DUAL CITIZENSHIP OF AFRICANS

Sir,

Like many people all over Africa and abroad, I stand for the Black Lives Matter Movement, which has been instrumental in advocating for black lives around the world, especially in America.

The movement, founded in the US, has been gaining tremendous traction, attracting the attention of people all over the world. Like many we have witnessed strike actions of minority groups in America, witnessing the rage and also the sufferings of our beloved brothers and sisters.
Various countries have also taken a stand to support the movement and spread the message which according to my understanding is, a man was killed by the police due to racism.

Impact

But the message goes beyond this and touches on critical areas of our every day existence, such as the impact of racism on suffering of black women and men through poverty, racial killings, socioeconomic and political exclusions, the exclusion of blacks in the world of academia. 

The movement has also made us aware of the devastating effects of systematic oppression of people and it rallies its efforts on reflection, resolving and removing such a system. We really appreciate everyone who is taking a stand against racism and oppression but I still feel rather disowned. Through the movement, are we helping African-Americans gain more comfort in the US as citizens? Or are we for the movement because another black American was killed by a white American police officer?

Think

These questions make one think deeply about what blackness is from an American view in contrast to an African perspective. It is not surprising, though, that the picture of blackness and our struggles as black people is largely concentrated in the American view than on being African. The black lives matter movement, to me, sounds more American than African.

How many times do Africans kill each other every day as a result of the negative effects of a post-colonial system that is in place today in Africa and the world? Multiple African natives have been killed by conflict, poverty, disease, malnutrition and hunger because every wealth of Africa was taken away by men who did it in the name of religion and civilisation. We still die in thousands each and every year because of a capitalist system that drains Africa and enriches Europe and America.

As an African supporting the movement, I stand proud at its achievement, even though I still believe my suffering, as an African child, has been far greater and needs more attention. We need to be very cautious of what the colonial system has done to us. The African-American child needs to realise that living in America does not necessarily make them fully ‘American’, according to some.

So before you begin to question everything, I would like to express that your cries reach heaven and there is a God who hears you, and there is a land that is proud to call you home and that land is Africa. I also believe that Africans should thrive and collectively conquer no matter the hard-ache and time it takes.
To all Africans in Africa, America, Europe and other ends of this earth, we need to own the struggle and also appreciate how far we have come and the depths it will take us to be fully recognised as human beings. We also need to be fully aware that the fight against oppression, in all its forms, does not mean the same thing for each and every one of us because we are wide and different. Yes, black lives do matter! Rest in peace George Floyd.

Ntokozo, Michael Mabundza

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