As we talk about neo-colonialism, and the new conquest of Africa, I thought about sharing this poem ‘They Came‘ by the Cameroonian writer François Sengat-Kuo published in Fleurs de Latérite, Heures Rouges Éditions Clé, 1971. In the poem, he talks about colonization and how Africans were fooled by European missionaries who were always preceding European explorers and armies. I particularly like the sentence: “they came, … bible on hand, guns behind.” How true! In the days of colonization, Europeans claimed to be bringing civilization and christianity to pagans across the globe. Today, they bring development, globalization, and democracy… same ol’ thing → submission and slavery of the people. Enjoy!
| Ils sont venus
au clair de lune au rythme du tam-tam ce soir-là comme toujours l’on dansait l’on riait brillant avenir ils sont venus civilisation bibles sous le bras fusils en mains les morts se sont entassés l’on a pleuré et le tam-tam s’est tu silence profond comme la mort
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They came
by the light of the moon to the rhythm of the tam-tam that night as always we were dancing we were laughing brilliant future they came civilization bibles under the arm guns in hand the dead bodies piled up we cried and the tam-tam was silenced profound silence like death |
African Heritage 