Is It Worth Writing About Africa?
A conversation about the relevance of African writing today.
The saddest part is that the topics aren't that different. I read books, magazines, and watch videos. Everywhere, the same subjects. The troubles of African countries are old and sadly still relevant. These troubles, now wrinkled, wear new clothes, visit new cities, but remain the same. The span of a lifetime, the time since independences, has changed nothing for the better in the living conditions of African countries. Yesterday and today (hopefully not tomorrow), the relationship between the Global South and the North remains unchanged. Why, who benefits from the power structure, and more importantly, why even bother writing about these things?
It’s 01:30 AM. I’m transcribing what I wrote on paper. On YouTube, a replay of a live broadcast is on the screen. For three hours and 53 minutes, they talked about “Russia’s agents in Africa.” This kind of video is far from scarce.
Whether in videos, on the radio, in the streets, or less so in writing, the discourse on the state of Africa is widespread around the continent. This is for simple reasons:
You have to restrain yourself not to talk (or write) about it
Since the space that surrounds us has been given a name from the outside: Africa. We have to find words to talk about Africa or restrain ourselves not to talk about it. It is quite clear that the need to talk about it is there. We must find words to explain why a 91-year-old president (over 40 years of which on the throne) disappears and then reappears after weeks of absence. Why one must swim to reach home after a rainstorm, why... All these things, which words in reports, in the lines of law, or in budget figures presume nonexistent, exist in reality. So, we must find words to acknowledge them or suffer in silence. When words say that the weak and the strong are equal, and yet the rising days crush the poor, we need words to recognize it. To say it. To name and notice it.
Speaking of my Africa
People are proud of Africa. On social media and in public. The pression of the society, the deciders of good, are asking me to take pride in the uglinesses to the point of scorning anything that might reveal the beauty we know is so inexorably present. If those who love Africa (or the South) with the soft touch of words that speak of a beauty that does not exist happen to read this, I ask for their forgiveness. To those who can only see beauty, even when they are lost in oceans of darkness and peculiarity, I ask for a little compassion if they still have any left. True compassion will make this continent rise, real compassion and truth.
We must write Africa because it is changing
And yes, I’m wrong. The topics are not all old. There are challenges Africa faces today (which may worsen) that it didn’t face a few years ago. I think, for example, of its expanding cities or its security issues.
I am Omaw Buame, and I am writing this newsletter to show Africa in a simple way. Here, I will write to you about Africa as I live it and feel it. I’ll tell you about its culture, I won’t hide its ugliness, and I’ll show you its extravagant beauty.
I will send you newsletters of all kinds, including literary fiction. I also will share some profound poetry with you. I hope you’ll enjoy it. Feel free to subscribe and share it with those around you. Let me know what you think as well.
Thanks and see you soon.
Expecting more ... !!!