Of Afro-Pop and Jollof, Baobab Trees and Spires
Makafui Tunde Adebayo (MSc International Health and Tropical Medicine, 2021) writes
Sauntering past Exeter’s Cohen Quadrangle, a pair of black British Oxonians was jamming to another Afro-pop banger, blaring from a hand-held speaker.
Their perky, buoyant steps goaded along by the beat and bass that typify Africa’s largest cultural export. The urban English man (call him Kwame) remarked to his companion (She was Aisha) that though he did not understand a word of the lyrics, the song just ‘satisfied his soul’ and ‘excited his essence’ in a manner beyond belief.
‘Why such soaring superlatives’, Aisha remarked even as she beamed a radiant, porcelain-white smile that betrayed her agreement, ‘But yeah, I can’t lie, this song is great’. She concluded in classic London lingo.
I, the West African, walked behind the pair, making my way to Green Templeton—Mélange of Ghana and Nija Jollof (that debate na false dichotomy oooo). Equally lost in the Afro-pop vortex, I pondered the moment’s significance.
The power of art to remind people of separation and scattering caused by the violence of history. After all, one person with a shared destiny unites them for the common cause of Pan-Africanism: Worldwide Solidarity among all persons of African ancestry, indigenous or Diasporan. A global movement where every ‘African’ is valued and protected by the actualisation of Ubuntu – ‘I am because we are’.
Over Oxford formal dinners or other soirees, I engaged a spectral cast of dynamic minds on the current relevance of Pan-Africanism, if any. Different streaks emerged:
First, there is the African ‘Global Citizen’ – typically born and bred on the continent, now hankering for a future that defies any limitation occasioned by those very roots regarding travel, multinational job opportunities, etc.
Second, there is the De-Africanised, African – likely born and bred in the diaspora, who just wants to be left to be, without constantly being anchored to or tagged with the burden of where they ‘really’ come from.
Third, there is the Afrocentric African – the fervent Pan-Africanist – for whom it is imperative that Africa evolves her own cognitive empire, an entirely disparate manner and means of living conceived exclusively for African welfare!
In Oxford, parallels of these views can be said to find residence in student societies. A one-time Presidential candidate for AfriSoc (Oxford’s student-run Africa Society) noted little engagement with a sister organization, the African Caribbean Society (ACS).
Afrisoc is composed mainly of continental postgraduates, while ACS, on the other hand, is a gathering of Diasporan, UK, and USA undergraduates plus postgraduates. This probably was a fair point. It must have been his cry for modern Pan-Africanism.
All these perspectives to me are valid, for we all have varied lived experiences, so too will outlooks differ. Even so, a persistent theme still affects, even afflicts, disparate perspectives.
All Africans, native or Diasporan, are seen, to a degree, through the continental Africa prism. Together, we bear witness to common threads of treatment globally. Africa’s massive Baobab tree shadow follows us universally through time and space. It is an inescapable influence, THE indelible tattoo!
Oprah Winfrey was denied access to a posh designer bag in a Swiss shop. Of course, being black, she could not possibly afford it!
Chris Kaba, 24, a black British man, was shot through the head in a car by London police in September 2022.
How’s this for a spooky parallel? Across the pond, Ta’Kiya Young, 21, a pregnant mother of two, was also shot in a car by Ohio police.
Assuming Chris and Ta’Kiya were convicted criminals, would they have been sentenced to execution by shooting? Black Lives Matter?
I then should be grateful for my life, I suppose, after being accosted by security at an Oxford department store and quizzed about a ‘suspicious’ jacket I had owned for years.
Whether lofty or lowly, Oprah or Ta’Kiya, Oxonians or not, all Africans, Diasporan and native, remain vulnerable.
In the hallowed halls of Oxford, the strength of bonds we forge, the expanse of consciousness nurtured, and the depth of responsibility we take for our holistic community determine how we achieve justice in the face of that social exposure awaiting us all.
Hence the continuing relevance of Pan-Africanism.
Oxford is an excellent place to build that critical consciousness. Accurate knowledge of African history, philosophy, and sociology to help shape a transcendent future. I came as a medic to study International Health; I got so much more.
Cardinal, amongst which is that being global, de-Africanised, or indigenous does not necessarily mean being decolonized. And which animal is decolonization anyway? Is it the reclamation of ancestral lands? Liberation of intellectual real estate or both? So, the journey of Independent critical thought begins –leading inevitably to the realization that the continual pursuit of Pan-Africanism is urgent for current social and historical justice to be attained.
These are weighty matters that can leave some bored and others despondent. So, it is refreshing to find joy and levity in the experience of Kwame and Aisha. Heavy thoughts are given accessible expression in a pop tune.
Where public policy has lagged, art is leading.
This city of dreaming spires has the fire of magnificent minds with which to forge a relevant, purposeful unity. I look forward to the day when we all, Continental and Diasporan, gather as a family around the flame of unity under the Baobab tree that is Africa. Our Hearts and minds resonate to the beats of our most exquisite artists. That we would fashion a genuine global community of justice and excellence.
In the interlude, hold aloft your calabash filled with ‘umqombothi.’ Let’s say cheers to the wordsmiths of the land, be it their song, prose or poetry that soar our souls!
