African philosophy

The existence and nature of African philosophy has been discussed for decades. The constant demand for African scholars to reveal African philosophical contribution to human learning and human civilization has three fundamental reasons according to a seminar on African philosophy held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 1974:


1. Prejudice

2. With the advent and later the intensification of colonialism, the major European ethnographers and social anthropologists portrayed Africans as possessing a pre-logical or non-logical mentality. And since the essence of philosophy is logic or rationality, Africans were therefore regarded as incapable of philosophy, properly so-called.

3. There was also a western European conception of the universe, a conception which has been given a rational formulation and expression in western scientific thought. This conception provides the foundation for a western mode of existence. In the face of Africa´s current unmistakable subjection to Europe; the agonising question was raised by some African intellectuals whether indeed there was a distinctively African conception of the universe and a mode of existence founded on this conception.

Philosophy can be defined in a broad or narrow sense as much as the concept “African”. The existence of European philosophy or eastern philosophy has never been questioned. When it comes to the cradle of humanity as I call the African continent, there seems to be unfounded assumptions and presumptions on the non-existence of critical thinking and complex thoughts which actually is absurd as wisdom, mythology and philosophy are the trademarks of the whole continent.

African philosophy is characterized by unity and complete encounter of all things and beings, which by reason of the dynamic character of African ontology, has surfaced on the communal structure of a society based on the division of labour and rights, in which man attains growth and recognition by how well he fulfils a function for the over – all – all well-being of the community (African philosophy 1974).

Philosophy refers methodologically, to a reflective, systematic, deep and through way of thinking and, historically, to a vast and rich display of subjects which have engaged the attention of different thinkers, at different times, in different climes: knowledge itself, its language, its methods, being and non-being, good and evil, unity and multiplicity, motion, the world, life and inanimate beings, man and the infinite being. Philosophy attempts to grasp the entire universe in a small number of principles (Ethiopian philosophy 1974:100).

African philosophy is part and parcel of this universal strife to make sense of our mere existence on the universe. Humanity has its origins in the African continent and so does philosophy!

Africa: La Francophonie, a neo-colonial political machine (opinion)

I today prefer to publish an article in its entirety  from Pambazuka News, by Antoine Roger Lokongo *, dated Monday, 29 October 2012. I have not even asked for his permission but in this  age of "globalization" and internet jungle, it should be fine to spread the gospel as long as I am open about where the sources come from.


"The Democratic Republic of Congo was recently the host of choice for ‘The 14th Summit Meeting of La Francophonie Heads of State and Governments’ which was held in the capital Kinshasa from 12 – 14 October 2012 and in which 3,000 delegates from 75 countries took part, including 15 heads of state.

‘La Francophonie’ stands for a wide network of institutions and projects aimed at developing the political, economic and cultural links between France and its former colonies, through training support, academic and students exchanges, promotion of the French language, cultural exhibitions, subsidies and so on (Renou 2002).

Britain too maintains a particular relationship with its former African colonies through the ‘Commonwealth’, Portugal through the ‘Lusophonie’ for Portuguese speaking countries.

The Francophonie summit has been hailed by the Congolese government as ‘a great diplomatic success’ which has propelled the country to find its place on the international scene again, especially at this very moment when Congolese people in the east continue to be subjected to ‘the most barbaric atrocities [by Rwanda-supported Tutsi insurgents]’, in the words of former Senegalese president Abdou Diouf, the current Secretary General of the Francophonie in his opening address (Radio Okapi Live, Kinshasa, 12.10.2012); a cure from ‘Congo pessimism’ or ‘Congo bashing’ and the beginning of Congo’s ‘opening up’.

The Summit therefore called for the end of impunity following the killing of more than 5 million Congolese, the systematic rape of women, rape being used as a weapon of war, and the systematic looting of Congo’s natural and mineral resources, especially the mineral coltan needed for the manufacture of mobile phones, computers, satellites…. The Summit therefore re-affirmed La Francophonie’s attachment to Congo’s territorial integrity which must be preserved at all costs, as Congolese President Joseph Kabila indicated, considering three possible solutions at the same time to neutralize those ‘negative forces’ from Rwanda: political, diplomatic and military (Radio Okapi Live, Kinshasa, 12.10.2012).

‘We have been accused of being too much open to other partners including China but now, behold, the opening is also made in the direction of our traditional partners, the Francophone countries of North and South,’ said Isidore Ndaywel, the Summit’s Congolese Commissioner, writer and historian, in an interview he gave to Colette Braeckman of the Belgian daily Le Soir. (Braeckman 2012).

So why the choice of the Democratic Republic of Congo at this particular time? The size of the DRC (as big as the whole of western Europe); a former Belgian colony (not a French one ) with its 70 million French-speaking inhabitants. French is the DRC’s official language and in most French-speaking countries, the DRC included, parents no longer teach their children their own African languages, a fact that contributes to cultural alienation. At the same time Westerners are flocking to China to learn the Chinese language. This should teach Africans a lesson.

France therefore fears to lose a big French-speaking country such as the DRC should it veer toward the Commonwealth camp; and the arrival of China in the DRC sends shivers down the West’s spine. The DRC’s importance also stems from its geopolitical and strategic position at the heart of the continent; its fertile land, benign climate, natural tourist attractions and, particularly, its mineral resources.

Addressing the Summit, French President François Hollande said: ‘The future of the Francophonie is here in Africa. It is you who will carry the French, its values, its diversity and its requirements at the same time. Our common homeland, in the words of a great French writer Albert Camus, is the French language.’ (Radio Okapi Live, Kinshasa, 12.10.2012).

The truth of the matter is that the West in general and France in particular cannot do without Africa; especially now that the global financial crisis caused by the corruption of the Western financial system is biting and indeed threatening the economic viability of many NATO countries for which Africa is indispensable given their significant economic interests there. In fact the theme of the Summit was ‘Environmental and economic challenges facing the global governance’. The war waged by the United States of America and its NATO allies against Libya and Côte d'Ivoire for oil explains it all. Unending Western-backed Rwandan and Ugandan military incursions in eastern Congo to loot minerals is another fact.

In fact, former President Jacques Chirac acknowledged that ‘without Africa, France will slide down into the rank of a third [world] power’ (Leymarie 2008, 58). That was in 2008. Now France is the fifth strongest economic power in the world (thanks to Africa) but Brazil, a third world power, which has just overtaken Great Britain as the sixth world economic power is also poised soon to overtake France and become the fiftth strongest economic power (Guichard 2012).

Chirac’s predecessor François Mitterand already prophesied in 1957 that ‘Without Africa, France will have no history in the 21st century’ (Mitterand 1957, 237).

Former French foreign minister Jacques Godfrain for his part confirmed that ‘a little country [France], with a small amount of strength, we can move a planet because [of our] relations with 15 or 20 African countries...’.This is consistent with France’s ‘Françafrique’ policies, which aim to perpetuate a particular ‘special relationship’ with its former African colonies (Mbeki 2011).

So, why is Africa so important to France? Renou suggests three reasons: (1) Maintaining an international status independent of American and Chinese influences (the Soviet Union yesterday); (2) Securing a permanent access to strategic resources; (3) Benefiting from a monopolistic situation. To attain these objectives and maintain its power over its former colonies, France has to pursue a global policy that would be economic, political and cultural (Renou 2002).

It is our firm belief that, in the 21st century, Africa does not need all these remnants frameworks of colonialism, call it Commonwealth, Francophonie, Lusophonie, and so on. We have two reasons why Africa should turn its back on La Francophonie particularly:

1. FRANCE DOES NOT RESPECT AFRICA

In fact France still considers African countries as its colonies. Unlike his predecessors, former French President Nicholas Sarkozy went as far as insulting Africa, when in a speech in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, he said: ‘Africa has no history and the African man has not fully entered history’ Ankomah 2007. Sarkozy took a leaf from French philosopher Victor Hugo, who at a state banquet on 18 May 1879 said exactly the same: ‘Africa has no history ... In the nineteenth century, the White man made a man out of the Black man. In the twentieth century, Europe will create a new world out of Africa by connecting it to the civilized world.’ (Hardy 2008).

We believe that if you deny Africa, the cradle of humanity, and African people the builders of Ancient Egypt, any history (just as the first European settlers denied the Red Indians any history), you deny them also their humanity. The consequences cannot be weighed!

Some authors have seen France’s traditional African policy as being equivalent to the American Monroe Doctrine. Although different in their purposes, both doctrines justify, mainly through historical and geographical arguments, the exclusive control by France and the United States (Latin America in this case) of what they regard as their ‘private backyard’ (arrière-cours). This is reflected in a number of French expressions used to describe Francophone African countries, such as domaine réservé (private domain), chasse-gardée (exclusive hunting ground) or pré-carré (natural preserve), which prescribe the backyard as being ‘off limits’ to other great powers.

That is why, the presence at the helm of France’s former colonies of an independent, principled, unmanipulable and experienced leadership is regarded as an obstacle as such. The installation of weak, dependent and inexperienced pawns who can be guided along to deliver the country to Western superpowers on a platter is being pursued to this day.

2. SO-CALLED ‘SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP’ FOSTERS FRENCH INTERESTS

So it is an ‘un-commonwealth’ relationship, as Zimbabweans call it since their country withdrew from the Commonwealth in 2003. If you look at the economic integration among countries that share the Communauté Financière d'Afrique (CFA) franc as a common currency, you will notice that the French Treasury is holding billions of dollars owned by the African states of the Francophone nations of West and Central Africa in its own accounts and invested in the French Bourse or Stock Exchange. The Africans deposit the equivalent of 85 percent of their annual reserves in these accounts as a matter of post-colonial agreements and have never been given an accounting for how much the French are holding on their behalf, in what have these funds been invested, and what profit or loss there have been. In fact these countries require the permission of France before they sign any contract with China! (Lokongo 2012). How free are they?!

Before heading to Kinshasa, President François Hollande proclaimed the end of ‘Françafrique’ in Dakar called for ‘a new partnership between France and Africa based on respect, clarity and solidarity as well as new economic relations that favour Africa most’ (CCTV Report: ‘Hollande defends UN resolution on Mali’, 14.10.2012). Let Holland begin by dismantling the CFA colonial arrangement and we will believe him.

The way forward for Africa is to be united and to go the Chinese way as well as the South American way. The Chinese way because we have to rely on ourselves instead of continuing to be dependent on our former colonizers, protect our sovereignty and demand a new relationship with them based on our own terms, on mutual respect and win-win cooperation. We have to make France and other Western countries realize that they should stop ‘cutting the same tree branch on which they are sitting’ (African proverb).

South American countries are succeeding exactly because they have reached their own consensus instead of trusting the Commonwealth, Francophonie, Lusophonie, Washington Consensus and so on. As Noam Chomsky puts it, in the past decade, for the first time in 500 years, South America has taken successful steps to free itself from Western domination, another serious loss for America. The region has moved towards integration, and has begun to address some of the terrible internal problems of societies ruled by mostly Europeanized elites, tiny islands of extreme wealth in a sea of misery. They have also rid themselves of all US military bases and of IMF controls. A newly formed organization, CELAC, includes all countries of the hemisphere apart from the US and Canada. If it actually functions, that would be another step in American decline, in this case in what has always been regarded as ‘the backyard’ (Chomsky 2012).

Having said that, we agree with Algerian writer Kateb Yacine who wrote that ‘La Francophonie is a neo-colonial political machine, which only perpetuates our alienation, but the usage of the French language does not mean that one is an agent of a foreign power; and I write in French to tell the French that I am not French’ (Djaout 1987, 9). Colonisation was not jut a ‘historical mistake’ as President François Hollande said in Dakar before heading to Kinshasa. It was the very denial of the African person’s humanity."



* Antoine Roger Lokongo is a journalist and Beijing University PhD candidate from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

REFERENCES

1. Ankomah, Baffour. 2007. Shame On You, Mr Sarkozy! New African Magazine. October 30.

2. Braeckman, Colette. 2012. Isidore Ndaywel: la réunion la plus importante jamais tenue au Congo. lesoir.be. October 7.

3. Chomsky, Noam. 2012. The Imperial Way: American Decline in Perspective. TomDispatch.com.

4. Djaout, Tahar. 1987. Un film sur Kateb, dans "Hommage à Kateb Yacine", Kalim n° 7, Alger, Office des Publications Universitaires, 1987.

5. Guichard, Guillaume. 2012. Économie : le Brésil détrônera bientôt la FranceÉconomie : le Brésil détrônera bientôt la France. Le Figaro, le 3 juillet 2012.

6. Hardy, Yves. 2008. Afrique : Sarkozy sous le feu des critiques. Alternatives Internationales n° 041 - décembre 2008.

7. Leymarie, Philippe. 2008. Manière de voir, n°79, février-mars 2008.

8. Lokongo, Antoine Roger. 2012. West Africa: Monetary union ignores its own slavery. Pambazuka News. April 26.

9. Mbeki, Thabo. 2011. What the world got wrong in Côte d'Ivoire. Foreign Policy. April 29.

10. Mitterrand, François. 1957. Présence française et abandon. Paris: Plon.

11. Renou, Xavier. 2002. A New French Policy for Africa? Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 20,1, 2002.

Chinua Achebe shall never fall apart.

 Chinua Achebe - a  great writer and intellectual passed away a couple of weeks ago. His works on the impact of colonialism on indigenous culture and civilization have been monumental. His death is a big loss not only for the African continent but the entire world.


“Things fall apart” has been sold in millions of copies across the planet. The description on the cover of the book says it all:

“A simple story of a “strong man” whose life is dominated by fear and anger, Things fall apart is written with remarkable economy and subtle irony. Uniquely and richly African, at the same time it reveals Achebe´s keen awareness of the human qualities common to men of all times and places.”

This is indeed a literary master piece published in 1959 in the eve of Nigerian independence and before the Biafra civil war erupted. Decolonizing the mind and feeling a strong sense of belonging in one´s own language and culture is something that I attribute to most of African writers like Ngùgí WA Thiong ´o and Chinua Achebe.

I have to admit that I did not get that impression when I first read the book back in the days when I was young, naïve and a bit bewildered in Babylon. I of course understand and experience the work in a new light now. This is one of the good things with getting old or aging. A middle-aged man on the making is a bit frightening but as long as I keep on reading, I feel on the top of the world and forever young.

A fatal car accident made Achebe paralyzed in the beginning of the 1990s but his excellent contribution in literature continued unabated. He was a true son of Africa who will be missed for ever.

Other people have also died recently like the great Hugo Chavez of Venezuela who on his own literally liberated Latin America from the yoke of USA´s neo-colonialism.

South America used to be America´s backyard and military coups were the order of the day as recently as a decade or so ago. South America is a different place now and Hugo deserves much of the credit in combination with the brave brothers and sisters in that continent.

The song “Ding dong thank God the witch is dead” made it to second place on the BBC charter but it was barely played on the Radio as Margaret Thatcher –Maggie – the iron lady remains a divisive figure as much as in life as in death.

I am not a great fan of celebrating people´s death as it is entirely unacceptable in Eritrean culture even when your worst enemy dies. I just wished Hugo had as long life as Margaret.

Some people die too early. Great black leaders, musicians and intellectuals like Frantz fanon, Walter Rodney, Steve Biko, Kwame Toure who was known as Stokley Carmichael first, Thomas Sankara, Martin Luther King junior, Malcolm X, Patrice Lumumba, Kabral, Nkrumah, Marshal, Samora Michel and all the leaders of black panthers and many others have unfortunately left us too young.

I pray for all of them to rest in peace.

Jonas Hassen Khemiri och Jasenko Selimovic

Jag har läst både khemiris och Jasenko Selimovics debattinlägg om rasism i Sverige. Polisen har ju ”officiellt” fått riksdagens godkännande att stoppa alla människor som inte ser svenskar ut i jakten på ”papperslösa/illegala invandrare” i landet. Jag har inte förstått mig på vad Selimovic vill hävda men jag har uppfattat hans bidrag som ett lovtal till både Sveige och Svenskar. Det har han förvisso rätt att göra men att omyndigförklara ett geni som Khemiri är väl lite att gå över gränsen.

Jag vet exakt vad Jonas Khemiri pratar om och känner igen många av hans vardags beskrivningar för mörkhyade människor i Svea. Det är ingen som har påstått att alla svenskar är rasister eller dylikt men det faktum att det finns många som har röstat på Sverigedemokraterna (ca.7%) och den siffran kan öka vid nästa val är väl tillräckligt oroande för att erkänna existensen av rasism och främligsfientlighet i landet.

Selimovics försök att ”försvara” vissa polisers illgärningar genom att hitta på andra allibi/svepskäl som skulle kunna förklara och rättfärdiga deras handlingar/beteenden är djupt kränkande och beklämande. Han verkar ha glömt att hans ”unika” framgång inom teatern som invandrare inte alls är representativ för andra människor med utländisk bakgrund och annan yrkes kategori.

Det är välkänt att en man från föredetta Jugoslavien behandlas annorlunda än någon annan från Gambia eller Tunisien i såväl Svea som i Irak. Vi alla gör våra resor på vårt eget sätt utifrån de möjlighter och begränsningar vi stötter på var vi än befinner oss men man måste akta sig för att generalisera och dra alla över en kam. Mitt liv och mitt val präglas av det samhällsklimat som råder i landet som jag befinner mig i. Människors kön, hudfärg, klass, yrke, utbildning, etnicitet o.s.v. är fortfarande avgörande faktorer som formar individens personlighet.

Definationen av rasism och upplevelsen av den må vara både universiellt och individuellt förankrad men alla som har sitt sunt och förnfut i behåll eller kan ta tillfånga det, behöver inte fördjupa sig i vetenskapliga teorier och förklaringar om vad det hela rör sig om. Jag har själv blivit stoppad vid tullen i Helsingborg, Malmö och på flygplatsen i Köpenhamn, i Melbourne och andra ställen så många gånger att jag inte ens vet antalen. Det är alltid väldigt obehagligt och vidrigt när man ”väljs ut” i det så kallade ”stickprovet” eftersom man har vissa drag av ”signalementen” som gäller för kriminella. Man är alltid dömd i förväg och förväntas bevisa sin oskyldighet under hotfulla omständigheter.

Att hela tiden tvingas berätta vad man gjorde i Helsingör eller Köpenhamn och vilka människor man träffade för en korkad polisman eller kvinna är fruktänsvärt förnedrande och föremjukande. Det går inte att beskriva den frustrationen och illskan som man känner vid det ögonblicket. Varför just jag hela tiden? Fråga henne, den där kvinnan med barnvagn, sade jag en gång i mitt desperata försök att ifrågasätta hela systemet. Jag har tvingats att till och med ta av mina byxor och skor eftersom jag hade en gång tagit flyg från spanien och hade ett långt hår.

Jag är glad att jag slipper den sortens förnedring här i mitt hemland ERITREA!

Jag avslutar detta inlägg med Frantz fannons sista bön i boken ”svart hud, vita masker” :O Min kropp, gör mig till en människa som alltid ställer frågor!