(This is a very interesting article, although we should carefully evaluate how much "mental" liberation we have actually achieved. It was posted on Sam Anderson's egroup)
Africa Could Lead the World
The Daily Observer (Banjul)
NEWS
June 12, 2003
Posted to the web June 12, 2003
By Simon Peter & Marcel Mendy
Banjul, The Gambia
Halifa Sallah, House Minority leader [and sociologist] has said
that Africa has the potential and the possibility to lead the
world, socio-economically.
He said this Saturday while addressing hundreds of students and
representatives of youth organisations at a symposium on the
theme, Culture and its Significance in the Development of Africa
at the BO Semega Janneh Hall, Talinding. He said culture is an
integer of development and that because of colonialism, "we were
indoctrinated to appreciate a foreign culture and regard our
own culture as nothing."
He said Western culture "makes us hate ourselves, our language
and it also divides us. Western culture would never liberate
Africans. And without a sense of our own culture, there could
be no meaningful development. That's why they deprive us of our
culture," he said.
The sociologist observed that in order to be completely liberated,
a sound economic policy must be created. "We have already achieved
mental liberation, we also need to create a people and an economy,
if that could be done, then Africa has the possibility to lead
the world."
He emphasised that there was a need to recall the ideologies
of some pan-Africanists like Amilcar Cabral and Kwame Nkrumah
to cap the struggle to liberate the continent. He described Nkrumah
as having contributed immensely to African development. He reminded
the gathering of Nkrumah's warning that after Africa has gained
its sovereignty, there would be a lot of shortcomings that would
hinder development on the continent. He said it was time Africans
made good use of the natural resources and produce food and control
the means of production. He denied the notion that Africa is
poor saying it is the people who are poor because they do not
use their brains to develop or liberate Africa.
He called on all Africans to see themselves as a people belonging
to a nation and strive hard to build their nation. "We must decolonise
our minds, see ourselves as one people, create a democratic society
and be ready to liberate ourselves."
