain developed and rich. Throughout
French’s text we are given experiential examples of corruption at the highest
levels of African governance. One can
deduce that this problem is almost inherent.
Must we forget about neocolonialism? French reminds us of the CIA
generated murder of Patrice Lumumba, self-determination costs. Yet, any self-respecting African Head of
State is going to want to change their condition, thus a change in Africa's
relationship with the West-- instead of being paid off to continue Africa’s
subordination. In other words, development necessitates underdevelopment
to the extent that the rich need the poor-- someone has to labor
menially. What a quandary?
Similarly, Africa is
inseparable from the global equation. Any pragmatic plan laid out for
Africa's "true" development-- control of her resources, democracy--
not too bad of an ideal insofar as wars are typically waged in debate and the
polls, etc., will drastically shift the power dynamic in the world.
African Liberation entails justice—reparations, a more level playing field, not
of existential equals but of self-determining beings who labor for the control
of their individual, social, and economic autonomies, and gain it.
The
concluding chapters are riveting. Beyond French’s interpersonal
reflections we are reminded of a continent that has been taken, by foreign
masters. Africans have been done
a number: slavery, colonialism,
neocolonialism, and gross poverty and nihilism no matter where we are on the
planet, as a mass. This is the tragedy. Africa and her children are
still suffering. There is still tragedy, and hope though. French’s text
lacked hope, a model for measurable development. He left us hanging. He just told us about his
"negative" experiences. Likewise, if he were a European writer
most readers would think he was patronizing, racist, and playing on old myths,
if we scrutinize the stereotypical language that prevailed throughout the
text. Read his text, this perspective should prove informative. As scholar-activists, we’ve got to be more
than negative. We need solutions, not just portrayals of the problem. Africans on the continent and the Diaspora
are connected to one another, the oppressed around the world, and the global
community at large. I am certain that any
true developmental plan for Africa can be applied to African Americans and any
other people that are "oppressed".
Won’t we continue to labor with dialectic synchronization--balance?
Adrian Taylor is a Ph.D student at Howard University focusing on development/underdevelopment. In addition to his academic interests, he has also been involved in the liberation equation. In the spring of 2000 he and some friends founded the first Kemetic based fraternity-sorority at Howard University, the Shemsu-Heru: the Companions of Heru-- www.shemsu-heru.com. Within their website are their principles, objectives and other related matters.